This Michael Costello/Maxie James drama is all kinds of messy, but Michael’s team hopes these receipts will clear a few things up!
As we reported, the Project Runway alum claimed he was bullied and blacklisted by Chrissy Teigen for years because the supermodel dubbed him racist — thanks to screenshots passed around online showing Costello using slurs. But he has always insisted these were “photoshopped” — and even says they were “proven” false.
On the heels of his accusations, James, a fellow designer, came forward to claim that Costello had indeed hurled a slur at her IRL, allegedly calling her a “Black n***** bitch” to her face, leading to a physical altercation in a fabric store.
Related: Michael’s Mother Slams ‘Cruel & Evil’ Chrissy As He Says He’s ‘Not Out For Revenge’
Well, Michael’s team is now trying to set the record straight. The 38-year-old’s camp sent out a timeline of events regarding the Costello/James saga, in which they allege once again that Maxie is spreading false claims about Michael using the N-word, and “mischaracterize[d]” their fabric store row.
A Fabricated Fight?
According to Team Costello, Maxie approached Michael when they spotted each other at the fabric store in 2015, the year after the scandal online. They claim:
“[Maxie] pull[ed] out her phone and [began] taking photos of [Costello] in the store. All while yelling at him, ‘I know who you are, you’re the one who called me the ’n word’.’ Michael responds, ‘I know who you are – and I never said that. You’re lying.’ At which point Maxie lunges toward Michael and begins to belligerently attack him, scratching Michael to the point [where] he is bleeding.”
There’s a few things to note here; most importantly, that Michael didn’t say a racial slur to Maxie at the store. At least not according to this account — which was cosigned by two witnesses: Karla Roble, Costello’s assistant and Amy Gonzalez, the owner of the store.
According to this account, Maxie brought up the allegedly photoshopped comment which was edited to look like Costello had used the N-word on social media, which was posted in October 2014 (more on that later). But no accusation was made at the time that he used it again in the store; that’s something Maxie is saying now.
This account also notes that Michael did not break Maxie’s phone during the altercation, as she alleged, but that her phone merely broke during when she dropped it attacking him. The statement continues:
“As this is happening, Michael is insisting the comments were false and she is wrongly accusing him of something he never said and would never say. During the altercation, Maxie’s phone breaks. The police are called, arrive, and Michael Costello files a report against Maxie for the attack.”
Their account goes on to claim that Maxie returned to the store later that day to film a recap video with the cashier, “who speaks very little English.” It states:
“She manipulates the cashier and subsequently mischaracterizes the altercation and in a follow-up video which she post on social media and actively works to share with the press, seeking to defame Michael.”
The statement insists that Maxie has tried to spin this “false story that Michael Costello slandered her on social media and broke her phone in a store” every year in hopes of ruining his career. It continues:
“Michael did neither of those things and would never use the “n-word”, let alone break a person’s phone in a fabric store. Maxie works opportunistically to bring this situation up every single year, every opportunity she gets. In addition to spreading lies about Michael Costello, perpetuating a false narrative that Instagram itself debunked, she actively works to ruin Michael’s name in the Black community by earning sympathy for something that never happened, and is even profiting off of the situation.”
How It All Began
The statement goes on to explain what sparked this drama in the first place. According to Maxie, Michael purchased a dress on her website and “then posted the dress the very next day in his showroom with his logo in the background and just like, resold it.” But Team Costello says differently. They clarified that Maxie claimed Stephanie Costello, owner of Stello LLC, bought a dress from Maxie’s boutique on Instagram, then later posted it on Stello’s IG page trying to pass it off as if it were her own creation.
According to Stephanie, however, she simply purchased the dress because she felt it was a mini knock-off version of Stello’s “Diana” gown — one of the most popular signature dresses from the Stello brand — and posted Maxie’s design on @MTCostello’s IG as a salty way of exposing the alleged knock-off. She even wrote in the caption:
“love the mini ‘Diana’!”
Stephanie actually explained the entire situation in an IG post from way back in 2014 (below):
A Knock-Off Profile
A day after the post was made, a fake profile @Costello_Mendez appeared on IG. Michael’s team notes “there was only a single post life on the profile which appears to be a screenshot of a comment made from @MichaelCostello profile using the “n” word. The caption claims this was Michael Costello’s response to Maxine James, and includes the hashtag #MichaelCostello. The user @Costello_Mendez continued to repost the same screenshot every hour throughout the duration of 24 hours.”
Immediately, Michael started receiving hate mail on his ‘Gram — including a since-deleted comment from Teigen, who allegedly wrote:
“So you say all that racist s**t and get that horrible press with people using the hashtag #MichaelCostello to call you out on it, then you create a contest where you beg people to use the same tag but in a positive light. Covered up all the negative press. Genius and shady all at once. Start a PR firm. Xx”
The Verdict Is In…
A day later, IG opened an investigation into the post on the @Costello_Mendez account. Eventually, they concluded that the screenshot was altered and banned the @Costello_Mendez profile. The statement explained:
“Each comment made on Instagram has a time stamp that gives encoded information identifying when a comment was posted. The way Instagram’s algorithm works is simple — it is not possible for a user to see a time stamp of “now” like on the screenshot of the comment that was allegedly made by Mr. Costello, unless the screenshot was made from the same device that was used to post the comment. As soon as a comment goes live, it would reflect as “1s, 2s, 3s,… so forth” on the upper right corner to other users. It is not possible for anyone else to see “now” on the time stamp. Based on the way Instagram’s algorithm works, this comment was never posted.”
A day after IG’s ruling came in, Michael released a statement vehemently denying using the slur. He wrote on his Tumblr page:
“It recently came to my attention that a falsified image was created depicting a comment from my account with the use of a racist and derogatory slur. The edited screenshot was shared via Instagram by a rogue account that has a history of attacking myself, loved ones and brands.
The hurtful screenshot circulating is fake and does not represent my views on society, nor do I condone the use of such a terrible term. It deeply saddens me that an individual would go to such lengths at an attempt to demean and misrepresent my character. My designs are centered on accentuating the inherent and natural beauty found in EVERY woman. My career would not be where it is today without the support of individuals from all walks of life.
We are currently looking into this urgent matter to identify the culprit. At this time, we have reason to believe the fake image was edited and circulated by a disgruntled intern who is no longer employed at Michael Costello. Once the individual is fully identified, we intend to pursue legal action.”
Now, seven years later, Team Costello is hoping to clear his name once and for all. His legal team said in a statement:
“On behalf of Mr. Michael Costello, we will confront all cyber-bullies disseminating false and defamatory statements which are tarnishing our client’s character and causing irreparable harm. We are actively gathering evidence of the false statements published in recent days – including but not limited to the defamatory statements made and perpetuated by bloggers on social media and elsewhere — and will swiftly pursue all recourse available under the law.”
Wow. We’re curious to see if Maxie hits back at all these receipts because Costello and his team are certainly not playing around!
It will also be inneresting indeed to see what Chrissy Teigen has to say about all this. She has not, so far as we know, reached out to Michael after his post talking about his suicide watch — nor has she spoken to Courtney Stodden or Farrah Abraham, two of the people who came forward about her alleged bullying.
What do U make of all this, Perezcious readers?
[Image via YouTube/Avalon/WENN]
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