Anna Good
Courtney Stodden, a non-binary model who goes by they/them pronouns, has called out Chrissy Teigen for death threats she made to them when they were 16 years old.
The death threats occurred when the now-27-year-old married actor Doug Hutchison, who is 34 years older than them, in May of 2011.
The model received numerous death threats and was labeled as a “whore” and a “teen bride” but the worst of the death threats came from Teigen, both publicly and privately, according to Stodden. In a time span from 2011 to 2012, she tweeted urging the then-minor to take a “dirt nap” and “go to sleep forever.”
In an interview with Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper, Stodden spoke about the mental health struggles they went through because of the abuse they faced online and in the media.
They said that it contributed in large part to their depression.
“At that point in time, I was so young, I don’t think I processed how deeply that led to my future depression,” they said.
In addition to the online abuse, Stodden revealed that they allegedly experienced “emotional and physical abuse” from Hutchison over the course of their 10-year marriage, saying they were forced to have sex with him on a schedule he determined. They said of the abuse, “I still have scars on me —physical scarring.”
On the podcast, Stodden was asked if they’d ever met Teigen.
“Not only have I not met her, I have never spoken to her in my life,” Stodden told Cooper. They then said that the abuse was difficult to handle because prior to that point, they had been a huge fan of Teigen and her husband John Legend.
“I actually really liked her. Like I followed her. I mean, obviously, I love John Legend. I was following them and then I started seeing this on my timeline and I was like, ‘But I love you!’”
Among the deluge of hatred sent Stodden’s way, they said that the worst and most persistent hate came from Teigen, who would sometimes DM them as late as two in the morning.
“She [private] messaged me a lot, it was like, sometimes really late, like 2 in the morning? It wasn’t just one or two tweets… it was a really long time.”
At one memorable point, Stodden claimed, Teigen went so far as to message them saying, “I cannot wait for you to die.”
“I specifically remember this one because I was just like so shocked,” they said.
They went on to add, “And that was just one of them that I remember. And then publicly she was saying, you know, ‘I can’t wait for you to take a dirt nap.’ She was just obsessed with seeing me die.”
While Teigen publicly apologized for the tweets she aimed at Stodden and others in a Medium post, Stodden says the model never tried to contact them personally.
Teigen said in her post, “Since I publicly fueled this, I want to also publicly apologize. I’m so sorry, Courtney. I hope you can heal now knowing how deeply sorry I am.”
That being said, according to Stodden, their fellow model never actually tried to contact them personally to apologize, and in fact they have been blocked by Teigen on social media for a long time.
“I know people can change a lot in [the time since Teigen posted her death threats],” they said. “But I didn’t hear from her when she apologized. I was blocked from everything!”
If you are a teen dealing with depression or other mental health issues, see PBS.org for a list of resources and organizations that can help you. If you are an adult, see Mental Health Resources.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse or want more information on domestic violence and resources for victims, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline online or at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).