Chrissy Teigen has recalled the “horrifying” moment she and husband John Legend were followed and harassed by two white men, describing the incident as “my first taste of seeing what happens to black men every day”.
The TV presenter said she and singer Legend were visiting his godmother’s home in Fredericksburg, Virginia, when they were followed and harassed by two “neighbourhood-watch-type” men.
They approached in a pick-up vehicle, Teigen said, before demanding they leave the area.
Narrator: she never did go offline https://t.co/yYo4JDvqGn
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) September 8, 2020
Speaking to Marie Claire, Teigen said: “They literally said, ‘Get your asses out of here!’ and proceeded to follow us all the way into her driveway.
“They got out of the car and stared at us as we knocked on the door and went inside.
“It was a terrible, scary experience.”
A tearful Teigen added: “That was my first taste of seeing what happens to black men everyday.
“It was horrifying and could have gone wrong so quickly.
“I was sobbing afterwards for hours, and I noticed John wasn’t emotional about it.
“Seeing that he wasn’t very thrown by it was really upsetting because he obviously had experienced it before.”
Teigen and Legend, who married in 2013, have two children, daughter Luna, four, and two-year-old son Miles, and are expecting a third.
Teigen, known for her bubbly social media persona, said she is “barely online anymore” but is determined to use her platform ahead of November’s presidential election.
She has clashed with Donald Trump and believes the incident where she and Legend were followed in 2010 could happen again because of who is in the White House.
She said: “People are very confident in their ways of being open about their racism because they have the backing views of the president.
“It’s become such a hurtful, weird presidency for so many Americans, and I’m going to fight to get this person out of office because I can’t live another four years with this kind of hatred boiling through America.”