Chrissy Teigen's Tweets That Caused Recent Controversy, Explained

Chrissy Teigen broke a month-long social media silence on Monday when she apologized again for the [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Chrissy Teigen broke a month-long social media silence on Monday when she apologized again for the cruel, bullying tweets she posted in the early 2010s, directed at celebrities like Courtney Stodden and Farrah Abraham. The tweets resurfaced when Stodden recalled how Teigen sent them horrible messages in 2011 and 2012, around the time Stodden married actor Doug Hutchison. Abraham also demanded an apology from Teigen after conservative commentator Candace Owens posted screenshots on Instagram.

Teigen was once a beloved celebrity on social media before the controversy began, as many enjoyed her frank and relatable posts about daily life. But that sheen began to wear off earlier this year. In January, she was criticized for tweeting about having "absolutely nothing" and picking up horse-riding. In February, people called her tone-deaf because she tweeted about getting a $13,000 bottle of wine. These situations led her to leave Twitter in March. She claimed the "bullying" she faced was not the reason for her departure, but for her mental health. The decision also came months after she suffered a miscarriage.

"I hate letting people down or upsetting people and I feel like I just did it over and over and over," she wrote at the time. "Someone can't read that they disappointed you in some way every single day, all day without physically absorbing that energy. I can feel it in my bones." Teigen eventually came back to Twitter, but that situation laid the foundation for the controversy she finds herself in today. Scroll on for a look at Teigen's bullying controversy and the tweets behind it.

Stodden first talks about the cruel tweets in late March

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(Photo: Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)

Stodden first brought up the bullying tweets she faced from Teigen after Teigen announced she was leaving Twitter behind in March. "What a shame [Chrissy Teigen] is leaving Twitter ... it's too 'negative' for herrrrrr," Stodden wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post. This led to TMZ compiling the tweets Tegein sent to Stodden. In one, Teigen simply wrote to Stodden, "I hate you." In another, Teigen wrote, "My Friday Fantasy: You. Dirt nap. Mmmmmm baby." "Go. To sleep. Forever," Teigen wrote in another post. "What drug makes you do that with your mouth?" Teigen asked in another tweet. "Asking for a friend who really wants to know how to look like an idiot. Thanks."

At the time Teigen tweeted these messages, Stodden was gaining notoriety for marrying Hutchison when they were 16 and he was 51. The couple finalized their divorce in 2020. Stodden is now engaged to Chris Sheng.

Stodden speaks out to the 'Daily Beast' on Teigen's tweets

After Stodden came out as non-binary, they sat for an in-depth interview with the Daily Beast, published on May 10. Stodden said she received direct messages from Teigen that were even crueler than the public tweets. "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.'" They did not provide screenshots of the direct messages, but screenshots of the public tweets have resurfaced.

Teigen apologizes for the first time

On May 12, Teigen addressed Stodden's allegations and apologized in a series of tweets. After publishing these, Teigen went silent on social media for weeks, only appearing on her husband John Legend's Instagram page once. "Not a lot of people are lucky enough to be held accountable for all their past bulls— in front of the entire world," Teigen wrote in her apology. "I'm mortified and sad at who I used to be. I was an insecure, attention-seeking troll."

Teigen said she was "ashamed and completely embarrassed" by her behavior, but her feelings are "nothing compared to how I made Courtney feel." At the end of her statement, Teigen said she tried to connect with Stodden privately but still wanted to issue a public statement. Stodden later accepted Teigen's apology but said they never heard from Teigen or Teigen's team.

Teigen starts losing business deals

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(Photo: Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)

In the wake of the scandal, Teigen has not only lost the support of some fans but companies as well. Bloomingdale's, Macy's, and Target have all cut ties with Teigen's "Cravings by Chrissy" cookware line. She is also no longer appearing in marketing for Safely, a cleaning products brand she co-founded with Kris Jenner. She has also withdrawn from narrating an episode of Netflix's upcoming Never Have I Ever Season 2.

Abraham demands an apology

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(Photo: Amanda Edwards/Getty Images, Getty)

After Stodden spoke out, other comments Teigen made about celebrities in the early 2010s resurfaced. Owens even shared an Instagram post with screenshots of multiple cruel tweets Teigen published. One of them was about former Teen Mom OG star Abraham. "Farrah Abraham now thinks she is pregnant from her sex tape. in other news, you're a w— and everyone hates you whoops not other news sorry," Teigen wrote. This was in reference to a 2013 publicity stunt from Abraham, in which she claimed she was pregnant with an adult film star's baby, only to later appear on a show so she could announce she wasn't.

Abraham has since done two interviews with Fox News and another with OK! Magazine about how Teigen has not apologized to her. "Right now, [Teigen is] just highly disturbing to me," Abraham told Fox News on May 14. "She does not need to target young women or other people. I hope she gets mental help and therapy. I would definitely take out the alcohol."

Teigen posts another apology note on June 14

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(Photo: NBC, Getty)

On June 14, Teigen returned to social media for the first time in a month to post a new essay on her Medium blog. Titled "Hi again," it starts with Teigen calling the past few weeks "humbling." She wrote of being "truly ashamed" by the "awful (awful, awful)" tweets that resurfaced and how she wondered why she published them in the first place.

"I've apologized publicly to one person, but there are others — and more than just a few — who I need to say I'm sorry too," Teigen wrote. "I'm in the process of privately reaching out to the people I insulted. It's like my own version of that show My Name is Earl! I understand that they may not want to speak to me. I don't think I'd like to speak to me. (The real truth in all of this is how much I actually cannot take confrontation.) But if they do, I am here and I will listen to what they have to say while apologizing through sobs." Teigen said there was "simply no excuse for my past horrible tweets" and her targets "didn't deserve" them.

"We are all more than our worst moments," she wrote in the end. "I won't ask for your forgiveness, only your patience, and tolerance. I ask that you allow me, as I promise to allow you, to own past mistakes and be given the opportunity to seek self-improvement and change."

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