Chrissy Teigen Addresses Cyberbullying Accusation in First TV Interview Since Controversy

Chrissy Teigen has addressed her previous cyberbullying accusations in her first TV interview since giving her last public apology. As she promotes her new cookbook, Cravings: All Together, released on Tuesday, the model stopped by the Today Show where she told host Hoda Kotb that she’s since reflected on her actions and has taken time away to learn from her past. 

Teigen was called out in May by Courtney Stodden (who uses they/them pronouns), who claimed the Lip Sync Battle host was their bully while they were still a teenager. Stodden told The Daily Beast they received several mean direct messages and tweets from the model 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,” Stodden said. “Things like, ‘I can’t wait for you to die.’”

Teigen’s apologized for her behavior before, but she doubled down on her statement of growth on Tuesday. “I look at my kids and what I want their values to be and how I want them to treat people, and to see that in myself that I wasn’t doing that was, I think, the hardest part for me.”

“There’s this whole cliche, ‘I’m glad it happened,’ but truly it made me a stronger person, a better person,” she continued. “I’m actually 100 days sober today. I feel very clear-headed.” The mother of two admitted in her statement that she’d made attempts to apologize not only to Stodden but to everyone else who she offended with some of her cruel words. 

“The truth is, I’m no longer the person who wrote those horrible things. I grew up, got therapy, got married, had kids, got more therapy, experienced loss and pain, got more therapy and experienced more life. AND GOT MORE THERAPY,” she wrote at the time. Now that months have passed since the controversy, she feels she’s put in the effort and is ready to start a new chapter. “I just hope that these people can forgive and be able to welcome the fact that they’ve hopefully seen me be better,” she said.