Which mercurial, controversial Teen Mom cast member do you think is worse overall, Jenelle Evans or Amber Portwood?
Tough question, right? There’s a whole, whole lot to consider when comparing these two deeply troubled young women.
Number of arrests, levels of drug use, how many kids they’ve traumatized and how badly … you could use so many metrics.
It’s no small task to tally everything up, but since Amber is still filming Teen Mom OG and Jenelle was fired last year, well …
Looks like MTV conducted an evaluation of the two and came down squarely on the side of the machete-wielding Portwood.
And Jenelle is pissed, to say the absolute least.
Evans believes that if she got booted out the door by the network, Amber should be gone just as fast. But don’t take it from us.
Here’s what the Carolina Hurricane has to say …
A Look Back
As we all know, Jenelle got fired last year after a series of very unfortunate events.
Ugh, This Guy
It had been a long time coming — David was fired all the way back in 2018 after making some pretty nasty homophobic remarks on Twitter.
Classic David
And ever since then, he seemed to do whatever he could to make Jenelle’s filming schedule difficult.
Fair
It got to the point where crew members were so uncomfortable that a new rule was put in place that prevented them from even being around when David was there — they filmed Jenelle at different locations away from The Land, and if David showed up, they packed up and left.
A Struggle
It couldn’t have been easy to film a reality show without interacting with the star’s husband, but they managed it for a while.
Oh, Nugget …
And then David killed Nugget last spring, and everything pretty much went to hell.
Scary
David had been getting increasingly violent and aggressive — who could forget Jenelle’s harrowing 911 call? — and that’s why the Teen Mom crew didn’t feel safe being around him, but the Nugget thing was at a whole new level.
A Mess
Police opened an investigation, all the kids were temporarily removed from their custody — it was bad.
No More Teen Mom
And as all of that was happening, MTV announced that they’d no longer be filming with Jenelle.
So Much
A whole bunch of other stuff has happened since then — she left David, got back together with David, all kinds of stuff that doesn’t make her look great. But that’s the story of how she got fired.
Real Talk
And honestly, she could have gotten fired at several points over the years — when she lost custody of Jace when he was less than a year old and stopped living much of a teen mom life, when she couldn’t stop getting arrested, when she did drugs in front of the crew, or when she pulled a gun on some guy with Jace in the care beside her.
Yep
And the same thing could be said for Amber — she could have been fired at several points as well.
Memories
Like Jenelle, Amber struggled with drug use on the show, but unlike Jenelle, she actually went to prison for it.
Well, Yeah
That and domestic violence. But while Jenelle has been arrested several times, she’s never actually been convicted of anything.
Oof
Amber, however, has been convicted of multiple felonies after assaulting Gary Shirley and again after assaulting Andrew Glennon.
So Many Similarities
Like Jenelle, she’s been known to bring super sketchy guys around her children — remember when she met that random guy at Walmart and let him come into her house and change baby Leah’s diaper?
Facts
Essentially Jenelle was the Amber of Teen Mom 2, except instead of being super aggressive and violent herself, she’s been with guys like that.
Makes Sense
And that’s why she’s been complaining about being fired by MTV while Amber doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
Can’t Blame Her
She mentioned her feelings on the subject in her new Q&A video she shared on YouTube last weekend — when asked if she was “pissed” about Amber still having a spot on Teen Mom OG, she said “Honestly, it bothers me.”
OK
“I mean, I think that it’s very unfair, and I didn’t really do anything wrong,” she added. “So, I’ll leave it at that.”
Hold Up
One could argue that she definitely did do something wrong in continuing to stay with David after everything and forcing her kids to live with him, but we get what she’s saying.
Cool
But just in case there was any confusion, she elaborated on her feelings a bit more in a new interview with Hollywood Life.
Hmmm
“I have spoken with my old producers many times about this,” she explained. “They still claim I was not fired’ but ‘let go for a season.'”
Weird
She’s been complaining about this for a while now — in MTV’s statement on the matter, they were pretty vague in their language, saying that they were choosing not to film her at that time.
But Why?
She had a meeting with them in New York back in October and potentially appearing on either Teen Mom or some other show in some capacity, and she’s still got a contract with them for now, so it looks like they have been keeping her on the hook for a long time.
Missed Opportunities?
While she’s under contract with them she’s not able to do tons of other shows, but she’s not getting paid either, so it must be frustrating.
Huh?
But she said that when she asked about Amber’s situation, “They said ‘well Amber didn’t leave a paper trail for what she did,’ whatever that means.”
WHAT?
If that’s true, that’s the dumbest thing we’ve ever heard — there are piles and piles of evidence that Amber verbally and physically abused Andrew (and Gary, of course, back in the day), and that she did it in front of baby James. She pled guilty to in court, and she’s now on probation. What more of a “paper trail” do they need to prove Amber is an awful person?
Sure
About her own firing, Jenelle said “I am guessing they are still holding me responsible for my husband’s actions, even though I did not do anything wrong.”
She’s Got a Point
“David wasn’t ever charged with any sort of crime, but Amber was and left a paper trail through Ring Cameras in her house that were released online,” she argued.
Bless This Mess
“Amber showed her sword to the public online and bragged that it says ‘Mother Goddess’ after the incident with Andrew occurred,” she continued.
There It Is
“Over the years MTV has filmed me on drugs, giving custody of my son to my mom, filmed while in dangerous situations… and they never cared because they always got their ratings.”
Right, Right
“I don’t understand what’s worse than my past that is currently happening now,” she complained.
We See It
She said that “My story just stopped and fans still want to follow my journey. I feel chewed up and spit out.”
… Yay?
She did try to end her interview on a positive note, saying “I can go on and on but I’m moving forward with my life and have other opportunities/projects I’m focusing on. My team is awesome now and wouldn’t trade them for the world.”
Ouch
But still, as much as it pains us to say it, she’s 100% right with this.
Some Theories
Really, one of only two things could be happening here: one, MTV is worried that Teen Mom OG won’t be able to stay on the air without Amber’s drama.
Understandable
Or two, they fired Jenelle because David is this huge guy who’s been threatening and scary and who goes on and on about all his weapons, but they kept Amber because she’s never really been aggressive towards the crew, just her boyfriends.
Too True
Either way, it’s truly bizarre that after everything she’s done over the years, Amber still has such a high-profile job.
So Disappointing
And we’ll never forgive her for, among many other things, making us side with Jenelle Evans.