Leona Lewis made a rare statement where she supports Chrissy Teigen amid the bullying accusations from fashion designer Michael Costello. Leona shared the designer “embarrassed” her and she was “deeply hurt.”
Following Chrissy Teigen’s public apology, fashion designer Michael Costello accused the model of bullying. He said that Chrissy misinterpreted a Photoshopped screenshot, and bullied him without listening to him.
He had written on Instagram: “She apparently formed her own opinion of me based on a photoshopped comment floating around the internet. When I reached out to Chrissy Teigen to communicate that I was the victim of a vindictive cyber slander, and that everything she thought I was is not who I am, she told me that my career was over and that all my doors will be shut from there on.”
But now there’s a new claim against him. Singer Leona Lewis accused Michael Costello of embarrassing her in her Instagram Stories.
“I usually don’t speak on subjects like this. But honestly I feel that I have to say something as I’ve dealt with years of insecurity from it. I don’t condone any kind of bully behavior and I’m sorry for what Michael Costello went through. I wanted to share my experience in 2014.”
“As an excited young woman, I flew all the way to New York and was so honored to work with him because I adored his dresses.”
“When I got to my fitting I was made to feel very awkward and uncomfortable as the dress was a sample size and he/his team clearly did not want to alter it to fit me. This came as a total surprise because weeks prior I was told that they would make the dress work for me.”
Leona went on to claim that the next night was the show, and “Michael refused to turn up. He no longer wanted to dress me and he abandoned his commitments to me and the show which made me well aware that I wasn’t the body type required.”
Leona said she was “so embarrassed and deeply hurt.”
“I was not permitted to walk in his dress. I had to sit in the audience and was asked by press why I didn’t walk in the show. I remember having to come up with excuses as I was so humiliated by it all.”
“I feel like I was made to look as though I pulled out and was being difficult and as an affect [sic] of those actions I suffered a lot, both personally and professionally. The most hurtful thing is that it was to raise money for charity, and this went against everything we were trying to do.”
“I’m not discounting Michael’s experience as that is an awful thing to go through and I wish him so much love and healing. I’m sure this will come as a shock as I never told him how this made me feel. But the pot calling the kettle black in this situation doesn’t sit right with me. Bullying comes in many different forms. We need love, we need accountability, we need forgiveness, none of us are perfect.”
She also seems to support Chrissy after her apology. “We all make mistakes, I know I have, but at this time I feel that when people apologize and show sincere remorse and rehabilitation for their actions, we should embrace them and not try and kick them when they’re down.”
