On Sept. 19, Instagram model Sumner Stroh took to TikTok claiming she and Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine were in a year-long relationship. (Her Campus reached out to both Stroh and Levine’s teams for comment but didn’t hear back by the time of publication.) In the video, which has now amassed over 14 million views, Stroh admitted, “I’m just gonna rip the bandaid off ‘cause I’ve retaken this, like, 10 times now. Essentially, I was having an affair with a man who’s married to a Victoria’s Secret model [Behati Prinsloo]. At the time, I was young, I was naïve, and quite frankly, I feel exploited… I was definitely very easily manipulated.”
Along with showing apparent screenshots of the pair’s Instagram DMs, the model continued, “Adam and I were seeing each other for about a year. After I had stopped talking to him over a period of months, this is how he came back into my life. He said, ‘Okay, serious question. I’m having another baby and if it’s a boy, I really want to name it Sumner. Are you okay with that? DEAD serious.’”
Levine and Prinsloo already have two daughters together — Dusty Rose, 5, and Gio Grace, 4 — and are expecting a third baby soon. A few days ago — before Stroh released her video — Prinsloo posted a photo on Instagram showing her baby bump.
“I was like, I have to be in hell at this point,” Stroh said in her TikTok. “My morals were unknowingly compromised. I was completely manipulated. I wanted to handle this privately, I never wanted to come forward publicly because obviously I know the implications that come with doing what I do, making money the way I do and being an Instagram model.”
The reason Stroh says she decided to come forward now was to share her side of the story before it got leaked online. “I had sent some screenshots recklessly to a few friends I thought I trusted and one of them had attempted to sell to a tabloid. So here I am,” she said in her video.
Later that day, Stroh returned to TikTok to make a part two to address a comment that read, “It’s no secret he’s been married for a decade. The only victim here is his wife and children.” Stroh said, “Hindsight is 20/20. I initially wanted to go in and talk about how remorseful I feel and how embarrassed and disgusted I am with myself, but I didn’t want people to look at it and be like, ‘Oh, she’s playing the victim,’ but in reality, it had the opposite effect.”
Stroh said her first video didn’t touch on everything that she would have liked it to, considering she felt rushed to make a video “to kill whatever story the tabloid had.”
“The most important part that I did definitely gloss over is the fact that I was under the impression that [Levine and Prinsloo’s] marriage was over,” Stroh said. “I believed that they were keeping it quiet to avoid the negative press because as I had said, I was new to LA and I just assumed that with celebrities of that caliber, that that’s just how it was. That’s why I feel exploited, because he knew that I believed everything that he said because of my vulnerable position of being new to LA.” The model clarified that she immediately ended things with the singer once she knew that he and Prinsloo were still married. “Being naïve is not an excuse in the role I played in this,” she said.
Stroh continued, “I fully realize I’m not the victim in this. I’m not the one that’s really getting hurt here — it’s Behati and her children, and for that, I’m so, so sorry.”
On Sept. 20, Levine took to Instagram to address the allegations, saying in an Instagram Story, “A lot is being said about me right now and I want to clear the air. I used poor judgment 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.”
Levine 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. To be this naïve 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.”
A source close to Prinsloo told PEOPLE on Sept. 20, “He admitted that he went behind her back and has been inappropriate. He admitted that he acted like an idiot.” While Prinsloo is still “100% committed to her family,” she is reportedly still “very upset” about everything that happened.
In addition to Stroh, on Sept. 21, two women — influencer Alyson Rosef and comedian Maryka — also came forward to share that Levine reportedly sent them flirtatious messages on Instagram. (Her Campus reached out to Levine’s team for comment about the new allegations but didn’t hear back by the time of publication.) In a now-deleted TikTok video, Rosef shared screenshots of Levine reportedly DMing her, “I shouldn’t be talking to you, you know [that] right 😤?” “A lot of my friends knew, and they were shocked,” Rosef said in her TikTok video, according to Page Six. “I guess if any other girls have experienced this with him … I just think they should post it ’cause I feel really bad for his wife, and nobody deserves this.” Maryka took to her Instagram Stories to share screenshots of Levine’s apparent flirtatious messages with her via Instagram, where Levine reportedly wrote to her, “I’m now obsessed with you.”
This article was originally published on Sept. 20. It was updated on Sept. 21.