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Chrissy Teigen said goodbye to her 13.7 million Twitter followers Wednesday night in a series of posts acknowledging abuse and hatred on the platform.
“Hey. For over 10 years, you’ve been my world. Honestly, I owe a lot to this world we’ve created here,” the television personality, cookbook author and former model tweeted Wednesday night. “But it’s time for me to say goodbye. This no longer serves me as positively as negatively … I’ve always been portrayed as the strong girl with the palms, but I’m just not.”
“My desire to be liked and fear of pissing people off has made me someone you didn’t sign up for, and a different human being than the one I started here! Live well, tweeters. “
Like most women with a great platform on the site, Teigen, whose hilarious posts about her family, food, and cultural comments made her popularity skyrocket, had received a barrage of threats and harassment in recent years. But starting in late 2017, things got even uglier when Teigan and her husband, singer John Legend, were targeted by the conspiracy group QAnon, who claimed the couple were part of a secret pedophile ring.
Last year, Teigen began blocking and unfollowing more than a million Twitter accounts in hopes of defending himself against threats to his family and the group’s unsubstantiated claims. While it’s unclear if this week’s firing to the platform was due to QAnon, the conspiracy group has attempted to claim it as their victory.
Teigen also faced online harassment after she publicly shared that she had a miscarriage last year, and trolls said she was using her pain to gain popularity.
While a celebrity leaving Twitter may not seem like a cause for national outrage, Teigen’s decision further highlights the proliferation of rampant abuse and hatred on Twitter. While the platform has implemented measures to combat this, such as changing its algorithms and hiding potentially abusive responses, its methods are not foolproof and many have spoken out against what they face on a daily basis.
For International Women’s Day, consider supporting women who experience bullying online. It is not an exaggeration to say that the campaign of harassment and defamation that I had to endure over the last year has destroyed my life. No one should have to go through this.
– Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) March 9, 2021
In one of his latest tweets, Teigen asked his followers to acknowledge the power of his words.
“I encourage you to know and never forget that your words matter. It doesn’t matter what you see, what that person portrays or your intention. Over the years, I’ve taken so many small 2-follower count bumps that at this point I’m honestly deeply bruised. “
Soon after, the account was deactivated.
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