Amber Portwood shared a series of videos on her Instagram live page on Tuesday, November 13, and in them, the Teen Mom OG star was seen crying about the way she’s been portrayed by MTV on the popular reality series.
One week after the mother of two announced plans to leave the show after eight seasons, Amber addressed the ongoing bullying and “bad mom” allegations.
“Today is my daughter’s birthday and I feel I get so much hate. I am Leah’s mom and I literally made a birthday cake for her birthday. We had a birthday party for her with Gary, Kristina, and everybody, and I just really don’t understand how I’m a bad mom. I really don’t,” she began.
According to Amber, she continues to be harassed on social media by fans who have to reminded her of her past troubles, which include a 17-month prison stint and an addiction to drugs.
“I haven’t done anything to be a bad mom. I literally did something 10 years ago that people are still holding onto,” she explained. “It’s my daughter’s birthday and I baked her a whole cake. She helped me make it yesterday and had so much fun doing it. Today is her actual birthday and we all were over there spending time with her.”
“Me and Leah have such an amazing relationship and we’re really close,” Amber continued. “I don’t know how the hell you guys can keep calling me a bad mom when I did absolutely nothing but exactly what I’m supposed to do. Everything I’ve been doing is all I can do. I can’t go and steal my daughter. I’m there for my daughter whenever she needs me. I talk to her everyday. Anytime she wants to see me, she can see me.”
Amber feels that while she has stepped up as a mom to her 10-year-old daughter over the past several years, MTV continues to portray her as a villain on the show.
“This show has seriously ruined my image as a mom when the truth has not even been put out there,” she said. “I have such a great relationship with her. I don’t understand where the bad mom comes from. I’m always there for her. I don’t know what you guys are saying. Just because you guys don’t see us together all that time doesn’t mean that’s the way it is.”
“My daughter loves me to death,” Amber added. “She doesn’t not want to come to her house because of me. She just wants to stay with her friends. That’s it. It’s not me. I’m so sorry that you guys have been watching the show and this is what you think of me. I wish you guys could really see what our life is really like and how great we are together.”
“Anything that I did nine or 10 years ago is something I did nine or 10 years ago. It’s not something that should be thrown in my face. The only person that needs to forgive me is Gary and God. I don’t need to be told I’m a bad mom anymore,” Amber told viewers. “That isn’t me. That hasn’t been me for a long time.”
“These last couple of seasons, I’ve done everything in my life to be there for Leah and I don’t have Leah, primary custody, and I never wanted to ruin her life,” she said. “I never wanted her to see me go through hardships and I think that was the most unselfish thing I could do at the time. It wasn’t a lazy thing, I’m not always in bed.”
When the eighth season of Teen Mom OG was first announced earlier this year, Amber spoke out against the network after they left her out of a promo clip of the then-upcoming season that featured her two co-stars, Maci Bookout and Catelynn Lowell.
“It’s straight up bullying because of bullsh*t lies. The show has really ruined my life. My name has been smeared and it’s not me,” Amber said of the image MTV has created. “Anybody who knows me knows how much I love Leah and who I am as a person and how much I’ve done for Leah.”
“When you are getting bullied this much compared to the other girls, it’s really hard,” she continued. “People are f**king laughing. Nothing is funny about this. You guys are disgusting. This sh*t is disgusting. You bully every single thing that happens on this show. That’s sad… F**k you for being a**holes to me for no reason.”
“All I ever wanted to help you guys, to help you guys get off drugs and stay sober and happy and healthy and I get bashed for it,” she said. “So, if you want to know why I feel like I need to leave MTV then that’s the reason. If I am not going to be able to show who I really am today, then I’m not going to keep taking this bullying from it. It’s not correct.”
In closing, Amber told her viewers that while she is “very independent, strong f**king woman,” she just doesn’t know if she can continue to appear on Teen Mom OG if her story is not going to be told accurately.
“My next journey is going to be helping people and I have a great team behind me. But I hope you guys see the truth and really understand that not everything you see is the truth,” she concluded.
To watch Amber’s entire video, check out the Twitter clips below.
https://twitter.com/AnonOpinion411/status/1062168576251949057
https://twitter.com/AnonOpinion411/status/1062170686842527744
Teen Mom OG season eight airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on MTV.