Drama, drama and more drama. That pretty much sums up the Chrissy Teigen-Michael Costello war of words that has erupted on social media and has many (including us) reaching for the popcorn.
Teigen hit back at Costello on Friday, threatening him with legal action if he didn’t stop spreading lies about her; Costello claimed he was cyberbullied by the model and TV star in 2014 while Teigen says the ‘Project Runway’ designer is spreading fake stories about her about emails and DMs that ‘don’t exist’.
On Friday, Teigen posted an lengthy statement refuting his story, writing in a post: “No idea what the [expletive] michael costello is doing. He just released a statement where he didn’t at ALL acknowledge how fake the dm’s were, & now claims to have emails that don’t exist.”
Teigen’s post included a lengthy statement from her publicity team where her team has stated the DMs Costello circulated, which he claimed were from her, had the wrong username to begin with. The statement also claimed Teigen and Costello had shared a cordial relationship as early as 2018.
“Please do NOT bully this man under the masquerade of defending me. I’ve taken it ALL. I’ve heard it all. I just beg for you to know the truth. Michael, you are now causing actual pain to people who are trying to better themselves. Enough. Or this WILL go further. Not here, but an actual court of law. And every dime we win will go to an anti bullying charity,” Teigen further wrote. “I wish you peace and healing. I have some places I’ve been attending if you’d like the connects.”
The story so far
According to Costello, Teigen allegedly attacked him in response to a screenshot of a racist social media comment attributed to the designer back in 2014. Costello has claimed that comment was a fake, fabricated by a disgruntled former employee in an attempt to frame him.
While disputing the alleged direct messages, Teigen’s publicity team conceded that the model had posted a comment on Costello’s Instagram page “when he was publicly accused of making a racist remark,” but later deleted it after he “denied the accusation.”
Teigen and Costello have maintained a “cordial relationship” online since then, the statement says. And Teigen shared what appeared to be screenshots of Costello sending her complimentary messages over Instagram in the years since.
After Teigen apologised last week for her history of cyberbullying and acting like a “troll, full stop” on social media, Costello shared what appeared to be screenshots of the mother of two telling him he deserved to “suffer and die” and “might as well be dead.”
Teigen’s camp denied Costello’s story with her reps stating: “Chrissy Teigen very clearly and contritely apologized for insensitive public tweets she made around a decade ago. She did not acknowledge nor apologize for sending private messages directing or encouraging self harm.”
Teigen’s husband, singer-songwriter John Legend, also insisted later on Twitter that the screenshots were fake.
“Chrissy has acknowledged her past behavior and the pain she has caused, but she will not stand for anyone spreading false accusations to further demean her name and reputation,” her statement said.
Meanwhile, before taking a break from social media, Costello took to his Instagram page to indirectly accuse Teigen Teigen of waging a smear campaign against him. — With inputs from Los Angeles Times
