Christine Diane Teigen had it all – beauty, an uber-famous husband and the kind of cushy endorsements that could set anyone up for life.
That wasn’t enough for the woman we all know as Chrissy Teigen. The former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and Mrs. John Legend wanted to be an influencer, a queen of Instagram and more.
Now, the flamboyant social media lifestyle that cemented her celebrity standing, has caused her downfall.
She has only herself, and her ego, to blame.
Teigen’s first modeling gig came at the age of 18, but she wouldn’t be relegated to catalog work for long. Her career took off, as she snagged more modeling assignments and television gigs on shows like “Model Employee” and “Lip Sync Battle.”
She started a blog, “So Delushious,” scored more magazine covers and penned cooking books tied to her “Cravings.”
Teigen met Legend in 2006, when she starred as the love interest in his music video for the song “Stereo.” They became one of Hollywood’s starriest couples, and their fans even mourned with them when they lost their child to a miscarriage in 2020.
Her social media presence, though, became her calling card. She could be funny, spicy, or snarky, and she racked up followers like few of her peers. Her current tallies? 13.5 million on Twitter, 34.9 million on Instagram.
That’s power in our digital age. And, as we’re now learning, Teigen used it repeatedly to bully some vulnerable souls.
TV personality Courtney Stodden told The Daily Beast in May that Teigen personally attacked her on Twitter in 2011.
“I can’t wait for you to die,” the model/actress/author direct messaged Stodden, who was in her teens at the time.
Teigen publicly apologized after the revelation, but part of her mea culpa suggested the incident may not be her only example of cyber bullying.
“These were not my only mistakes and surely won’t be my last, as hard as I try but god I will try!!”
Stodden, who recently came out as non-binary, shared this reaction at the time:
“I accept her apology and forgive her … But the truth remains the same, I have never heard from her or her camp in private. In fact, she blocked me on Twitter.
“All of me wants to believe this is a sincere apology, but it feels like a public attempt to save her partnerships with Target and other brands who are realising her wokeness is a broken record.”
And, in true Cancel Culture fashion, Teigen started losing gigs after her bullying went public. She left a planned Netflix gig to lend her voice to the comedy “Never Have I Ever.” Target and Macy’s also stopped stocking her signature cookware line.
Teigen took the most shocking action of all for a while. She went radio silent, at least on social media. Days ago, though, she penned a lengthier explanation and apology on Medium.
“There is simply no excuse for my past horrible tweets. My targets didn’t deserve them. No one does. Many of them needed empathy, kindness, understanding and support, not my meanness masquerading as a kind of casual, edgy humor.”
“I was a troll, full stop. And I am so sorry,” she added.
Immediately after the Medium post went live another person allegedly impacted by Teigen’s bullying stepped forward. Former “Project Runway” contestant Michael Costello said Teigen, along with her stylist, Monica Rose, targeted him in a personal manner. They allegedly did all they could to “blacklist” him in the fashion industry.
It all began after Teigen saw photoshopped images in which Costello appeared to share racist verbiage. They were fakes, and he claims he told her so at the time. She allegedly ignored his pleas, clapped back that he would never work again and meant it. (Update: In a report June 17, a representative for Teigen told Business Insider that the Instagram messages Costello posted alongside his bullying accusation showed inconsistencies and appeared to have been fabricated.)
Related: Chrissy Teigen’s Team Claims Michael Costello Shared Fabricated Screenshots Of Alleged ‘Bullying’
Costello says he started losing gigs “with no explanation,” and that the team of Teigen and Rose were likely to blame.
The duo “had gone out of their way to threaten people and brands that if they were in any shape or form associated with me, they would not work with any of them,” he wrote on his Instagram page about the alleged incident.
Teigen’s precipitous fall hasn’t been without its share of ironies. Legend previously teamed with gymnastic sensation Simone Biles to help others tune out online criticism.
Teigen led the expletive-fueled charge to boycott SoulCycle after the owner dared to throw a fundraiser for a sitting president … President Donald Trump, that is.
She also shared more than a few woke asides over the years, like the time she insisted her young son wouldn’t grow up as another fountain of “toxic masculinity.”
“There is no ‘Be a man’ in our house … There’s no right way to be a man, and John is so good about showing them through how he treats me how to be a good man, how to be a good father. It’s wonderful to see.”
Those progressive bona fides couldn’t protect her from the woke mob or her own sordid past. Even those who recoil at Cancel Culture in practice might think Teigen needs a dash of canceling, if not more.
The ultimate irony? The woke princess wants our forgiveness, something she offered in short supply in her own career — before it all came tumbling down.
This article has been revised to include push-back from Teigen’s team about Castello’s Instagram post.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.