Model Chrissy Teigen received another round of sharp criticism and condemnation after fashion designer Michael Costello said she has stifled his career for years over a fake Instagram post.
Costello shared his personal story of Teigen in an Instagram post Monday, accusing the besieged model of using her power and influence to undermine him and cancel lucrative contracts. Costello said that since 2014, Teigen has purposely tanked his career because she believed him to be a racist because of a photoshopped Instagram post. He also included screenshots of what appeared to be direct messages between him and Teigen.
A representative for Teigen told Business Insider, in a report published June 17, that the purported Instagram messages between Teigen and Costello contained inconsistencies and appeared to have been fabricated.
Related: Chrissy Teigen’s Team Claims Michael Costello Shared Fabricated Screenshots Of Alleged ‘Bullying’
Costello’s accusation has followed others from celebrities targeting Teigen over her behavior and cyber bullying. Teigen has issued multiple apologies since the wave of accusations began last month with model Courtney Stodden. The newest allegation, more recent than the rest and potentially still happening as recent as this year, has sparked another wave of backlash against Teigen.
“The Queen of Cancellation Chrissy [Teigen] sure liked telling young ppl to go kill themselves. What a toxic, cruel bully,” independent journalist and podcaster Megyn Kelly said.
“Wow this is truly awful,” commentator Bethany Mandel said, later adding that Teigen is a “mean girl.”
Piers Morgan, commentator and former host of Good Morning Britain, targeted Teigen in his Daily Mail column on Tuesday:
In 2019, Teigen led a foul-mouthed campaign to destroy gym firms Equinox and SoulCycle because their owner dared to hold a fund-raising event for President Trump.
When one of her Instagram followers asked, ‘Are we seriously not using businesses now that don’t have the same political views as us?’, Teigen spat back: ‘Yeah we f*cking are. These different views you speak of are fundamental differences in compassion, empathy, humanity.’
That was how Teigen saw herself, and how she wanted the world to see herself – as a superior moral being, someone who epitomises the very best kind of human values.
And she was savagely intolerant of anyone who fell below her very high standards.
Yet it was all an act.
There’s never been anything compassionate, empathetic or humane about Chrissy Teigen.
On Monday, before Costello’s accusation went public, Teigen wrote a lengthy apology on Medium for her behavior, acknowledging her mistreatment of Stodden, as well as saying that “there are others” to whom she needs to apologize.
“There are others — and more than just a few — who I need to say I’m sorry to. I’m in the process of privately reaching out to the people I insulted,” Teigen said.
Costello said Teigen drove him to the brink of suicide. He noted that last week he wrote letters to his family and close friends intending to commit suicide and is now under their constant surveillance, and also said he made his story about Teigen public in an attempt to cope with the “trauma.”
“These bullies could have reached out to me at anytime, but they refused. Instead, they would much rather see me suffer and laugh at my demise,” he wrote. “I am not asking for sympathy from you. I am especially not asking for sympathy from Chrissy Teigen, Monica Rose, and those who believed the false narratives they heard about me.”
“I simply want to set myself free,” he said.
This article has been updated to include additional information and push-back from Teigen’s team about the Instagram screenshots.