Amber Portwood‘s days on Teen Mom are over, and she insists that it was her choice to leave the show, not the show’s producers.
In a long conversation on TikTok Live on Saturday, Amber— who has been with the franchise since she appeared on 16 and Pregnant in 2009— claimed that she was not fired and that she actually informed the show’s higher-ups that she was done earlier this week.
“You’re not about to say that you’re dropping me when I quit [the show] three days ago!” Amber declared. “And I told the producer that.”
Amber— who has been ranting on TikTok Live almost non-stop over the past few weeks about her baby daddy Gary Shirley, as well as how the current season of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, was “lies” made up to make her look bad— bragged that, even if the show goes on, it will not be as successful without her.
You think this is going to be easy, with me going, after what’s going on?” Amber continued. “You think I’m scared? Like, y’all know I ain’t got that kind of fear! They know that, not only do I not fear that, but I don’t care. How you gonna cancel somebody who doesn’t give a damn? You’re gonna cancel me? Because I already quit, so nice try guys. Nice try. I already got ahold of my agent …
Earlier this week, The Ashley spoke to her behind-the-scenes sources about Amber’s fate on the show, after she vowed on Live to have the show cancelled. According to two different production sources, Amber was already on thin ice.
“To my knowledge she has not been officially let go, though, but she’s basically asking to be fired so it’s doubtful she will continue on,” one source told The Ashley on Tuesday.
According to a second source, removing Amber from the cast may have already been in the works months ago, given that Amber was not invited to attend the Season 2B Reunion, which was filmed in January in New York City.
“Gary and Leah were there, but Amber was not invited,” one source told The Ashley. “She didn’t ‘decline’ to go– she was not asked to go.”
Anyway, Amber insisted on her Live on Saturday that she couldn’t be fired because she had already quit.
“But, yes, guys, I left. A few days ago. And now all of a sudden they’re saying they’re going to let me go. You’re gonna let somebody go who doesn’t even work for you? Stupid….I’ve been so loyal to them for all of these years because I thought they were a certain way with me and I thought I’d be so happy.”
Although Amber didn’t come out and say it, she implied that the producers weren’t thrilled that she was frequently ranting about the show on social media.
“They know that I’m going to tell the truth about things and there’s not one thing they can do about it because it’s the truth,” Amber said. “What are they going to do, come after me legally? I’ve known these people for so long, I wish they would [come after me]. Like, get away…bring it on, honey.”
Amber stated that, compared to all the things she’s been through, leaving the job she’s had since she was a knocked-up 17-year-old is nothing.
“Give me my last check and go on then,” Amber added.
Elsewhere in the Live, Amber bragged about that the success of the ‘Teen Mom’ franchise is thanks to her, and the other original girls.
“Producers: me, Maci [Bookout] and Cate [Lowell] are the reason you guys are successful,” she said. “Our stories are the reason why you’re successful. So, why are you coming at us?… Why are they comin’ after the original girls like that?”
Amber then advised Catelynn— who is currently upset with Amber because she flipped her and Maci off on Live earlier this week— to jump ship with her.
“And I was told [producers are] coming at Cate too and lying about Cate? Girl, leave them! Cate, leave them!” Amber said. “I know you’re mad at me right now from the misunderstanding from ANOTHER LIE that MTV probably knew about, too. .. Girl, we ran that show when we started this.”
“We were like Top 3, Top 5 out of all cable shows, out of ratings when we started,” Amber continued. “….We’ve given so much to these people and you’re about to sit there and do that to me, and try to act like you’re dropping me? Y’all how many times have I tried to leave them?
“…Cate, leave the show too! It feels good,” Amber added. “…Run, Cate, run, because it’s only gonna get worse. And they’re not gonna stop. Now that I’m gone, they’re gonna need a villain or something. Or not a villain but some crazy drama…if they start this s**t with Cate, I will be livid.
“…if I’m gone who’s gonna be the villain for them? Who’s going to play that role and who are they going to keep lying about? Who are they going to have their little puppets keep making up stories and lying about?” Amber said.
“There’s puppets who are attached to us girls…they don’t want me talking, but they crossed me so bad guys. So bad.”
She then brought up Jenelle Evans, whom Amber claims was “used” by producers.
“I can’t even go against Jenelle about that. I can’t,” she said, adding that producers made her the villain after Jenelle and Farrah were gone.
“They’re trying to come at me because they know that I’m not gonna sit here and lie!” Amber said, before hinting that she feels she could make a good legal case against MTV for defamation. “I’ve already had conversations with an entertainment lawyer but I just decided not to [do anything legally].”
While Amber’s time on ‘Teen Mom’ is through, she insisted that she has plenty of other opportunities.
“You think my s**t is over? The day after I already had stuff moving, so…” she said.
“My mental health is so much more important to me right now. I just started to feel so down, and I started to see what they’re pushing, all this crazy stuff…that tore my heart out. Can you imagine? Obviously, you guys know that Leah’s been kept away from me for almost two years now. Again, that’s the truth. And they lied about it again. And I hope everything comes out about Gary.
“…It didn’t even have to be this way… can you imagine them saying they’re gonna let me go when I just told a producer three days ago [that I quit]?” she said. “It’s not done through a contract yet because I just said it three days ago. So they’re just trying to hurry up to it, before me and my agency does. Which is weird.”
“They’ve got their little puppets [on the show] but the ones that aren’t, like me, the ones who are old school– me, Mace and Cate— we’re not. Because we came from the docu-series world!”
Later in the Live, Amber admitted that she knows she’ll be “poor for a while” but vowed to just keep doing her “job.”
“It’s not gonna be the way I think certain people think it’s gonna pan out,” she said. “I already know, I’ve already been prepared for months…guys, I’m not dumb to this. I caught on to this months ago…I’ve got almost 20 years [on TV] under my belt now. So, I’m not just going to be fading away.”
It is unknown whether or not Gary and their daughter Leah will continue on with the show. The Ashley will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.
