Why Is Chrissy Teigen Facing Internet Blowback?
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Chrissy Teigen—television personality, former model, and the wife of John Legend—has recently been in the headlines for a scandal that occurred approximately 10 years ago. Teigen has been losing business deals because of the cyberbullying associated with this scandal. If you haven’t heard about the recent drama, below, learn why Teigen is facing internet blowback.
What’s the scandal?
Approximately 10 years ago, Courtney Stodden, a 16-year-old aspiring actor, got married to 50-year-old actor Doug Hutchinson. When Stodden was only 16 years old, they faced severe backlash and cyberbullying for being in this relationship given the couple’s age gap. Instead of Hutchinson receiving criticism, many people—including some reporters at major news media outlets—admonished teenage Stodden for their relationship and appearance.
Teigen was one of the many people who cyberbullied Stodden. When she was 25 years old, Teigen tweeted to teenage Stodden that she wanted them to commit suicide. Teigen also asked Stodden on Twitter if they did drugs or have any parents.
What did Stodden say?
In a statement, Stodden said that Teigen relentlessly harassed them publically and in private messages to commit suicide. Stodden called Teigen a hypocrite because she recently said she was quitting Twitter due to online harassment.
What did Teigen say?
Teigen tweeted an apology to Stodden after they released their statement. Teigen said that she feels embarrassed by her past behavior because she was an “attention seeking troll.” Teigen said she tried to get in contact with Stodden privately and wants to act like a role model. She faced backlash for her apology and past harassment toward multiple people.
What happened afterward?
After people were disappointed and angered learning about Teigen’s abusive past, her cookware line was dropped in two major department stores.
Another big department store was about to sign a contract to sell her cookware line, but this brand decided to pull out as increasingly more people found out about Teigen’s cyberbullying. Kris Jenner—Chrissy’s business partner and co-founder for their eco-friendly cleaning brand—dropped Teigen from marketing materials.
Stodden said that they accept Teigen’s apology. However, they don’t believe it’s sincere since neither Teigen nor her team ever reached out to her privately to apologize. Stodden stated that they believe Teigen only apologized to appease her business partnerships. Additionally, Stodden shared a screenshot suggesting that Teigen is still blocking them on Twitter, making them unable to see her apology.
Are there other victims?
Teigen has posted many sexually inappropriate tweets about children. She has deleted thousands of tweets in the wake of the recent backlash.
In 2013, Teigen cyberbullied young actress Quvenzhané Wallis, who was only 9 years old at the time. At the 2013 Oscars ceremony, Wallis won the Best Dressed award. Wallis’ accomplishment angered Teigen, who wrote multiple tweets calling the young girl cocky and labeled her an offensive word. However, Wallis has not addressed Teigen’s bullying, and Teigen has yet to address her harassment towards the young actress or apologize to her.
According to recent reports, Teigen might be in the works to have a sit-down interview with Oprah to address her cyberbullying.