Viewers slam The Project’s Waleed Aly for his ‘ignorance’ over Chrissy Teigen’s cyberbullying

The Project viewers have savaged host Waleed Aly following the host’s war of words with Rachel Corbett over Chrissy Teigen’s cyberbullying.

The journalist, 42, got into an explosive argument on the show with podcaster Rachel Corbett, 40, while debating whether Teigen or Twitter were at fault for her online attacks against fellow celebrities.

One viewer pointed out via a tweet that since Aly ‘has never been active on Twitter… he cannot opine authoritatively on it.’ 

Burned: The Project viewers have savaged host Waleed Aly (pictured) following the host’s war of words with Rachel Corbett over Chrissy Teigen’s cyberbullying

Another user sarcastically stated, ‘I agree with Waleed. Whenever I hit someone with a stick, I always blame the stick!’

In his argument, the host described Teigen’s alleged death threats against influencer Courtney Stodden and designer Michael Costello as simply being part of ‘that fashion trend’ of social media ‘pile-ons’.

However, most seemed to agree with Corbett’s stance that the model should be held personally accountable for her actions.

Fair point: ‘It’s a poor workman who blames his tools,’ concluded one viewer, apparently siding with Corbett

Savage: Another user sarcastically stated, ‘I agree with Waleed. Whenever I hit someone with a stick, I always blame the stick!’

‘Ignorant’: One viewer pointed out via a tweet that since Aly ‘has never been active on Twitter… he cannot opine authoritatively on it’

‘I’ve been on this platform for some years now Waleed & I’ve yet to suggest someone kill themselves, no matter how abusive someone was to me,’ tweeted another user. 

‘It’s a poor workman who blames his tools,’ they concluded.

However, at least one fan was on Waleed’s side, with another user pointing out that Twitter ‘is absolutely a system that allows people to directly benefit from joining attacks’.

Lightning rod: The pair debated whether Teigen (pictured last month) or Twitter were more responsible for the model’s online ‘death threats’ against fellow celebrities

Critics: Some slammed Aly for not being sufficiently informed when it came to social media

Defenders: However, at least one user leaped to the TV star’s defence 

The feedback came after a discussion of model Chrissy Teigen’s online bullying degenerated into a heated argument on Wednesday night’s episode of The Project. 

Hosts Aly and Corbett raised their voices and spoke over one another during the segment, during which they debated whether Teigen or Twitter were more responsible for the model’s online ‘death threats’ against fellow celebrities.

At one point a visibly frustrated Corbett snapped at Aly, ‘You can’t say it’s the fault of [Twitter].’

It’s on! Rachel Corbett (left) and Waleed Aly (right) raised their voices and spoke over one another during Wednesday night’s episode of The Project, where they debated whether Chrissy Teigen or Twitter needed to be ‘cancelled’ over her bullying

The segment began by posing the question, what should be the appropriate penalty for Teigen, 35, bullying actor Courtney Stodden and designer Michael Costello.

However, while Corbett argued for greater ‘personal responsibility’ for social media users who troll others online, Aly seized the opportunity to rail against ‘the platform’ i.e. Twitter.

‘You can think whatever you want of Teigen, she was joining pile-ons. So she’s part of that fashion trend in that moment,’ said Aly.

Corbett immediately pushed back, saying, ‘That doesn’t absolve of her of personal responsibility. You can’t say it’s a fault of the platform.’

Staunch defence: ‘You can think whatever you want of Teigen, she was joining pile-ons. So she’s part of that fashion trend in that moment,’ said Aly

‘I can say that, and it’s not the same as absolving her from responsibility,’ Aly countered.

‘But it absolutely is a result of the platform and I think if we’re trying to say we’re going to solve these problems by picking out the people who misuse it and attacking them,’ the journalist continued. 

‘Great, do that if you want to, but you’re solving nothing. This is a bonfire.’

Striking back: Corbett immediately pushed back, saying, ‘That doesn’t absolve of her of personal responsibility. You can’t say it’s a fault of the platform’

However, Corbett wasn’t having any of it, lashing out at Aly, ‘You cannot say it’s not your responsibility, how you behave and interact on that platform. That platform does not draw you in to behaviour that you have no responsibility for.’

But Waleed disagreed, stating, ‘The problem is the machine. You’ve got to blow up this machine.’

He doubled down on the assertion, saying ‘Some platforms drive us into worse behaviours than other platforms, that’s a fact.’

Victim: Teigen has been the target of backlash since her abusive tweets originally made in 2011 resurfaced online, including one that urged a then 16-year-old Courtney Stodden (pictured in 2019) to kill herself 

Sorry: Teigen took to her personal website to issue another apology on Wednesday

‘That drives me nuts,’ snapped Corbett. ‘Because as somebody who would never behave [like Teigen did] on that platform it makes me so angry. Why am I trying to be a good person, if you can just say, ‘Oh, well, the platform made me do it’?’  

‘I’m not saying ‘the platform made me do it,’ but I’m saying the platform creates that environment and encourages it,’ concluded Aly.

Eventually, co-host Peter Helliar, 46, had to break the tension with a joke, quipping, ‘I’m starting to think I won’t get a birthday tweet from Waleed.’

Another one: Designer Michael Costello has claimed that Teigen once told him he ‘might as well be dead’ via DM

Teigen has been the target of backlash since her abusive tweets originally made in 2011 resurfaced online, including one that urged a then 16-year-old Courtney Stodden to kill herself.

Lindsay Lohan was also the subject of an insensitive post by Teigen, where a tweet from January 2011 read: ‘Lindsay adds a few more slits to her wrists when she sees emma stone.’

Old tweets from 2013 have also resurfaced in which she described nine-year-old Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis as ‘cocky’ and called Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham, then 21, a ‘wh***’.

Damning: The Project Runway star shared an alleged exchange with the mother-of-two in which he pleaded for the chance to explain himself