John Legend Defends Chrissy Teigen Over More Accusations Of Online Bullying

John Legend is coming to his wife’s defense after even more accusations of online bullying have come out against Chrissy Teigen.

Source: Allen Berezovsky / Getty

Teigen issued a statement on Friday–which comes following an apology for additional online bullying–denying the recent accusations made by designer Michael Costello. Not only that, the cookbook author claims the images of direct messages she allegedly sent to the former Project Runway contestant, including one stating “you might as well be dead,” were completely fake.

“Chrissy Teigen very clearly and contritely apologized for insensitive public tweets she made around a decade ago,” the Lip Sync Battle host wrote on Instagram. “She did not acknowledge nor apologize for sending private messages directing or encouraging self-harm.”

This comes following a recent apology from Teigen for targeting Courtney Stodden in public tweets sent in 2011. Stodden went on to allege to the Daily Beast that Chrissy also sent them DMs of a similar bullying nature, saying, “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. Things like, ‘I can’t wait for you to die.’”

After Teigen emerged from a weeks-long social media hiatus following this controversy, Costello wrote an Instagram post claiming he had been left “traumatized” following an alleged years-long campaign by Teigen and stylist Monica Rose to undermine his career.

Now, Chrissy and her husband are fighting back.

Legend retweeted an Insider article on Friday, which reportedly debunked the images posted to Costello’s Instagram, photos the outlet reports “appear to be manipulated.”

“Chrissy apologized for her public tweets, but after her apology, Mr. Costello fabricated a DM exchange between them,” the singer tweeted. “This exchange was made up, completely fake, never happened.”

Legend concluded his tweets by saying, “I encourage everyone who breathlessly spread this lie to keep that same energy when they correct the record.”

In a statement reported by E! News, Costello refuted Teigen’s claims that he had faked their correspondence.

“The fact that Chrissy Teigen’s team is desperately trying to prove the DM’s are fake and attempts to discredit Michael Costello, a victim of trauma and bullying by Chrissy Teigen both online and offline, confirms that she remains the same bully, despite her public apology,” he said via a spokesperson.