Nearly four years after Sumner Stroh became embroiled in Adam Levine’s sexting scandal, the model-turned-singer is confronting the damage caused by the controversy while attempting to reclaim her identity. Stroh now acknowledges that her actions hurt multiple people, including Levine’s wife, Behati Prinsloo, and their family. However, she also believes that her worst mistake should not determine the direction of her entire life.
As she launches a new chapter in music, Stroh is opening up about the intense public scrutiny she endured, the effect it had on her loved ones, and why she is no longer allowing fear of criticism to keep her from pursuing her ambitions.
In 2022, Stroh publicly alleged that she and Levine had engaged in a year-long affair involving intimate messages while Prinsloo was pregnant with the couple’s third child. Levine denied having an affair but acknowledged that he had “crossed a line.” Stroh subsequently claimed that she felt “manipulated” by the Maroon 5 frontman.
Looking back on the controversy, Stroh admitted it was an incredibly turbulent chapter of her life. “It was an absolute sh-tstorm, that period of my life,” she told the Daily Mail. However, the 26-year-old stressed that she does not want to portray herself as the victim of a scandal that affected several other people.
“I don’t want to sound like a victim,” Stroh said. “I hurt a lot of people, so I don’t want to by any means say like, ‘Oh, woe is me.’ I know it’s a conversation that is stuck with me and I have to live with that, but I believe that people are more than their mistakes and more than their past.”
Stroh also publicly apologized to Prinsloo and the couple’s children in a 2022 TikTok video. “I’m not the one getting hurt in this,” she said at the time. “It’s Behati and her children. And for that, I’m so, so sorry.”
The Public Scrutiny Sent Her To A ‘Dark Place’
Stroh said the scandal erupted while she was already dealing with other problems in her personal life, leaving her in an emotionally difficult place. “It was traumatic, just the level of public scrutiny,” she recalled. “The bandwagon effect and the whole cancellation of it all, it really gave me time to look inward and process that shame, process that guilt, process even childhood traumas.”
The fallout allegedly extended beyond online criticism and began affecting her family’s sense of security. “The drones flying over my family’s house … that affected my entire family,” she told the outlet. “So that physical safety aspect, for not myself, but for my family was something that was really hard, not for just me, but also my family.”
Stroh grew up in a traditional Texas household and said her family encouraged her to pursue a law degree rather than relocate to Los Angeles. She moved to the West Coast anyway while hoping to join a girl group, but those ambitions were soon eclipsed by the Levine scandal.
Sumner Stroh Is Turning Her Pain Into Music
Stroh is now pursuing the musical career she originally envisioned, even though she knows some critics may accuse her of attempting to capitalize on the controversy. “I’ve already heard all of that,” she said.
The former model explained that she has had to stop trying to control how others perceive her. “I think that I’ve had to relinquish control of what other people think and what they’re going to say,” Stroh shared. “Because at the end of the day, I can’t control that. All I can control is showing up authentically as myself.”
“I just realized I’m either going to do what I love and people are going to say what they’ve always said about women for hundreds and hundreds of years or I can live forever in fear and never have pursued what I love, and I think that is a much more miserable existence for me,” she added.
Her new single, “Miss America,” reflects her determination to continue despite the setbacks. On the song, Stroh sings, “I don’t even need to wear a crown / Can’t wear me out.”
“‘You can’t wear me out’ as I’m actively getting worn the f-ck down and facing setback after setback,” Stroh said of the lyrics.
She then admitted that hearing her own music can still trigger a deeply emotional response. “It makes me cry when I listen to my own music, which is ridiculous,” she confessed.
The Singer Refuses To Deny What Happened
Although Stroh wants to separate her future from the scandal, she does not intend to erase or minimize her involvement. “I have f-cking put blood, sweat, and tears into choosing myself and that’s okay because we’re all inherently flawed,” she said.
“I’ve been working my a-s off to separate myself from that and grow and learn,” Stroh continued. “But also, I’m not going to sit here and say that nothing ever happened and that’s just part of my story and that’s something I have to live with.”
She now considers the painful period pivotal to the artist she has become and no longer measures success according to public approval. “My definition of success is what I’m doing every day and that’s creating,” Stroh explained. The experience also taught her a blunt lesson: “Don’t kiss and tell.”
Although Stroh acknowledged that she still dates people in entertainment, she has changed how much she shares publicly. “I continue to date people in my industry and in Los Angeles,” she admitted, “but I like to keep that private.”
Adam Levine And Behati Prinsloo Remain Together
Levine and Prinsloo have remained married since the scandal. The couple was recently photographed enjoying time aboard a yacht in St. Tropez shortly before their 12th wedding anniversary. Prinsloo has never publicly discussed Stroh’s allegations or explained why she decided to stay with Levine.
An insider recently claimed, however, that the couple’s marriage is now in a better position than it was immediately following the controversy. “Their relationship is in a much healthier place than it was in the immediate aftermath of the scandal,” the source told the Daily Mail.
“That doesn’t mean everything is perfect… but Adam has made enough changes to keep the marriage intact and avoid repeating the mistakes that nearly cost him everything,” the insider added.
