Chrissy Teigen has apologized to Courtney Stodden following accusations that she cyberbullied the reality TV personality, namely, telling them to take their own life in private DMs.
Stodden, who identifies as non-biary, achieved tabloid notoriety when they married actor Doug Hutchinson in 2011. Stodden was 16 and Hutchinson was 50, earning her the nickname of the “teen bride” in a media circus that included Anderson Cooper calling them a stripper on CNN and Dr. Drew examining their breasts in front of a live studio audience. The couple divorced in 2020 but the release of “Framing Britney Spears” had Stodden reevaluating their own treatment in the public eye.
In a recent interview with The Daily Beast, Stodden opened up about the harassment they received at the hands of some high-profile critics. In addition to celebs like Joy Behar and Courtney Love, Stodden singled out Chrissy Teigen as someone that especially hurt them at the time.
“She wouldn’t just publicly tweet about wanting me to take ‘a dirt nap’ but would privately DM me and tell me to kill myself. Things like, ‘I can’t wait for you to die,’” Stodden alleged.
After public outcry following the May 11 interview, the model and cookbook author addressed the situation through a series of tweets Wednesday.
“Not a lot of people are lucky enough to be held accountable for all their past bullsh–t in front of the entire world,” Teigen said. “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 behavior but that…is nothing compared to how I made Courtney feel.”
Teigen considers the tweet thread (in addition to reaching out to Stodden directly) her first step toward accountability and, ultimately, change.
“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 fueled 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. And I am so sorry I let you guys down,” Teigen concluded, “I will forever work on being better than I was 10 years ago, 1 year ago, 6 months ago.”
