Report: Insiders reveal Hollywood's verdict on Adam Levine

As Adam Levine wrapped his arms around his supermodel wife Behati Prinsloo aboard a yacht in St Tropez last week, they looked happy as ever as they celebrated their wedding anniversary.

And on Sunday, the Maroon 5 frontman went a step further, publicly issuing a heartfelt tribute to his wife on Instagram: 'Twelve years married to my favorite human. I love you… over and over again for the rest of my life.'

So you'd be forgiven for forgetting that this couple - parents to daughters Dusty Rose, nine, Gio Grace, eight, and a three-year-old son whose name they have kept private - were once rocked by one of Hollywood's most explosive [sexually explicit texts] scandals.

Indeed, this anniversary also marked nearly four years since the now 47-year-old Levine's sexually charged messages to multiple women went public and nearly shattered his marriage. 

The way back has been hard-won, an insider tells the Daily Mail.

Levine and Prinsloo’s marriage is ‘healthier’ post scandal

'Their relationship is in a much healthier place than it was in the immediate aftermath of the scandal,' a source said. '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.'

It was September 2022 when Levine's polished image as a family man unraveled in real time. 

It all started on TikTok, when model Sumner Stroh, then aged 23, sent the internet into a frenzy when she claimed to have engaged in a 'year-long affair' with the singer, providing alleged screenshots of cringeworthy intimate messages.

'Essentially, I was having an affair with a man who's married to a Victoria's Secret model,' Stroh said at the time, referring to Prinsloo, now 38.

Stroh claimed that she and Levine 'were seeing each other for about a year.'

One alleged message from Levine read, 'It is truly unreal how [Expletive] hot you are.' 

At the time, Stroh said she was 'young,' 'naïve' and felt 'exploited.' She also claimed that she felt 'manipulated,' alleging Levine told her that his marriage was effectively over - until the announcement of Prinsloo's pregnancy with her third child told a very different story. 

In another text, Levine allegedly floated the idea of naming his unborn child after Stroh.

Within days, more women came forward with their own alleged messages, painting a pattern that was difficult to ignore.

Singer described his marriage as ‘complicated’ 

One woman claimed Levine wrote, 'I shouldn't be talking to you, you know [that] right?'

Another said he admitted, 'Yes but it's a bit complicated,' when questioned about his marriage.

Levine denied any physical affairs - but admitted at the time that he had 'crossed the line.'

'I used poor judgment in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner,' he said in a statement at the time. 'I did not have an affair, nevertheless, I crossed the line during a regrettable period in my life. In certain instances it became inappropriate.'

He added: 'My wife and my family is all I care about in this world. 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.'

But the damage was already done.

'Adam has spent the last several years trying to repair his public image following the texting scandal. It was a wake-up call on multiple levels,' our source said.

'It hit his ego, his public perception, and ultimately his earning potential.'

Before the scandal, Levine's reputation already carried an edge.  

Levine previously admitted to cheating 

He was the kid who formed a band at 15, the frontman who clawed his way through a decade of near-failure before Maroon 5 exploded with their 2002 album, Songs About Jane. 

He was also the man who openly admitted to loving women a little too much, who cycled through supermodels, threw decadent parties at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles and once declared in 2009 that monogamy is not in humanity's 'genetic makeup,' admitting that he had previously cheated.

But it all began to shift when his relationship with Prinsloo started in 2012, after a mutual friend connected them by email when Levine needed to cast a model for a Maroon 5 video. Though Prinsloo passed on the role, the pair kept messaging and met in person at a boxing gym in LA. 

They briefly split 2013, during which time Levine dated model Nina Agdal, before they were back together and engaged within the next year. 

As his relationship with Prinsloo took shape, however, Levine was also reinventing himself as a polished TV personality and judge on talent show The Voice. 

'I felt like people only knew me as a singer who dated pretty girls. A little bit of a bimbo. Maybe I was kind of a bimbo,' he told Cosmopolitan magazine in 2012

'I was the music dude that was naked all the time with the girls, and that's fine, no problem with that. But I wanted to create a little balance. When [The Voice] came around, I thought, "People now know that I have a brain."'

A second source said: 'Adam Levine is a super weird guy… he has not handled fame well. He is not warm and fuzzy, and he used to be arrogant.

'It has been hard on Behati as he has flirted with other women. She has just taken it. She has stood by his side because she is very in love with him.'

Model remained silent throughout scandal 

That loyalty became the quiet lifeline for their marriage. 

While the [sexually explicit texts] scandal played out publicly, Prinsloo largely stayed silent - appearing composed in paparazzi shots, stepping out with Levine as if to signal that whatever reckoning was happening, it would happen behind closed doors.

And, according to that second source, 'in recent years he has gotten better.' 

'He has learned to cope and is better at expressing himself and being present… he is truly grateful for all he has.'

Behind the scenes, they added, his father, Fred Levine - founder and owner of the Southern California-based boutique retail chain M Fredric - has been influential in that shift.

According to the source, 'his dad really helped him out there,' guiding Levine and encouraging him to work on his marriage and 'be a good man and a good example for his kids.'

The result, according to the insider, is a version of Levine that looks markedly different from the one who once thrived on ego and attention. 

Couple revived romance with regular dates 

'Adam won Behati back by spending more time with her and making her more of a priority,' the source said. 'They go on dates and do romantic things again.

'He's just not an easy guy overall, and he knows it. So he has been going out of his way to be more present and giving and happy.'

Meanwhile, Levine has had to face a reality that once would've been unthinkable: the spotlight doesn't belong to him alone anymore. 

'Ultimately, he realized the industry wasn't going to bend to him forever. He had to adapt or risk losing the career and lifestyle he'd built,' our first source said.

'These days, he's more focused on maintaining what he has,' the insider continued, 'whether that's through The Voice, Maroon 5, touring, or other projects.

'If that means checking his ego, staying more grounded, and eating a little humble pie, he's willing to do it.

'He could easily return to his [arrogant] ways, but as of right now he is keeping that in check.'

The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Levine for comment. 

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