Chrissy Teigen's Tweet About Avril Lavigne That Sparked Controversy
Chrissy Teigen once hailed over the lawless streets of Twitter, affectionally known among her fans as the queen of Twitter. However, the former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model was dethroned in mid-2021, when netizens did a deep dive on her past tweets and uncovered nasty, mean-spirited opinions she'd shared about some of her celebrity peers. According to Distractify, it all started when model Courtney Stodden -– who was heavily criticized in the media for marrying 50-year-old Doug Hutchinson at 16 –- accused Teigen of bullying them, via The Daily Beast. "She wouldn't just publicly tweet about wanting me to take a dirt nap' but privately DM me and tell me to kill myself. Things like, 'I can't wait for you to die,'" Stodden shared with the publication.
This opened up the floodgates, leading social media users to uncover more of Teigen's tweets, directed at stars ranging from Tamera Mowry, Quvenzhané Wallis, and most notably, Avril Lavigne. "If u told me I could have 1 kid, but it would be exactly like Avril, I would choose to have a barren, sterile existence that ends when I die," Teigen tweeted in 2011.
Teigen's coarse words came after she'd watched an interview that Lavigne conducted, according to Newsweek. Though Lavigne never had anything to say about Teigan publicly, her fans gave Teigen a piece of their mind, leading her to issue a lukewarm apology. "I would formally like to apologize but only one of those 'sorry you are offended' apologies," she tweeted (via Newsweek).
Chrissy Teigen's apology fell flat
Chrissy Teigen's past tweets spread like wildfire on social media, resulting in a swift backlash, with some even calling for her to be "canceled." In response, Teigen posted a statement on Twitter. "I'm mortified and sad at who I used to be," she wrote, adding that she was "an insecure, attention-seeking troll" who was "completely embarrassed" by her behavior. Teigen also publicly apologized to Stodden, who she claimed she'd tried to contact privately. After, the "Cravings" author went on a month-long social media break, which she eventually broke with a lengthier Medium apology, according to Buzzfeed.
Some of Teigen's die-hard fans commended her for attempting to right her wrongs, but not everyone was so easily swayed. "This is horrifying and disappointing," wrote designer Andrea Hickey via Twitter, "So nice of your followers to accept an apology that isn't theirs to accept because they weren't the ones you tried to bully to suicide." Another user wrote, "So extremely disappointed and shocked at your lack of understanding, empathy and the recklessness of your words. And how they were deliberately used against ppl when they were at their lowest. Every single one of us should be held accountable for our actions, past and present."
The brand deals that Chrissy Teigen lost
Unfortunately, for Chrissy Teigen, the ramifications extended much further than social media criticism. Following the debacle, the successful cookbook author lost several brand partnerships including Bloomingdales, Macy's, and Target, who all stopped with stopped carrying or halted plans to carry her "Cravings" cookware line, according to Outsider.
Coincidentally, the news of Teigen's lost partnerships came just weeks before her second Medium apology, which as Courtney Stodden pointed out, via an Instagram post of a screencap of Teigen blocking their Twitter. "All of me wants to believe this is a sincere apology, but it feels like a public attempt to save her partnerships with Target and other brands who are realizing her 'wokeness' is a broken record."
Despite losing these deals, Teigen, who is married to EGOT-winning musician John Legend, seems to have bounced back pretty well. In fact, she recently took to her Instagram to announce that they aa expecting another child, after her 2020 miscarriage (via People). The couple already has two children together, Miles and Luna.