Chrissy Teigen's Alleged Bullying Nearly Drove Michael Costello to Suicide, He Says
Another celebrity is speaking out about alleged bullying tweets from Chrissy Teigen. Fashion [...]
Another celebrity is speaking out about alleged bullying tweets from Chrissy Teigen. Fashion designer Michael Costello said bullying from Teigen was so intense in 2014 that it nearly drove him to take his own life. Costello, who appeared on Project Runway, shared screenshots of direct messages he allegedly received from Teigen, who published a public comment accusing him of being racist. Costello's post came hours after Teigen broke a month-long social media silence to apologize again for her bullying tweets from the early 2010s.
"I didn't want to do this but... I cannot be happy until I speak my mind," Costello, 38, wrote in the first slide of his post. "I need to heal and in order for me to do that, I must reveal what I've been going through. I wanted to kill myself and I still am traumatized, depressed, and have thoughts of suicide." Costello said he never shared this story before out of fear he would lose his brand relationships, friends, and allies. He was afraid of being blacklisted by the "power elites" who run the fashion industry.
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In 2014, Teigen posted a public comment accusing Costello of being a racist, based on a since-disproven doctored comment on the web, Costello wrote. He reached out to Teigen to tell her he was the victim of "vindictive cyber slander" and he is not who she thought he was. Teigen refused to believe him and told her his career was over. According to Costello, this did happen, as he would often lose jobs at the last moment. He also got texts and calls from her friends, including stylist Monica Rose, and they have allegedly "gone oput of their way" to threaten brands and people who associated with Costello, he wrote.
"So many nights I stayed awake, wanting to kill myself," Costello wrote. "I didn't see the point of living. There was no way I can ever escape from being the target of the powerful elites in Hollywood, who actually do have [the] power to close doors with a single text. Not only was I the target if cyber defamation, I was also getting blacklisted in real life." Costello has "suffered tremendously" because of this, but he believed he could never heal from it until going public. He also wrote a letter to his family about his suicidal thoughts last week, and they have kept a "close watch" on him.
Although Costello may never be completely OK, he said he chose to speak his truth and wants people to understand that he is human and faced "the most inhuman treatment to ever be endured by someone who has seen their decades of hard work, years of building a brand, crumble from one comment." In the end, Costello wrote that he was not seeking sympathy, especially not sympathy from Teigen, Rose, and anyone else who believed the "false narratives" about him.
Costello's Instagram post included screenshots of the alleged direct messages he received from Teigen when he tried to reach out to her. He asked if she could call her, but she refused to let him. When he told Teigen he never made the racist comment, she told him she hopes" that story keeps your already dead career going." Costello gave Teigen his number, but she responded by telling him he "might as well be dead. Your career is over, just watch."
Teigen has been under immense scrutiny since Courtney Stodden began speaking out about the cruel tweets Teigen directed towards them in 2011 and 2012. Former Teen Mom OG star Farrah Abraham has also accused Teigen of sending bullying tweets. On Monday, Teigen published another apology, writing that she is "truly ashamed" by her cruel past tweets.