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AMERICAN pop rock band Maroon 5 remains one of the most successful groups working today, having achieved numerous Grammy award nominations.
However, the band’s lead vocalist and frontman, Adam Levine is making headlines and has set a social media firestorm after allegations of infidelity surfaced on the internet.
A social media influencer and model, Sumner Stroh, posted a video on TikTok claiming she had an affair with Levine for close to a year.
She did not clarify when the affair took place. The TikTok video has been viewed over 7.5 million times since it was first posted.
“I was having an affair with a man who is married to a Victoria’s Secret model. At the time, I was young, I was naive, and, I mean, quite frankly, I feel exploited,” Stroh said in the video.
@sumnerstroh embarrassed I was involved w a man with this utter lack of remorse and respect. #greenscreen ♬ original sound - Sumner Stroh
She went on to reveal his identity, who we now know is Adam.
She told her more than 300,000 followers on TikTok, “Maroon 5 is practically elevator music at this point. So, I am sure you know who Adam Levine is.”
Only a few days earlier, Levine, who is married to Victoria's Secret model Behati Prinsloo had announced that they are expecting their third child. The couple share two daughters, who are four and five.
The story takes a turn when Stroh revealed that despite the affair having ended and that they were no longer speaking, Levine reached out to ask if he could name his baby after her.
In her TikTok video, Stroh shared screenshots of exchanges she shared with Levine over Instagram. The message reads: “Ok serious question. I’m having another baby and if it’s [a] boy I really wanna name it Sumner. You ok with that?”
“DEAD serious,” he added with several shrug emojis.
Stroh also showed screenshots of flirty Instagram DM (direct message) exchanges with Adam Levine’s official account.
Stroh claimed she had never planned to share the story publicly but came forward because she had sent the screenshot to a few friends and one of them was attempting to sell the story to a tabloid.
She defended herself for participating in the affair by claiming “my morals were unknowingly compromised” and “I was completely manipulated.”
“Embarrassed I was involved w a man with this utter lack of remorse and respect,” she captioned her video.
A representative for Levine did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
She later posted a second video responding to critics and saying that she was not trying to play the victim.
“In no way was I trying to gain sympathy,” she said. “And I fully realise I am not the victim of this. I am not the one who is really getting hurt here. It is Behati and her children, and for that, I am so sorry.”
Stroh also clarified what she meant when she claimed she was manipulated.
“The most important part that I did definitely gloss over is the fact that I was under the impression that their marriage was over.
“I believed that they were keeping it quiet to avoid the negative press because, as I had said, I was new to LA, so I just assumed that with celebrities of that calibre, that that is just how it was,” she said.
“And that’s why I feel exploited, because he knew I believed everything that he said because of my vulnerable position of being new to LA,” she said.
“Also, he was DMing me straight from his verified Instagram account. I did not have any reason to further question it. But I now realise that that was likely a manipulation tactic of his, you know, just hiding in plain sight.” – The Vibes, September 20, 2022
