The recent months have not been easy for Chrissy Teigen. The mother of two went from twitter darling to a villain in a matter of seconds. It all began with bullying allegations made by Courtney Stodden, who identifies as non-binary and goes by the pronouns they/them. Stodden revealed that Chrissy Teigen had sent them condescending messages when they were 16, even urging them to kill themselves. Stodden was appalled by Teigen’s citation of negativity as the reason she left Twitter, the ‘toxic’ platform, yet they suffered the same fate in Teigen’s hands. In her opinion, it was hypocritical.
Announcing her departure from Twitter, Teigen told her 13.7 million followers: “…But it’s time for me to say goodbye. This no longer serves me as positively as it serves me negatively, and I think that’s the right time to call something.” Teigen also mentioned that she wasn’t the strong clap-back girl that everyone perceived her to be, and was a different person leaving the platform than she came. This was emphasized by ‘desire to be liked’ and ‘fear of pissing people off’, both of which had made the cookbook author’ someone you didn’t sign up for’.
Stodden became of interest to the public when they married Doug Hutchison in 2011, despite the pair’s 35-year age difference. At the time, Teigen, who was 26 years old, took to sending them public and private messages on the platform. In tweets unearthed by BuzzFeed, Teigen is seen to have said things like ” go. to sleep. Forever”, ” what drug makes you do that with your mouth? Asking for a friend who really wants to know how to look like and idiot”, and “you are just so effing weird. seriously.” Stodden revealed that Teigen had sent her many tweets until recent years. “It’s so damaging when you have someone like Chrissy Teigen bullying children.” She added.
These accusations were followed by a long silence on Instagram. Soon enough, Chrissy Teigen, through Medium, made a public apology. In the statement, she called what she was experiencing ‘a hole of deserved global punishment.’ Teigen called her past tweets awful and said she was ashamed of them. Her statement showed remorse, regret, and showed her desire to do things better. “ How could I have done that?” Part of her apology read.
Teigen further acknowledged that Stodden wasn’t the only person she owed an apology to, there were others. “ I’m in the process of privately reaching out to the people insulted. It’s like my own version of that show, My Name is Earl. I understand they may not want to speak to me. I don’t think I’d like to speak me…but if they do, I am here and I will listen.”
According to Teigen, when she began using social media, she was immature and in need of the approval of strangers to feel validated. It was ‘fun’ and she ‘ made jokes and random observations.’ Though she thought everything she did was a ‘clever, harmless quip’, she was oblivious of the damage she was doing to those on the other side of the keyboard. “ I thought it made me cool and relatable if I poked fun at celebrities.” She said.
Soon After Teigen’s apology, she was faced with yet another hurdle when Michael Costello appeared with screenshots of an exchange he supposedly had with Teigen back in 2014. The designer, famed for Project Runway, said he was traumatized by Teigen’s racism accusations, and contemplated suicide. Teigen’s camp denied that such a conversation ever happened. Through a post on her Instagram account, Teigen said she was ‘disappointed by Costello’s recent attack.’
Surviving Cancel Culture
‘Cancel Club’ as Teigen put’s it, is part of the online culture that has been going on for ages. In the past, a number of celebrities have been canceled. Most recently, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres went from being the ambassador of kindness to a foe of the internet in the blink of an eye. The Ellen DeGeneres Show came under fire when word spread around that it had a toxic work environment. Those allegations resulted in a drop in the show’s views, lowering its ratings against other shows of the same caliber. This year, Ellen announce that the 19th season will be her final, and attributed the exit to ‘the need for a challenge.’
In a similar fashion, actress Jada Smith found herself on the wrong side of the interwebs when, back in 2020, August Alsina confirmed that the pair had a romantic affair. This came as a shocker to fans and had them siding with Will Smith, subsequently deciding to cancel Jada. Jada and Will Smith’s conversation on Red Table Talk broke the internet, but to date, they remain one of Hollywood’s longest married couples.
In making her comeback as part of the ‘Cancel Club’, Teigen, through an Instagram post addressed how she felt about the whole ordeal. “I don’t really know what to say here,” she started in an emotional Instagram post, “ Just feels so weird to pretend nothing happened in this online world…being at home alone with my mind makes my depressed head race. I feel lost and need to find my place again. I need to snap out of this.” Teigen went on to address her time in the cancel club, saying “…Only a few understand it and it’s impossible to know till you’re in it.” At the end of her post, she asked for directions to a ‘Cancel Club’ reunion to help her cope.
Finding Her Way Back
Teigen is finding her way back online, one step at a time. But not without other setbacks as she and her family just lost their dog, Pippa. Pippa had been their road companion for years, and ‘was a sassy broad.’ In her most recent post, Teigen paid tribute to Pippa. While she’s not posting as often as she used to, diehard fans who love her cooking have a reason to smile, as she’s back to sharing recipes on her stories. It’s only a matter of time before she’s no longer defined by her past mistakes since she’s chosen to learn from them.
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