Chrissy Teigen and John Legend Claim Michael Costello Faked DMs for Bullying Allegations

Earlier this week, Chrissy Teigen wrote a lengthy post on Medium to apologize for her online bullying behaviors in the past. Following the apology, fashion designer Michael Costello took to social media to share that he had also received hurtful messages from the celebrity in the past. However, Teigen and her husband John Legend have now broken their silence, accusing Costello of faking DM screenshots for the allegations.

"No idea what the f*ck Michael Costello is doing," Teigen wrote on Instagram along with an official statement, which reads that she "is completely surprised and disappointed by Costello's recent attack, which includes fictional 'screenshots' from 2014 of supposed private messages that [she] did not send." The post points out inconsistencies in the designer's screenshots, including her old profile photo that she changed in 2016; an icon for Instagram's video chat feature that launched in 2018; and the social media platform's updated color format that was introduced in 2020. "The old profile picture and these new Instagram features could not co-exist in the same authentic screenshot," the statement further explained.

In response to the situation, Legend took to Twitter himself: "Chrissy apologized for her public tweets, but after her apology, Mr. Costello fabricated a DM exchange between them. This exchange was made up, completely fake, never happened." He backed his claim with a link to an article published on Business Insider.

"The fact that Chrissy Teigen and her crisis team are working so hard, so strategically to come out against the DMs she sent me, and to downplay the comments she publicly posted on my Instagram, only proves that she is the same bully she always has been, despite her fake apology to the public," Costello responded to both Legend and Teigen's accusations. "Chrissy Teigen has gone out of her way to close doors to my career by making calls, sending texts, telling colleagues and companies that if I were attached to a project that she would not work with them," he added, claiming that he has receipts. The designer closed his message by sharing that he will be taking a break from social media for mental health reasons.

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