Scandals That Led To Adam Levine's Soured Reputation

Adam Levine was everywhere in the 2010s. Whether it was as a fan-favorite judge on "The Voice" or singing a pop hit with his band Maroon 5, Levine dominated pop culture with his charm and talent. But for those less familiar with him, let's first go over the basics.

Levine first gained attention as the lead singer of the band Maroon 5. Their first album, "Songs About Jane," made a major impact with songs like "This Love," "She Will Be Loved," and "Sunday Morning." Maroon 5 continued to grow in the years after, with other hits like "Moves Like Jagger" and "One More Night" coming out in the early 2010s. Meanwhile, Levine's star status grew after he became a coach on the critically acclaimed singing competition show "The Voice" in 2011, and was also named People's "Sexiest Man Alive" in 2013.

Levine was enjoying the spotlight as he continued to get more and more successful. So what happened? Since then, Levine's star power has taken a major dive. While most people might have one incident in mind when wondering what's to blame, the Maroon 5 frontman actually has quite a few scandals that led to his fall from grace.

Adam Levine dated quite a few models in his early years in the industry; but in 2012, he first crossed paths with the woman who would become his wife: Behati Prinsloo. The two seemed happy together, and after a short break in 2013, the couple got engaged. Levine and Prinsloo tied the knot in the summer of 2014 with a star-studded wedding, and for many years after, they seemed like the picture-perfect couple. But it all came crashing down in 2022, while Prinsloo was pregnant with their third child.

In September 2022, a woman named Sumner Stroh came out with claims that she and Levine had a year-long affair. In a since-deleted TikTok video (via Business Insider), Stroh said of the alleged relationship with Levine, "At the time, you know, I was young, I was naive, and, I mean, quite frankly I feel exploited. ... I was definitely very easily manipulated." The video included screenshots of flirty direct messages on social media from Levine, including one in which he told Stroh, "It is truly unreal how f****** hot you are." Levine's rumored fling claimed that they were together for around a year, and after she cut things off, he contacted her again to ask if he could name his third baby after her.

Levine quickly responded to the intense allegations. He said in a statement shared with TMZ, "I did not have an affair, nevertheless, I crossed the line during a regrettable period of my life." He called it "poor judgement" and "inappropriate" to send flirty messages to anyone aside from his partner. Levine said, "I take full responsibility," and that he and Prinsloo were working on getting through the situation as a family.

After Sumner Stroh came out accusing Adam Levine of having an affair with her and sending her inappropriate messages, a few other women decided to share their own stories. According to these women, Levine also sent them flirty messages online, commenting on their workout photos or cheekily complimenting them.

One such woman, Ashley Russell, told Daily Mail that Levine would often comment on her health and fitness content, sharing screenshots of some of the alleged exchanges. "He would mainly like booty stories and would always reply with something to do with leg or booty day at the gym," she claimed. "When I told him he was going to get caught DMing girls like me[,] he stopped texting me." A comedian named Maryka also shared alleged messages from Levine, including ones that read, "That body of yours is absurd," and "I may need to see the booty." Another woman named Alyson Rose also claimed Levine sent suggestive texts to her, sharing a screenshot of a message he sent saying, "I shouldn't be talking to you[,] you know [that] right?" Unfortunately for the singer, the internet couldn't stop making jokes about Levine's flirty texts.

Levine released his message denying the affair with Stroh after a few other women shared messages as well. In the statement, the Maroon 5 frontman confirmed that he had been talking to women online. Although Levine and Prinsloo appeared to work things out and are still together, this huge controversy permanently scarred his reputation. After, he stepped back from the spotlight for a few years before trying to break in again, although it remains to be seen if he can truly recover his reputation.

In 2019, Adam Levine and his band Maroon 5 took on a legendary opportunity to perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Show... but let's just say, it didn't go as well as they had hoped. Even before the big game, fans pressured the band to back out of the show in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, who, as the petition from fans described it, "has been exiled from the NFL because of his decision to kneel during the national anthem." The petition highlighted Rihanna's decision to opt out of performing for this specific reason, and it received over 117,000 signatures. However, Maroon 5 still decided to perform at the show, and fans weren't happy.

The band performed alongside Travis Scott and Big Boi, and fans didn't hold back while sharing their thoughts. After the performance was uploaded to YouTube, the comments quickly filled with messages from disappointed viewers. One person said, "I paid nothing to see this and I want my money back," while someone else wrote, "This seems like it was planned an hour before the game started." Others called the performance "all over the place" and said, "New levels of disappointment have been reached."

While the controversy of the Super Bowl show might not've been to the same level as Levine's messy relationship history, it was still a major low point for the singer. Basically, what should've been one of the biggest highlights of Levine's career ended up being one of the first nails in the coffin of his soured reputation.