CULTURE

Chrissy Teigen Says She’s “Glad” She Got Called Out for Cyberbullying


Chrissy Teigen attends Global Citizen VAX LIVE
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Chrissy Teigen is finally speaking out about her cyberbullying scandal that occurred earlier this year, which led to the “cancelation” of the model and Internet personality. Teigen spoke with Hoda Kotb on Today on Tuesday in her first interview since the controversy, where she explained how she has changed over the past few months.

Back in March, media personality Courtney Stodden called out Teigen for bullying them back in 2011. A few months later in May, Stodden spoke more in-depth with The Daily Beast about their experiences with Teigen, saying Teigen told Stodden to take a “dirt nap,” among other horrific things. Stodden’s statements opened the door for other public figures to also speak out against Teigen for past cyberbullying and the model lost many of her brand deals as a result.

Teigen told Kotb on Tuesday that she has since taken some time to “digest” what happened in order “to grow and to learn and to become more empathetic.”

“I look at my kids and I look at what I want their values to be and how I want them to treat people, and to see that in myself that I wasn’t doing that,” Teigen said. When Kotb asked Teigen what it was like to lose many jobs over the scandal, Teigen explained it allowed for a moment of realization.

"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,” she 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.’”

In the end, Teigen said she’s “glad” she got called out. “It made me a stronger person, a better person."

Teigen got more specific about one of the ways she has changed since the spring, revealing she is 100 days sober. “I feel so good, I feel very clear-headed. I feel like I've done the work and I just hope these people can forgive and be able to welcome the fact that hopefully they've seen me be better."