Another alleged victim of Chrissy Teigen’s cyberbullying has come forward. Michael Costello, who appeared on Season 8 of “Project Runway” and “Project Runway All-Stars” in 2012, claims Teigen sabotaged his career over statements he says he never made, something that almost drove him to take his own life.
On Monday, Costello posted his account of what he describes as a campaign mounted by Teigen to end his fashion career on Instagram and the effect that the threats had on his mental state.
“I didn’t want to do this, but I can not be happy until I speak my mind. I need to heal and in order for me to do that I must reveal what I’ve been going through,” he wrote, “I wanted to kill myself and I still am traumatized, depressed, and have thoughts of suicide.”
Costello’s post came just hours after Teigen published her most recent public apology in response to reality TV star Courtney Stodden’s claims that she harassed them on Twitter and even told to kill themselves at one point. In his post, the “Project Runway” alum explained that his own harassment at the hands of Teigen began in 2014 when a former disgruntled employee allegedly Photoshopped comments that showed him using the n-word. He says this led the model to call him racist on his Instagram page.
“When I reached out to Chrissy Teigen to communicate that I was the victim of a vindictive cyber slander, and the everything she thought I was is not who I am, she told me that my career was over and that all my doors will be shut from there on,” Costello said, adding, “And wow, did she live up to her words.”
Costello added screenshots of his DMs with Teigen in his post. Teigen’s alleged messages read, “Racist people like you deserve to suffer and die. You might as well be dead. Your career is over, just watch.”
According to the designer, friends and colleagues in the industry confirmed that Teigen and her stylist Monica Rose had allegedly “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.”
“So many nights I stayed awake, wanting to kill myself. I didn’t see the point of living.” Costello wrote, revealing that he even went so far as to write suicide notes for friends and family.
“I wish no harm on anyone and I don’t wanna go back-and-forth fighting with anyone,” he continued, “I just want people to realize that I, too, am human and this was the most inhuman treatment to ever be endured by someone who has seen their decades of hard work, years of building a brand, crumbled from one comment.”
Teigen has yet to address Costello’s accusations, although she wrote in her last apology that, “there are others—and more than just a few—who I need to say I’m sorry to.”