Adam Levine has been at the center of a cheating scandal after an Instagram model named Sumner Stroh claimed she had an affair with the Maroon 5 frontman.
From apologies, to Instagram DM leaks, to two more women posting screenshots of their alleged messages with the singer, it’s difficult to keep track of all the ongoing Adam Levine drama – especially when it’s been taking place on the deep internet abyss that is TikTok.
Here’s a breakdown of all the Adam Levine cheating allegations.
It all began on Monday 19 September, when 23-year-old model Sumner Stroh claimed she had an affair with Levine in a video posted to TikTok.
“I was having an affair with a man who’s married to a Victoria’s Secret model,” she began in the clip. “At the time, I was young, I was naive, and, I mean, quite frankly, I feel exploited.”
She revealed the man to be 43-year-old Adam Levine, and shared screenshots of her Instagram messages with the singer, some of which read: “It’s truly unreal how f***ing hot you are. Like it blows my mind.”
Although Stroh admitted that she was seeing the formerThe Voice judge for about a year, many commenters claimed that she was 20 years old at the time of the alleged affair. However, Stroh told Page Six that the alleged affair took place “last year” when she “graduated college in 2021.”
The model also claimed she and Levine had a “physical” relationship, but she hasn’t “spoken to him in months”.
When she finally stopped responding to his messages, Levine DMed her again this past June – months before he and his wife Behati Prinsloo announced they were expecting their third child together.
“OK serious question,” his alleged DM to Stroh began. “I’m having another baby and if it’s w [sic] boy I really wanna name it Sumner. You ok with that? DEAD serious.”
Stroh explained that she was forced to confess her alleged affair with Levine after a few of her friends had tried to sell the story to a tabloid. “I only came forward because I wanted to kill any story the tabloid had,” she said in a follow-up video posted to TikTok.
The model clarified in the second TikTok that she was under the impression Levine’s marriage to Prinsloo was over: “I believed that they were keeping it quiet to avoid the negative press because I was new to LA, so I just assumed with celebrities of that caliber that that’s just how it was.”
“As soon as I realised that was not the case, I cut things off with him,” she explained. “In retrospect, I wish I would’ve questioned things more. I wish I wasn’t so naive but, you know, being naive is not an excuse for what I did and the role I played in this. I’m not the one who’s really getting hurt here. It’s Behati and her children and for that I’m so, so sorry.”
Adam Levine responds to the allegations
Following Stroh’s video, social media instantly became a firestorm of tweets and posts about Levine’s alleged affair. After trending on Twitter for an entire day, Levine finally addressed the cheating allegations on Tuesday in a statement posted to his Instagram story.
“A lot is being said about me right now and I want to clear the air,” Levine’s post began. “I used poor judgement in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner. I did not have an affair, nevertheless, I crossed the line during a regrettable period in my life.”
He continued: “In certain instances it became inappropriate; I have addressed that and taken proactive steps to remedy this with my family.”
“My wife and my family is all I care about in this world,” Levine said. “To be this naive and stupid enough to risk the only thing that truly matters to me was the greatest mistake I could ever make. I will never make it again. I take full responsibility. We will get through it. And we will get through it together.”
On Tuesday, Sumner Stroh shared a cryptic post to her Instagram story seemingly in response to Levine’s statement. “Someone get this man a dictionary,” she wrote in white text over a black background.
Who is Adam Levine’s wife, Behati Prinsloo?
The 34-year-old Victoria’s Secret model is currently expecting her third child with Adam Levine. The two are already parents to daughters Dusty Rose, five, and Gio Grace, four.
Levine and Prinsloo tied the knot in 2014 during a wedding ceremony in Mexico. Their 20-minute ceremony was officiated by Jonah Hill, and the 275 guests included Prinsloo’s fellow Victoria’s Secret models, Erin Heatherton, Candice Swanepoel, and Coco Rocha, along with actors Jason Segel and Robert Downey Jr.
Behati Prinsloo has yet to publicly address the cheating allegations.
Chrishell Stause, Emily Ratajkowski, and more celebrities sound off
Following Adam Levine’s Instagram statement, many celebrities weighed in the on the cheating allegations. Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause took to Twitter on Tuesday to share her thoughts on Levine’s apology. “When apologising for cheating publicly I hate the we will get through it together part from a man,” she wrote. “Don’t speak for her. You’ve done enough”.
Then, actress Sara Foster slammed both Levine and Stroh for their part in the alleged cheating. “Cheating is so gross,” she said in a TikTok video posted to her personal page.
“He’s obviously, like, a total pig and gross, but this woman who chose to make a viral TikTok video claiming — by the way, not even apologising but putting it out there for the world to see, for a pregnant woman to see, when she could’ve just messaged her privately — claiming it’s not her fault.”
“It’s like, we don’t feel sorry for you. You knew this man was married, OK? And you participated. You could’ve easily ignored the messages. You knew he was married. We do not feel sorry for you.”
Meanwhile, model Emily Ratajkowski — who recently filed for divorce from her husband Sebastian Bear-McClard following cheating claims — posted a response to Foster’s video, saying that believed Stroh was a victim.
“I don’t understand why we continue to blame women for men’s mistakes, especially when you’re talking about 20-something-year-old women dealing with men in positions of power who are twice their age,” Ratajkowski said in a TikTok video.
She continued: “The power dynamic is so skewed, it’s ridiculous. It’s predatory. It’s manipulative.”
“If you’re the one in a relationship, you are the one who’s obligated to be loyal.”
In a second video, Ratajkowski added: “I think a huge problem in our culture right now is that we just say, ‘Oh, men are monsters, they’re terrible, they’re horrible.’ We don’t hold them accountable and then we blame other women.”
“We ask women to adjust their behavior instead of just saying men need to change their behaviour. It’s sexism. It’s classic misogyny.”
The drama continues to unfold…
While Sumner Stroh’s video went viral on TikTok with more than 15m views, others have come forward by sharing screenshots of their alleged messages with Adam Levine. One woman named Alyson Rose has claimed she was talking to Levine over Instagram DM for a year, before she met her current boyfriend in January 2022.
While the messages seemed relatively friendly and strictly about tattoos, Rose said in the video: “I have a lot more that was said that was not appropriate. I just didn’t feel comfortable posting everything.”
Another woman, who goes by Maryka on Instagram, posted her alleged DMs with Levine to her Instagram story. The screenshots show flirty messages Levine allegedly sent to her, one of which read: “Holy f**king f**k. The body of yours is absurd. How are you such an hourglass?”
When the model asked Levine, “Dude aren’t you like married lol?” he replied, “Yeah, but it’s complicated.”
The Independent has contacted representatives for Adam Levine for comment.
