Maci Bookout has caught a lot of flack over the years for her seemingly unwavering support of her Teen Mom co-star Amber Portwood and— in a new interview on Kail Lowry‘s Barely Famous podcast— Maci defended her decision to stand by Amber, despite the many controversial things Amber has done over the years.
Maci acknowledged that she and her other longtime co-star, Catelynn Lowell, have been criticized by fans for continuing to support Amber but stated, “I don’t really care.”
As The Ashley has reported, Amber told fans last month that Maci and Catelynn were mad at her after she flipped them off on TikTok Live during a rant about her co-stars. She later apologized online to the girls, but stated that they are still upset with her. During her interview with Kail— which was recorded before the Flip-Off Fiasco in March— Maci made it clear that would always stand by Amber, even if she doesn’t agree with everything she does.
“Anyone’s opinion on the type of friend I am or how I show up for my friend doesn’t matter to me,” Maci insisted. “I’m not going to stop caring and showing up for anyone that I love because you disagree with it.”
Maci, Catelynn and Amber all appeared together on the first season of 16 and Pregnant in 2009, and all went on to appear on Teen Mom and its spin-offs. Over the years, Maci has been a dedicated friend to Amber— even showing up to lend her support during Amber’s 2019 criminal court hearing for committing domestic violence against her baby daddy Andrew Glennon.
Just last year, Maci high-tailed it to North Carolina to fetch a devastated Amber after her fiancé, Gary “Gary 2.0” Wyat ditched her and went on the run during a vacation.
“She’s having a rough go of it this year, she’s doing the best she can. There’s a lot going on and honestly it’s not really my place to say all the things, but she’s had a rough go of it,” Maci said of Amber on Kail’s podcast.
Maci said she can understand why ‘Teen Mom’ fans think that she and Catelynn blindly support Amber and never call her out on her bad behavior, but Maci insisted that’s not the case.
“I think that’s one of the things that is almost never shown,” Maci said. “Between the three of us– me, Cate and Amber— we will always be there for each other and support each other. But we are also the first people to check each other and be like, ‘Hey, you have to do something about this’ or ‘Hey, that’s not alright, like, what are we doing? Come on.’
“It’s almost never shown [on ‘Teen Mom’] and honestly it could be because it’s something that doesn’t really happen on camera, maybe,” she added. “…I think sometimes support looks like checking someone. And showing them a different point of view or how they could alter their behavior a little bit, without judgement or being hateful. It’s very possible for all of those things to simultaneously exist.”
Kail— who’s not exactly the authority on maintaining friendships with co-stars— stated that you don’t always have to agree with what your friend does, something Maci enthusiastically concurred with.
“I feel like no matter what sort of tragedies or trials or tribulation, everyone needs a support system of some sort,” Kail said. “By support I think that could include people that don’t agree with your choices but are still there to be a support system for you.”
Maci then spoke about the deepness of her relationships with Amber and Catelynn, which she says is due to the fact that they are some of the only people who have lived the ‘Teen Mom’ life.
“Cate and Amber and I are more than friends,” Maci said. “We get things that other people could never understand. There are so many things I could talk to you, [Kail], about and it’s like, you 100 percent understand, you get it, you know where I’m coming from…it’s just such an extraordinary thing. It’s built on a not-ordinary foundation. It’s really crazy and really special actually.”
“There’s such a unique dynamic between all of us, even the ones we haven’t see in 10 years because of the show and everything else,” Kail added.
Maci insisted that she’s not friends with Amber and Catelynn for the benefit of ‘Teen Mom’ storylines.
“That’s one thing that does irritate me, [when people think], ‘Oh they’re just friends because we’re on the show.’…” Maci said. “At this point, me and Catelynn and Amber have known each other longer than we haven’t.”
You can listen to the full episode of Barely Famous featuring Maci below!
