Once you reach a certain level of fame, it seems almost like a rite of passage for people to start theorizing you’re a member of the Illuminati, a mythical secret society that conspiracy theorists have talked about as long as anyone can remember. According to those theories, powerful members of society — like Beyoncé, Kanye West, or Donald Trump — are carrying on a centuries-old tradition by banding together for world supremacy, identifying themselves with the use of key symbols and codes that eagle-eyed followers can later zero in on in photos. One recent target of these theories is Chrissy Teigen, whose Twitter page is pretty much permanent housing for a wide collection of trolls. And while she’s no stranger to having rumors about her spread on the internet, these Illuminati theories took on a decidedly darker tone, and Teigen’s setting the record straight on what she knows about how these claims started.
While guest-hosting an episode of podcast True Crime Obsessed, Teigen opens up about the Illuminati rumors that first started after she and husband John Legend took a trip to Hong Kong.
Alright. I debated saying something about this but I’m pretty disturbed over here. The fact that there are people with these…thoughts…is really scary. pic.twitter.com/9OtWKHxUgR
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) December 30, 2017
“It started so long ago, like we were in Hong Kong and our plane turning back around was the root of it,” Teigen explains, per PopSugar‘s exclusive clip of Thursday’s episode. “I tweeted through the whole thing because I was like, ‘This is amazing!’ And then it became, ‘Oh, Chrissy is being arrested finally.'” John then explained that there’s a theory floating around that all the stars that are part of the Illuminati are getting secretly arrested, so that’s how the rumor originated.”
This all happened back in 2017 on Twitter, when Teigen’s tweets about their flight turning around drew some alarming comments to their social media pages specifically mentioning photos of their children and make incredibly serious allegations about sex trafficking. Teigen and Legend threatened one ringleader of these theories, Liz Crokin, with legal action and eventually Twitter removed her verification and Crokin made her profile private.
But four years later, Teigen and Legend are still targeted by sometimes frightening social media attacks, with Teigen facing an onslaught of Q Anon conspiracy theorists on her page this summer who pulled up old tweets about TV show Toddlers & Tiaras to make further allegations about the model.
Teigen addressed questions about the Illuminati in 2019 as well when she took on fan questions about the secrets of celebrity life, including rumors of this secret society.
“I love a conspiracy theory,” she wrote on Twitter at the time. “John still hasn’t told me if he’s Illuminati.”
In 2021, Teigen’s backing away from the jokes: “We are the most boring people on the planet,” she insists on True Crime Obsessed. If only the public would believe her.
Before you go, click here to see all the celebrities who conspiracy theorists believe are among the Illuminati.
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