Fashion designer Michael Costello said model Chrissy Teigen ruined his career and reputation, nearly driving him to suicide over a fake Instagram post.
Costello released a lengthy statement on his Instagram Monday evening saying he had written notes to his family and close friends last week in preparation to commit suicide. He said he has lived with years of trauma since 2014 when Teigen, along with a fashion industry friend, began bullying companies and others to not work with Costello over the mistaken belief that he was a racist.
“For the past 7 years, I’ve lived with a deep, unhealed trauma,” Costello wrote. “In 2014, I received a public comment from Chrissy Teigen on my Instagram page accusing me of being a racist. She apparently formed her own opinion of me based on a photoshopped comment floating around the internet which has now been proven to be false by Instagram and since taken down.”
Costello said that he tried reaching out to Teigen to correct the record, but she would not talk to him and instead “told me that my career is over and that all my doors will be shut from there on.”
“And wow, did she live up to her words. Throughout the next few years, I would book jobs only to be pulled off last minute with no explanation,” Costello wrote. “I would regularly get texts and calls from our mutual friends and colleagues that her and Monica Rose, a powerful stylist in fashion, have gone out of their way to threaten people and brands that if they were in any shape or form associated with me, they would not work with any of them.”
“So many nights I stayed awake, wanting to kill myself,” he continued. “Last week, I wrote personal letters to my family and closest friends because I thought that taking my own life would be. [sic] the best way out. No matter what I did, I just could not escape the false narrative that Chrissy Teigen, Monica Rose, and their friends believed in.”
Costello added that he was not looking for sympathy from any of his accused tormenters. Instead, he was speaking out in the hope that doing so could help him cope. He also posted screenshots of messages to Teigen appearing to support his claims against the besieged model.
MC: Chrissy … can I call you?
CT: No! I do not have anything to say to you. You will get what’s coming to you.
MC: Chrissy, I’ve never called anyone the n word. Those fake images were photoshopped by a former disgruntled employee.
CT: Good luck with that lmao hope that story keeps your already dead career going.
MC: please call me 2134255900 I am suffering from this more than you can imagine. So many people are attacking me over this. It’s a fake story but your comment is adding more fuel to the fire.
CT: good! racist people like you deserve to suffer and die. You might as well be dead. Your career is over, just watch.
Costello’s accusations of severe bullying come weeks after model Courtney Stodden revealed that Teigen had pushed her to kill herself when Stodden was just 16. Before Costello went public with his story, Teigen wrote a lengthy apology on Medium for her behavior, acknowledging her mistreatment of Stodden as well as saying that “there are others” who she needs to apologize to.
“There are others — and more than just a few — who I need to say I’m sorry to. I’m in the process of privately reaching out to the people I insulted,” Teigen said.
Read a transcript of Costello’s original Instagram post below:
I didn’t want to do this but I can not be happy until I speak my mind 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
For the past 7 years, I’ve lived with a deep, unhealed trauma.
I didn’t share this with anyone because I was living in fear. In fear of losing some of my most profitable brand relationships; in fear of losing friends and allies; and in fear of being blocklisted even more by the power elites who run the industry.
In 2014, I received a public comment from Chrissy Teigen on my Instagram page accusing me of being a racist. She apparently formed her own opinion of me based on a photoshopped comment floating around the internet which has now been proven to be false by Instagram and since taken down. When I reached out to Chrissy Teigen to communicate that I was the victim of a vindictive cyber slander, and that everything she thought I was is not who I am, she told me that my career is over and that all my doors will be shut from there on.
And wow, did she live up to her words. Throughout the next few years, I would book jobs only to be pulled off last minute with no explanation. I would regularly get texts and calls from our mutual friends and colleagues that her and Monica Rose, a powerful stylist in fashion, have gone out of their way to threaten people and brands that if they were in any shape or form associated with me, they would not work with any of them.
Each time I have pleaded with Chrissy Teigen or Monica Rose to see the whole story before believing a false narrative a former disgruntled employee cast upon me, they didn’t give me the time of day.
So many nights I stayed awake, wanting to kill myself. 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 powers to close doors with a single text. Not only was I the target of cyber defamation, I was also getting blocklisted in real life.
I have suffered tremendously the past few years and kept silent because there was no way for me to ever escape this. Now, I am finding the courage from within to share my truth because I cannot heal from the darkest hour of my life until I reveal.
Last week, I wrote personal letters to my family and closest friends because I thought that taking my own life would be. [sic] the best way out. No matter what I did, I just could not escape the false narrative that Chrissy Teigen, Monica Rose, and their friends believed in. I told my family how much I love them, how much I care for them, and just how sorry I was for my decision. Since then, everyone in my family has had me on a close watch against my will.
As a result of what Chrissy Teigen did to me in 2014, I am not okay. I may never be okay, but today, I am choosing to speak my truth. I wish no harm on anyone and I don’t wanna go back-and-forth fighting with anyone. I just want people to realize that I, too, am human and this was 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.
These bullies could have reached out to me at anytime, but they refused. Instead, they would much rather see me suffer and laugh at my demise.
To this day, I am still not able to recover from the years of trauma I have experienced. I am not asking for sympathy from you. I am especially not asking for sympathy from Chrissy Teigen, Monica Rose, and those who believed the false narratives they heard about me.
I simply want to set myself free and …
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Source: Dailywire
