Oh, Teen Mom … what a delightful show, huh?
It’s got everything you could want in a reality show.
There’s drama of all sorts — between family members, in romantic relationships, with exes.
We’ve seen arrests, fights, custody battles, hospitalizations, weddings, pregnancies, and so much more.
But could Teen Mom actually be fake?
Like 100% scripted nonsense?
Hmm …
OK, so we know that the Teen Mom cast is fond of complaining about MTV’s editing, right?
Really?
We’ve seen this a whole lot from some of the more dramatic cast members.
Right, Right
Jenelle has said that she’s considered quitting the show because they portray her and David Eason like a “freak show in cages,” and she’s said many times that she feels it’s unhealthy for her to be shown in such a bad light.
A Deadbeat?
Jeremy Calvert has done more than his fair share of ranting about MTV — his big problem is that on the show, he seems like an ignorant, racist, deadbeat dad, and apparently that’s not his truth.
Ouch
And who could forget that time that Tyler Baltierra told Catelynn Lowell that he didn’t “want no heiffer for a wife”? It caused quite the stir, but according to Tyler, the network was just out to make him look like “the POS baby daddy this season” to “help the ratings.”
Hungry Kids or No?
And when Leah Messer was going through her rough time, we saw one of her daughters scream and cry about being hungry. Several viewers were deeply concerned, but Leah let everyone know that the real issue was that her kid is “a drama queen.” Fair.
Not Good
One particularly sad instance of the show being manipulated happened when Kailyn Lowry was divorcing Javi Marroquin — she said that for one scene, producers asked her son, Isaac, questions about Javi until he started crying, then they started filming.
… What?
When Amber Portwood was still with Matt Baier, she accused the show of making him look bad, and she even let out a “F-ck MTV” in a big rant on an after-show. Now she probably realizes that no, he really was just that big a creep.
Chelsea Too?!
Even Chelsea, the show’s golden girl, has spoken out about this — she’s explained on Twitter that she’s noticed snippets from different conversations being added into some scenes to make one big dramatic Frankenstein scene.
Oh Wow
Jenelle is probably the cast member who complains about editing the most, and she once said that one of her big issues was then “MTV [hired] a director that judges you, hates you and wants to make you look bad.”
The Villain
Farrah Abraham said in an interview that one of the reasons she left the show was because “I just couldn’t take being villainized as a mother in front of my child anymore. I wanted to keep it docu-reality, like real life. I’m an amazing mother.”
Sure, Girl
“I look forward to doing scripted,” she added, “and you know, the show is getting a little bit scripted in its own right, so I think it was just a natural change into film.â€Â
Really Though?
That wasn’t the first time one of the stars has said the show is scripted — Mackenzie Standifer has called Teen Mom “a lame, fake, boring and scripted tv show,†one that “uses people’s life issues as a way to gather ratings and money.â€Â
Recovery
She said that she and Ryan Edwards left the show because “The network told us they don’t want to show Ryan as a recovering addict.”
Yikes
“But they did want to enter a contract with our unborn baby and have the baby film with Ryan’s parents so it would look like someone else is raising it,” she added.
What’s Real?!
So what’s going on? Is the show really fake? Is it actually scripted these days, or what?
The New Girl
We don’t know about the script thing, but according to a new rant from new Teen Mom OG cast member Bristol Palin, yep, there’s definitely something shady going on.
Holding It Down
She began her rant by saying that “If I cared what people thought of me, I wouldn’t be here today – let’s be real. I’ve stood strong and held it down for my kids since day one.”
The TRUTH
“No matter how bad @teenmom tries to portray my ‘life’ ….. my babies, my family, my close friends – they know the TRUTH.”
Pretty Great, Huh?
She said that “I’m a pretty great mom, work my ass off, show up, and hustle everyday to give my kids a pretty great life.”
However …
Unfortunately, “@mtv doesn’t want to talk about faith, show work ethic, or juggling three kids alone, they don’t want to show the humble process of starting over after a divorce, building a career, or any real life issues.”
Sorry, Jerry
“All they want with my little segment each week is some fake fill-in Farrah Abraham/Jerry Springer BS, and it’s simply not true.”
Baby Daddy Drama
“Don’t get me wrong,” she continued, “I’ve said some mean things and learned a lot the last several months – but the life I’ve built for my kids is NOT sitting around talking about baby daddy drama.”
SO Emo
Poor Bristol complained that “Every week is a continued disappointment with their inaccuracies and false narratives. I hate getting all emo on you guys but I’ve kept quiet for too long about it.”
Lies!
“Don’t believe everything you see on TV,” she concluded.
Lots to Consider
So this is all a whole lot of information to think about, right?
MTV, Why?
At this point, nearly every single cast member has called MTV out for portraying things in a negative light, or for using editing to change the actual reality of what’s going on in their lives.
Well …
And if nearly every single cast member is saying the same thing, there’s got to be at least a little bit of truth to it, right?
It Makes Sense
But the thing is … of course MTV is going to do that.
Sorry, Everybody
They’re making a reality show, not a documentary. Of course they’re going to sensationalize things, of course they’re going to show the most interesting bits of footage on the show — that’s how they get ratings, and that’s how they can manage to pay the cast members hundreds of thousands of dollars each season.
SO Sorry
So the cast members will either have to deal with that, or quit the show. It’s really not a complicated situation.