Chrissy Teigen's bullying of Courtney Stodden was fueled by 'jealousy,' singer's mother says

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Chrissy Teigen's persistent bullying of Courtney Stodden on social media years ago was fueled by the former Swimsuit Illustrated model's "jealousy," so says Stodden's mother.

Krista Keller broke her silence over Teigen's bullying scandal in an interview with Fox News on Thursday, in which she recalls the criticism Teigen unleashed on her daughter when she rose to fame as a teen.

"I am happy she apologized, but I hope it is sincere," Keller tells Fox News. "I witnessed some of those tweets when they came to Courtney. We both were shocked that [Teigen] was doing this to Courtney."

Keller added that's it's "awful when anyone writes cruel things to anyone," and praised her former reality TV star daughter, who identifies as non-binary.

COURTNEY STODDEN FEELS CHRISSY TEIGEN’S APOLOGY IS ATTEMPT TO SAVE HERSELF: HER ‘WOKENESS IS A BROKEN RECORD’

"Courtney is a strong, beautiful young woman and I am very proud of her," Keller said. "I pray that Internet trolls would get more of a life so they do not feel the need to hurt others."

Courtney Stodden's mom believes Chrissy Teigen's apology to her daughter could have been ‘more genuine’ if done so privately. (Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)

Keller then speculated what the root of Teigen's bullying was all along.

"I believe jealousy was the cause of this. When Courtney first came on the scene she was trying to pull her down," Keller said.

CHRISSY TEIGEN APOLOGIZES TO COURTNEY STODDEN FOR YEARS OF SOCIAL MEDIA BULLYING: ‘I’M ASHAMED, EMBARRASSED’

In Teigen's apology written on Twitter on Wednesday, the two-time cookbook author claimed she has "tried to connect with Courtney privately" in addition to her public apology. However, Keller claims that is not the case.

The ‘Cravings’ cookbook author said she's ‘mortified’ by her past online behavior in a public apology written on Twitter. (Getty)

"Never!" Keller reacted when asked whether Stodden has heard from Teigen. "That is not true. Her reaching out is not a true statement."

Keller feels that, while she's glad the public apology was made, Stodden is deserving of a "more genuine" expression of her regrets.

"She should directly apologize to her, not only publicly," Keller said.

Reps for Teigen did not immediately return Fox News' request for comment.

COURTNEY STODDEN TALKS 'SCARY' SIMILARITIES TO BRITNEY SPEARS: 'I WAS THE NEXT TRAIN WRECK BLONDE TO BULLY'

Teigen's apology this week came in a series of tweets.

"Not a lot of people are lucky enough to be held accountable for all their past bulls--t in front of the entire world," Teigen, 35, began. "I’m mortified and sad at who I used to be. I was an insecure, attention seeking troll. I am ashamed and completely embarrassed at my behavior."

"But that is nothing compared to how I made Courtney feel," Teigen continued. "I have worked so hard to give you guys joy and be beloved and the feeling of letting you down is nearly unbearable, truly. These were not my only mistakes and surely won’t be my last as hard as I try but god I will try!!"

"I’m so sorry, Courtney. I hope you can heal now knowing how deeply sorry I am," the mother of two wrote, adding in a follow-up tweet, "And I am so sorry I let you guys down. I will forever work on being better than I was 10 years ago, 1 year ago, 6 months ago."

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Stodden opened up to Fox News last year about the online bullying they received from Teigen over the years in which the "Chrissy's Court" star allegedly made vile remarks to Stodden to "kill" themselves.

Courtney Stodden originally made headlines in 2011 at age 16 when they married "Green Mile" actor Doug Hutchison, who was 51 at the time. ( Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images)

"I was basically being abused," Stodden said in February following the release of the "Framing Britney Spears" documentary that highlighted the persistent slut-shaming and mockery Spears faced during her teenage years.

"Anderson Cooper, Wendy Williams, Joy Behar, Chrissy Teigen, they basically made me feel like I was this bad person," Stodden, a lingerie model who originally made headlines in 2011 at age 16 when they married "Green Mile" actor Doug Hutchison, who was 51 at the time, maintained.

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"Anderson Cooper would knock me down nightly on 'The RidicuList.' I was getting bullied at the same time by Chrissy Teigen on Twitter sending messages telling me awful things like I'm 'not pretty, I'm ugly, and I should take a dirt nap -- she loved that one,'" Stodden recalled. "I felt like absolute trash."

Another interview Stodden conducted this week about Teigen's online bullying has sparked a now-viral conversation on Twitter, with other stars like Farrah Abraham and Lindsay Lohan once being her targets.