Amber Portwood is facing A LOT of trouble with the law. She has been charged with three felonies after allegedly attacking boyfriend Andrew Glennon… while he was holding their one-year old son… and she did so with a machete. Yes, a machete . As a result, Portwood has plenty to worry about moving forward. Will she return to jail, after spending 17 months behind bars in 2013 for an attack against ex-boyfriend Gary Shirley? Will she lose custody of little James, now that Andrew has filed for custody ? Will she be fired from Teen Mom OG? There’s very recent precedent for the latter to happen, as Jenelle Evans (Amber’s long-time rival) was given the boot by MTV just this past spring after her kids were taken away by the state in the wake of her own domestic violence scandal. So while we must leave the answers to the first two questions above to the legal system, we’re at least well-versed enough in the celebrity gossip universe to try our hands at the third. And that’s what we’re doing below. We’re bringing a raging debate within the offices of The Hollywood Gossip straight to your computer screens and we’re asking a trio of reporters to chime in with a response to the following question: SHOULD AMBER PORTWOOD BE FIRED FROM TEEN MOM OG? And the Winner is? Yes, she’s a menace! Click Here To Vote for YES No, give her a break! Click Here To Vote for NO Facing a trio of felony assault charges, should Amber Portwood be fired by MTV? View Poll » NO by Tyler Johnson No, Amber Portwood should not be fired from Teen Mom OG. And that’s not just my way of spouting what the kids like to call a “hot take.” Hear me out: By most accounts, Amber is a mean, angry, violent person whose worst qualities have only been exacerbated by her life of ease and wealth. The only reason I would argue she should not be fired is that I firmly believe the time has come for MTV executives to take an even bigger step and cancel the Teen Mom franchise entirely. Yes, the time has come to bid adieu to reality TV’s most problematic series. We suppose you could make a case that that title belongs to 90 Day Fiance , but we get the feeling that Colt and Larissa’s relationship would have been just as f-cked without the presence of a camera crew. In the case of Teen Mom, however, it seems that wealth and fame have had overwhelmingly negative impacts on the lives of the stars and, more importantly, their children. No one embodies this phenomenon more than the OG of the OGs, Amber Portwood. And, so, there’s no more appropriate time to pull the plug on the whole failed experiment. Sure, it’s somewhat unfair to the other Teen Moms, who would be indirectly punished for Amber’s indiscretions, but with the possible exception of Chelsea Houska, are any of their hands really clean at this point? These shows have been on so ridiculously long that just about every cast member has been caught in some sort of deeply regrettable behavior at one point or another. And one thing that’s certain to cause even further damage to the Moms’ battered reputations would be continued involvement in a show that supports perpetrators of domestic violence. Which is why we encourage them to join us in calling for an end to Teen Mom OG, Teen Mom 2, Teen Mom Unplugged, and every other iteration on MTV’s dream board. YES by Simon Delott We really just need to rundown the facts here. Andrew Glennon has accused Amber Portwood of domestic violence… but not just from the nightmare that (allegedly) went down on July 5. According to Amber’s long-time boyfriend, she’s hit him before. She’s threatened him before. She’s also threatened to hurt, or even kill herself, before. To make matters worse, in this latest case, this entire horror show went down in front of the couple’s one-year old baby. Amber was reportedly so intent upon abusing her partner that she was willing to risk her own child’s well-being. Just think about that for a moment. Let’s not forget that this is not Amber’s first violent rodeo, either; she previously served prison time for a domestic violence arrest against Gary Shirley. Apparently, somehow, that still wasn’t enough to deter her from an alleged attack against her most recent baby daddy. There is no excuse, ever, for striking a loved one or a member of your family. We won’t question Andrew’s motives for staying as long as he did, but we’d encourage anyone who is hit by a partner — even once — to get out of that relationship as quickly and efficiently as possible. But back to this question: No, she shouldn’t appear on our screens any longer. She probably shouldn’t be allowed to care for her son again for a very long time again, either. YES by Hilton Hater It’s one thing to glorify the life of a teenage mother. This was the reason why the entire franchise came under fire early on, as many critics reacted in shock and horror to a show that gave a platform (and lots of money) to young women who had simply gotten pregnant by accident. Yes, a child is a blessing and all that stuff. And, no, I’m not here to shame any teenage mother. But almost no 16-year old is equipped for parenthood, the argument has gone, and a program such as Teen Mom runs the danger of making this situation almost attractive , promising fame and fortune to those who get pregnant at such a young age. However, we now have reality shows that glorify quickie weddings and engagements; that glorify drinking and arguing and fighting and being really rich and narcissistic and filming yourself having sex with Ray J and being overweight — and one needs to basically push for the elimination of reality television as a genre if one wants to eliminate Teen Mom from the fold. That may be an interesting question to ponder for some other time. For now, though, we’re just here to talk about Amber Portwood and this seems like a really obvious one. Like we said at the outset: It’s one thing to glorify the life of a teenage mother. It’s another thing to glorify the life of a (former) teenage mother with admitted mental health issues who is prone to violence, even in the wake of her young child. I wish Amber the best and I hope she receives the help she very clearly needs. But I hope she gets it without any cameras around.
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Amber Portwood: Should She Be Fired from Teen Mom OG?
