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EXCLUSIVE: Michael Costello's mother is speaking out about Chrissy Teigen's past mistreatment of her son that he says left him "suicidal."
Nancy Costello told Fox News in an interview on Tuesday that Teigen's alleged bullying of the "Project Runway" star years ago through a text exchange "broke her heart." She tells Fox News Teigen's apology written on Monday failed to mention his name and demands she issue a new one.
"It terrified me," Nancy told us of her fashion designer's post about suicidal thoughts on Monday. "The damage is done. She never knew that Michael would post those text messages. It would have meant a lot to Michael if him, his collaborators and supporters would have heard her speak his name. Maybe now she will do something right."
Nancy added that Teigen's alleged "cruel and evil" mistreatment of her son left her worried that he would harm himself.
'Project Runway' star Michael Costello claimed Teigen allegedly followed through on threats to end his career. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for New York Fashion Week: The Shows)
"I feared that Michael would take his life because the fashion industry is his life," she said. "If he loses that he feels he has nothing to live for."
The heartbroken mother said her son showed interest in fashion at a young age when he was a teen living in Palm Springs, Calif.
"For the first 10 years Michael never got paid. He'd dress all the celebrities for promotional reasons. He was very proud and then later on he realized he's going to need money. He would not put prices on his garments. He would take what people offered right here in Palm Springs when he was between 13 and 15. At one time he had to make 100 dresses for the prom," she said.
"He would sleep with pins in his mouth, needles in his hands and all over his body. His dad would find him sleeping with fabric or sleeping at the sewing machine. His major goal was to be in the same category as Donatella Versace and many more. He's also done a lot of charity work over the years, even designing a dress for Toni Braxton and Beyoncé," she continued.
CHRISSY TEIGEN BREAKS SILENCE ON CYBERBULLYING SCANDAL: 'I WAS A TROLL, FULL STOP'
Nancy went on to pride her son for his charitable work and for working so diligently for decades in the fashion industry to make a name for himself despite Teigen's alleged attempts to derail his career.
She says Michael, who could not be reached for comment on this story, traveled to Florida early Tuesday for a work event.
"He will never put anyone down," Nancy said. "He went to Florida this morning to finish dresses for something that he's doing right now. I know that he's ok right now because he's working, he's supplying his clients' needs whether he gets paid for it or not."
As for her son's troubling post about suicidal thoughts on Monday just after Teigen apologized in a lengthy post she penned on Medium, Nancy said she believes her son wasn't looking for sympathy.
"He just knew this needed to be exposed. We don't know what Chrissy's problem is. When I saw this yesterday, I was terrified. I wanted to just drive to him," Nancy said.
CANDACE OWENS RIPS CHRISSY TEIGEN'S CYBERBULLYING APOLOGY: ‘IT’S WHO SHE IS’
Michael first went public with his alleged bullying from Teigen on Monday. He claimed the drama between him and Teigen began years ago over a social media misunderstanding that seemingly was faked to make Costello appear racist but was later proven to be nothing more than a set of photoshopped images from a disgruntled employee.
"I didn’t share this with anyone because I was living in fear. In fear of losing some of my most profitable brand relationships; in fear of losing friends and allies; and in fear of being outcasted even more by the power elites who run the industry," Michael, 38, wrote in a statement obtained by Fox News.
'Project Runway' star Michael Costello detailed alleged bullying he received from Chrissy Teigen since 2014.
Michael claimed in the statement that he tried feverishly to reason with Teigen and explain to her that the alleged social media posts were indeed fake but said Teigen had no interest in hearing him out and only pressed to Costello her intention for him to "get what’s coming to you."
"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," he alleged.
Teigen also allegedly wrote, according to supposed screenshots of her conversation with Costello, that the reality star and A-list designer’s career was "over," adding, "just watch" implying Teigen has skin in the game to make such a vanishing happen.
"And wow, did she live up to her words," the fashion designer penned before further alleging: "Throughout the next few years, I would book jobs only to be pulled off last minute with no explanation. I would regularly get texts and calls from our mutual friends and colleagues that her and Monica Rose, a powerful stylist in fashion, have gone out of their way to threaten people and brands that if they were in any shape or form associated with me, they would not work with any of them."
"Racist people like you deserve to suffer and die," Teigen allegedly wrote to Michael after he pleaded with Teigen to "please call me" and even gave her his personal phone number to clear the air.
He maintains that Teigen and her stylist Monica Rose made good on Teigen’s promises to allegedly make his professional life difficult by using their influence behind the veil to shutter his opportunities at every turn.
His claims, which were first brought to light by the Kitson LA Instagram account on Friday, come on the heels of Teigen’s latest social media apology after she stayed away from any platforms for several weeks.
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The "Cravings" cookbook author took to social media to her post on Medium addressing the "VERY humbling few weeks" and offering her apologies to anyone she may have hurt.
"Not a day, not a single moment has passed where I haven’t felt the crushing weight of regret for the things I’ve said in the past," she stated.
The star then went on to unequivocally denounce her past actions. "I was a troll, full stop. And I am so sorry," she wrote.
Teigen explained that she got swept up in the early days of Twitter, when people were having fun posting random quips, musings and observations on the platform. This included "pop culture pile-ons" that the star now realizes weren’t as harmless as she thought.
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"In reality, I was insecure, immature and in a world where I thought I needed to impress strangers to be accepted," she wrote. "If there was a pop culture pile-on, I took to Twitter to try to gain attention and show off what I at the time believed was a crude, clever, harmless quip. I thought it made me cool and relatable if I poked fun at celebrities."
Teigen wrote that she’s ashamed it took being publicly called out by some of her cyberbullying victims like Courtney Stodden for her to understand that "words have consequences and there are real people behind the Twitter handles I went after."
Meanwhile, Farrah Abraham, who was once trolled by Teigen online published a lengthy Medium essay herself on Tuesday, claiming she has yet to hear from the former model personally.
A rep for Teigen did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Fox News' Julius Young contributed to this report.
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