Chrissy Teigen is known for having a lot of opinions. Whether she's being TMI on Twitter or revealing too much on a Reddit AMA, she has no problem saying exactly what she thinks. Unfortunately, her outspoken nature has gotten her into some hot water over the years.
But it wasn't always this way. When Teigen first broke out into the scene, it was refreshing to have someone like the Sports Illustrated model be vocal and speak her mind. She said things that most of us were thinking and delivered them with a cheeky sense of humor. However, when allegations of mean girl behavior and bullying came to light, this cast another view of the once-favored, outspoken model.
Social Media Became Chrissy Teigen's Downfall
Early in her career, Teigen’s brand shined as the gorgeous but relatable Sports Illustrated model who said it like it was. She was that funny, loud friend in the group.
And despite being a celebrity herself, she snarked about them, ate all the real things – butter, sour cream – and even though she was a bit of a troll, her snark didn’t register as mean-spirited back then.
Her popularity and visibility grew, and at one point, some might say she had even surpassed the popularity of her Grammy award-winning husband, John Legend.
Her career grew, and she found success hosting gigs, writing cookbooks, and was seated front-row at award shows, catapulting the model into A-list status.
However, as these things go, her star began to drop as she slowly started to become an oversaturated presence in pop culture.
Then, accusations of cyberbullying started to come out. The voice Teigen was once known for cyberbullying young women online.
Chrissy Admitted To An Embarrassing Moment In A Reddit AMA
At the height of her popularity, Teigen participated in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), where Redditors ask any questions they want to the host. Questions range from innocuous to prodding.
One commentator asked what her most embarrassing moment was, and well, Teigen’s response wasn’t that funny. In fact, some might say it was a little obnoxious.
Chrissy answered, "when i proudly yelled at a mom on the plane, telling her to shut her son's video game sound off. it was my phone alarm going off in my purse. for hours. had to apologize to the entire cabin and bought them drinks. [sic]"
The Plane Incident Wasn't Chrissy's Only Embarrassing Moment
In 2021, Teigen announced she was leaving Twitter because of how negative the platform has gotten. That stirred up a reaction from TV personality Courtney Stodden who shared how ironic it was for Teigen to leave because the model had been bullying Stodden online for years.
Tweets emerged of Teigen saying horrible below-the-belt comments, including telling Stodden to take a “dirt nap.”
Stodden is most well-known to have married 50-year-old actor Doug Hutchinson when she was 16.
Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham also spoke out about the mean tweets Teigen directed toward her. It involved name-calling and telling Abraham, “everyone hates you.”
Since the controversy, Teigen has publicly apologized for her behavior. (Stodden has stated she has yet to receive one privately.)
In Teigen's apology post, Teigen writes how having a social media presence was, at first, fun, but in reality, she was "immature" and "insecure." This drove her into trying to "impress strangers to be accepted."
She added, "If there was a pop culture pile-on, I took to Twitter to try to gain attention and show off what I at the time believed was a crude, clever, harmless quip. I thought it made me cool and relatable if I poked fun at celebrities."
Chrissy Claims To Have Changed Since Her Cyberbully Days
It was a dark time for Teigen when the cyberbullying controversy broke out. However, it did help the model reflect and eventually rethink her drinking habits.
“I think you learn so much in the moments where you do lose so much, you lose it all, your world is kind of turned upside down,” Teigen said. “For me, it was a big moment of, ‘Wow, I need to find out how I can be better, how I can grow from this, learn from this.’
2022 marked a year of sobriety for Teigen. Since she started drinking in her early twenties, she revealed she hadn’t gone more than a day or two without alcohol.
In an Instagram post, she wrote about how becoming sober helped her mental health. In the past, she drank to fight off anxiety, but once she quit drinking, those feelings eased.
She reflects on how she lost out on some “huge moments” of her life because of her drinking habits. “I get really frustrated looking back on days I should remember way better than I do because of alcohol,” she said.
Her drinking had also become “embarrassing” around Legend.
“I just was like, I can’t be the messy one,” she shared. “I don’t want to be waking up in the morning, and being like, ‘Oh, what did I say?’ Like that’s so embarrassing, and then it was just not worth it.”
These days, Teigen prefers to keep things lowkey, even opting to skip out on the 2023 Grammys to spend more time with family. Last year, she and Legend welcomed their third child, a daughter, Esti, after Teigen underwent a painful miscarriage in 2020.
Teigen has since returned to Twitter – her hiatus lasted only three weeks. She tweeted she missed the "belly chuckles" and thought she should take in the good with the bad that comes with being on the platform.
As long as she Tweets responsibly going forward.
