Chrissy Teigen has posted an apology to all the people she trolled this morning in the form of a blog post on Medium. It comes one month after the model apologised to Courtney Stodden for sending them abusive messages on Twitter over a sustained period of time when Stodden was just 16.
Teigen's apology has received a mixed response, with many now searching for what exactly she said about Stodden - plus Lindsay Lohan and Michael Costello. Costello posted on Instagram this morning to say he was left 'traumatised, depressed' and having 'thoughts of suicide' after being bullied by Teigen.
While Lohan herself has not spoken out, she too was allegedly a victim of Teigen's trolling in the past. In a now-deleted Twitter post from January 2011, Teigen had allegedly joked about Lohan’s history of self-harm, writing: 'Lindsay adds a few more slits to her wrists when she sees Emma Stone.'
Earlier this year, The Daily Beast published an exclusive interview with Courtney Stodden – who identifies as non-binary – about the intense abuse they suffered throughout their fame in which Stodden highlighted Teigen as one of their main online bullies at the time.
Anyone who watched Big Brother back in its hay-day will remember Stodden well, but if you’re unfamiliar with who they are, why they’re famous and what the hell Teigen had against them, allow us to explain.
Who is Courtney Stodden?
Courtney is a 26-year-old TV personality who rose to fame after marrying 51-year-old actor Doug Hutchinson when they were just 16. Stodden was a teen model and after marrying Hutchinson, hosted their own cable TV show, The Courtney Stodden Show, before competing in beauty pageants. They went on to release music and star in various reality shows including the UK’s Celebrity Big Brother.
At the time of their marriage, and for years after, Stodden was heavily mocked for their appearance, dress-sense and sexual agency in tabloids and by fellow celebrities. Despite being just a teenager, Stodden faced constant criticism and suspicion as to why they married Hutchinson. They have since alleged that The Green Mile actor ‘groomed’ them, and was emotionally and mentally abusive throughout their relationship.
As cultural commentators continue to revisit the way young celebrities have been treated, many are now beginning to understand the sheer ludicrousness of Stodden facing so much abuse back then when they were just as a teenager, instead of the focus being on why the man 35 years their senior felt their marriage was appropriate.
What happened between Courtney Stodden and Chrissy Teigen?
One of those people is Chrissy Teigen, who was mentioned as one of Stodden's main celebrity bullies in The Daily Beast interview. Teigen has now tweeted an apology to Stodden, stating she was an 'insecure, attention seeking troll' back then. The model spent years tweeting abuse to the then 16-year-old including that she wanted them to die. Stodden also alleges that Teigen messaged them privately telling them to end their life, Teigen would’ve been 25 at the time.
‘Not a lot of people are lucky enough to be held accountable for all their past bullshit in front of the entire world,’ Teigen said in a statement online. ‘I’m mortified and sad at who I used to be. I was an insecure, attention seeking troll. I am ashamed and completely embarrassed at my behaviour but that is nothing compared to how I made Courtney feel.
‘I have worked so hard to give you guys joy and be beloved and the feeling of letting you down is nearly unbearable, truly,’ she continued. ‘These were not my only mistakes and surely won’t be my last as hard as I try but god I will try!! I have tried to connect with Courtney privately but since I publicly fuelled all this, I want to also publicly apologize. I’m so sorry, Courtney. I hope you can heal now knowing how deeply sorry I am.’
Stodden has since said that Teigen hasn’t reached out privately at all, posting a screenshot on Instagram that shows Teigen has Stodden blocked on Twitter.
‘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,’ Stodden told TMZ. ‘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 realizing her “wokeness” is a broken record.’
Now, as Chrissy Teigen trends on Twitter, it seems everyone is trying to understand why there was ever so much hatred towards Stodden. ‘Who is Courtney Stodden’, ‘Courtney Stodden big brother’ and ‘Courtney Stodden age 16’ are all currently breakout search terms on Google as people seek to know more about the reality star.
While so much of their life has been documented online and on television, watching Stodden now as a 26-year-old it’s clear to see how different they are to their previous persona. In fact, Stodden has stated that they often ‘played a caricature’ of themselves in the media out of an obsession with people like Anna Nicole-Smith and Marilyn Monroe.
‘I decided, at 23, that “I'm not gonna play this anymore. I'm just going to be myself.”’ They said. ‘I want to be honest [now], and potentially help people.’ Their Instagram has since been filled with videos reflecting on their life as a teenager in the public eye and the emotional trauma they’ve been through in the last 10 years.
As Stodden reflects, hopefully the world can too, because if any story teaches us of the misogynistic abuse faced by young people growing up in the public eye, it’s Stodden’s.
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