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As the scandal involving Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine's affair with Instagram model Sumner Stroh has intensified, a backlash has begun to spring up. But instead of Levine being the subject of people's ire, many are angry with Stroh.
Many have suggested that Stroh's claims of feeling "manipulated" during her affair with Levine are disingenuous, and have pointed to her going public as evidence that the entire goal of her dalliance with Levine was to gain notoriety.
Model Emily Ratajkowkski would like a word with people who feel this way.
In a series of TikToks, Ratajkowski called such takes on the Stroh-Levine affair "classic misogyny," and called for people to stop giving men passes for bad behavior.
WARNING: NSFW language
@emrata #stitch with @sarasadmomfoster
In her TikTok, Ratajkowksi used part of a video by another woman who chided Stroh saying, "We don't feel sorry for you. You knew this man was married."
Ratajkowksi responded to this sentiment by saying:
“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."
"The power dynamic is so skewed, it’s ridiculous. It’s predatory, it’s manipulative, I can’t imagine.”
She went on to say:
"If you're the one in a relationship, you're the one obligated to be loyal."
In another TikTok, Ratajkowski called for our culture to hold men accountable for their actions rather than attacking the women they cheat with.
@emrata #stitch with @sarasadmomfoster maybe we just hold men accountable instead of just accepting them as terrible, asking them to do 0 work, and then blaming other women? ok gn.
She said:
"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 behavior."
"It’s classic misogyny.”
Many on social media applauded Ratajkowski's take on the scandal.
\u201cwhat's crazy is that emily ratajkowski got cheated on earlier this year and she's still on tiktok defending woman who are vilified for being homewreckers. a REAL woman and a REAL feminist, the same cannot be said for many women in the industry.\u201d— isabelle (@isabelle) 1663708977
\u201cperiod pooh. exactly. emily ratajkowski summed it up so nicely. the power dynamic, manipulation, & misogyny. we stan a girlie who gets it. share the receipts. #AdamLevine #sumnerstroh \nhttps://t.co/7y5d3SIryj\u201d— Yngdggrdckxo\ud83d\udc8e (@Yngdggrdckxo\ud83d\udc8e) 1663772426
\u201c@PopCrave No she\u2019s right why should I care about your relationship more than u do \ud83d\udc80 it\u2019s wrong but it\u2019s nowhere near the same as cheating\u2026 you\u2019re the one who should be committed not the third person \ud83d\ude2d\u201d— Pop Crave (@Pop Crave) 1663705789
\u201cemily ratajkowski please know that i will ALWAYS have your back the way you have other women's backs, mother!!\u201d— isabelle (@isabelle) 1663708612
\u201c@PopCrave Agree with Emily here. Even if you think both parties are wrong it\u2019s usually the single woman who comes off worse, in terms of criticism, than the man. Internalised Misogyny runs deep for many women as well as men. \nImagine if everyone had a zero tolerance to who\u2019s\u2026\u201d— Pop Crave (@Pop Crave) 1663705789
\u201cFYI, @emrata's husband cheated on her. But there's not an ounce of misogyny in her. #Queen \ud83d\udc51 #AdamLevineIsOverParty\u201d— Amber4Ever \u270a\ud83c\udffb\ud83d\udc9c (@Amber4Ever \u270a\ud83c\udffb\ud83d\udc9c) 1663757630
But many others disagreed with her take entirely.
\u201cAbsolutely can\u2019t stand how ppl continue to infantilize grown women (23yo is an adult) and bring up \u201cpower dynamics\u201d in a situation that was not predatory or manipulative. This is not abusive. This is a bad take and a rare L on @emrata\u201d— Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s big fat tiddies | \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8 (@Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s big fat tiddies | \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8) 1663795533
\u201cEmily Ratajkowski couldn't be any more wrong lol. women who sleep with married famous men and that know they were married are also as wrong as the man cheating on his wife. Everyone knows Adam Levine is married\u201d— not nadia (@not nadia) 1663768486
\u201c@emrata so what if @adamlevine and his mistress were the same age, and he wasn\u2019t famous? Does that still excuse the female who he cheated with? she knew he was married, but it\u2019s okay because she\u2019s a helpless woman who has no control over her actions.\u201d— MJ \u270c\ud83c\udffc (@MJ \u270c\ud83c\udffc) 1663780631
\u201c@emrata the reason why we blame women too is because they know what they are getting into . Sumner knew he was married -she knew -END OF STORY\u201d— Maria Lynn (@Maria Lynn) 1663788833
Since Stroh went public with her affair with Levine, three other women have come forward about inappropriate conversations they had with Levine while he was married to his wife, Victoria's Secret model Behati Prinsloo.