Amber Portwood is known for her infamous rants on Instagram Live— tearing apart everyone from her Teen Mom franchise co-stars, to her critical fans, to even her baby daddy Gary Shirley and his wife Kristina. On Tuesday’s episode of Teen Mom OG, though, Gary finally revealed to Amber the effect her social media screaming sessions are having on their 13-year-old daughter, Leah.
After Gary agreed to tag along to Amber’s psychiatrist appointment (which was shown on-camera, naturally), he called Amber out for embarrassing Leah with her rants, and informed her that Leah (as well as her friends) have watched the videos of Amber screaming online.
“Your videos— whether it’s directed towards her fans, or if it’s directed towards us, Leah sees that and she doesn’t, like, want that.”
As ‘Teen Mom OG’ fans know, Leah is currently estranged from Amber, despite Amber’s desperate attempts to rebuild their relationship. During one episode this season, Leah told Gary and Kristina that she was particularly upset after Amber ranted about Kristina online, calling her a “wh0re,” a “homewrecker,” a “liar” and a heap of other unsavory things.
“I love Kristina and [Amber] tried to hurt somebody that I love!” Leah protested. “I can’t love somebody that tries to hurt other people.”
During the therapy session, Gary made it clear to Amber that her inability to control herself online has caused problems for Leah at school.
“What happens is, some of [Leah’s] friends follow [Amber], and, you know, see it to,” Gary said. “Then they see it and it’s embarrassing for Leah.”
Amber— who has been diagnosed with both Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder— blamed her infamous “Kristina is a homewrecker” rant on her mental illnesses.
“I was having a really horrible manic episode and you go through mania for a couple of weeks and you talk a lot of s**t and then, like, you just feel horrible afterwards and when you get down [from the mania], you’re like, ‘Oh man, how do I fix this? Can I fix this?’
“How do you explain that to a 12-year-old?” Amber added.
Amber’s psychiatrist also explained to Amber how harmful her Instagram ranting can be to her daughter.
“[Leah’s] peers are not on TV,” he said. “And so they probably don’t totally understand it. And I’m not saying that you, Amber, don’t need to be careful about what you post. I think you do, and I actually think you’ve been doing overall a better job than way back when.”
Amber then informed Gary that she now has her manager handling her Instagram account.
“This is my last chance [with Leah] literally,” Amber later tells Gary. “I feel it.”
(The Ashley will be recapping this full episode soon, but until then, click here to read her most-recent ‘Teen Mom OG’ recap!)
(Photos: MTV)
27 Responses
I know a lot of BPD people and BP people. Most don’t have Instagram accounts. Maybe Ambien should consider deleting her instagram account if that’s the problem and if Instagram makes her rant and rave.
I have friends and family members who have a wide variety of mental illness, including bipolar. And they don’t act like Amber. Because they take their medications as prescribed and meet with their therapists as they need. PLUS just because you’re manic doesn’t mean you get excused for your shitty behavior. That’s a cop out.
Garry should just co parent, and stop coddling Amber, Garry needs to support his wife more.
As someone diagnosed with bipolar and borderline, I will say she’s right there are times where is almost physically impossible for me to control my mouth I do crazy off-the-wall stuff and I say some very hurtful things however I know I’m doing it and the older I’ve gotten the more I’ve learned to control it I will say taking drugs and other narcotics makes it worse and less they’re prescribed and very very diligently watched those drugs will not help you they’ll make you worse so I’m assuming she’s abusing her medication and probably supplementing with others I’ve been living this way for more than 10 years and for the 10 years before that everyone just thought I was a psycho crazy evil human being but if you want to control yourself you can are there triggers for those things they’re absoluteOr however I don’t put myself in positions to have that stuff happened I don’t go on Twitter and read bad things about myself and attack random people I don’t use machetes and try to kill people I don’t throw flip-flops and I certainly don’t look for men to control with my money so while Amber probably has some impulse control issues with her mental illness it’s not making her a bad person she just is a bad person she is a selfish immature evil bad person. Stop making people with your diagnoses look as bad as you because we’re nothing like you we don’t act like trash
Gary is trying to reason with a mentally ill person that is self medicating with drugs not prescribed, along with prescribed drugs not taken correctly, if at all. A losing battle. Walk away, have minimal contact, protect Leah from her as best you can. In the meantime, change the locks, get an alarm system, buy a gun, and get a big bad dog, or a little yappy one. If you’re lucky she’ll bring a machete to a gun fight. Because she’s not done making you all pay. She’s a crazy dulitional person surrounded by YES people, dangerous.
Gary trying to reason with a drug addict.
I don’t know if she’s dulitional, but I think she’s delusional.
“Leah is currently estranged from Amber, despite Amber’s desperate attempts to rebuild their relationship”
Has she made any desperate attempts though?? Half assed ones sure, but she hasn’t ACTUALLY ever attempted to have a relationship with her daughter.
THIS!
Whamber has done nothing but whine about Leah (a child) not understanding her and her situation. Instead of being a RILL WOMAN and putting herself in her daughters shoes to understand the effects this has on her.
Amber doesn’t try. She doesn’t even pretend to try. Amber behaves in an entitled spoiled way that has nothing to do with her mental illnesses. And everything to do with the type of person Amber is. Selfish. And a damn shit mom.
Im sorry but Gary sold his soul (and wife and kid) for some MTV checks .. Ambers last chance with Leah was a long time ago and she missed it.
Why Gary should do is protect his daughter and respect har choice of not wanting that “rill woman” in her life ..
Completely agree.
He stays under Amber’s thumb for the money.
I hate this psychiatrist. He clearly is validity whatever Amber says, and just gaslighting anyone who bucks to Amber, and the fact that he films all her sessions, is proof he doesn’t care about the ethical part.
There is nothing good that can come out of Leah doing family therapy with this man, she would be better off just doing one one one with a quality ethical therapist.
Also, while Amber has the mentality of a child, she’s not, so stop seeing a child psychiatrist.
Who is paying the sessions? If Amber (or Ambers medical insurance) then the therapist will be more biased to Amber.
NOT saying all therapists are this way but it seems like when there are reality stars and tv money involved, ethics go out the window.
I mean yes and no.
In most cases, you typically pay for your own therapy, but the therapist’s job really isn’t to take sides, it’s to help you figure out what you want to do. So even if Amber or MTV is footing the bill it wouldn’t matter.
Now if MTV hired this man to just be an educator, like a common theme this season. His entire job would be just to explain what a typical BPD and/or BP person manifests like, not justify the behavior, or talk about Amber’s case specifically. That would be different but they don’t, they bill him as Amber’s therapist.
Amber talks about this guy like he’s doing the work, and I can’t see anything about this type of therapy, where Amber can’t be open and honest is worrying about the optics because of the cameras or is only seeing him on camera or the fact that he’s child psychiatrist as being helpful for anyone in this situation. Other than to his doctor’s bank account.
So if Amber went to a therapist and the goal of the therapy was to build a relationship with her daughter the therapist would help her achieve that goal, even when sometimes it’s not what Amber wants to hear.
So if Gary is telling the therapist that her going on late-night Instagram manic rants and calling Kristina a wh0re and a homewrecker is a big part of why Leah doesn’t want to see Amber. Then the therapist would tell their client to stop posting on social media, and if you can’t just delete the app. Not justify the actions, oh because you have BPD or BP its okay, because you know you have mental illness all your behavior is okay. Like having a diagnosis is not an excuse it’s just an explanation. And SHe still is accountable for her actions. And I would go one step further once you know you are BDP then you more accountable for your actions because you now know why it’s happening and has been prescribed the medicine and tools to manage it and if you still refuse to do it, that’s a bigger problem.
If Leah doesn’t feel like her mom is in the picture, that would mean having Amber start being stable. So if Gary doesn’t feel comfortable with Amber around Leah alone or Leah doesn’t want to go do one on one things with Amber start with things in group settings. Get a couple of her schedules from the school/activities at the beginning of the year and go to every practice, game, recital, volunteer to be a girl scout troop leader, PTA, etc. Amber doesn’t have a traditional job, she can go to all these things. There are ways you can show your kid you care, and are going to be there for them without having any custody of them.
Amber’s main problem is her worthless ‘adolescent’ psychiatrist. After all these years he’s still letting her get away with not being accountable for her actions – something a Doc worth their pay requires of a truly adolescent patient before they hit adulthood which Amber did, how many years ago? And, would have transferred her to an adult psych when she hit 20-21.
There’s no way she should still be getting away with her emotional outbursts and lack of accountability with or without her diagnoses! Her medication isn’t being adjusted properly – or she isn’t taking it properly because it should be controlling her moods MUCH better than we’ve seen! And her lack of motivation should have been greatly reduced by her meds – if she was taking it correctly or if her doc was prescribing it correctly.
Her Doc isn’t doing right by her & that’s why she keeps going to him. He lets her get away with her excuses & BS & she can continue to use him to perpetuate the pity-me story she uses for sympathy with MTV viewers & her fans so she never has to be accountable for anything.
And is N.E.V.E.R, ever going to change unless the people in her life start to hold her accountable. So far, the only person who has done it is Leah! Bi-polar disorder does not cause outbursts/meltdowns like Amber suggests & neither does Borderline Personality Disorder. The things Gary & Leah have problems with are her lack of impulse control & her not following through or meeting her obligations – things that can be learned and/or managed & controlled with medication & therapy/behavior modification & being held accountable. IMO, Amber will never change because there’s no reason for her to – she’s learned to like the life she’s created for herself by manipulating those around her – from a tv network & employers, relatives, friends, & even her own children. She’s got it made being the way she is! Hell, there’s no reason for her to change. She’s making tons of money doing it, too! smh
I like the idea of Gary speaking honestly with Amber in a controlled environment, especially because if violence does occur the therapist must report it.
We all know therapy is just Amber’s latest attempt to manipulate Gary, Leah, and the audience for sympathy. I would suggest Gary, Kristina, and Leah seek therapy away from Ambie so they can all learn the appropriate boundaries with her. Garbear seems stuck in that toxic relationship and poor Kristina is trying to be supportive but you can see it’s wearing on her and that’s not right.
What exactly is Amber responsible for in her life? Everything she does wrong gets blamed on mental illness, not because she’s a genuinely horrible person.
Just give up.
Move on with your life Amber. Leave Gary, Leah and Kristina behind. You are ruining their lives.
Focus on the bi weekly days you get with the other one, bc he’s affected by your crack attacks too.
isn’t she taking her meds? like mood stabilizers stop u from having manic periods, so what is it, is she looking high coz meds or is she manic coz no meds? she needs a reality check our rill woman from gel, she should hire someone that takes her back to a stable routine so she can take care of her health, i get it when she waz younger she didn’t want to miss out on the fun but now she is a biological mother of 2 and sitting on a couch all day long is not helping.
I wish Gary would put his foot down for once with Amber and tell it like it is: cut the crap, straighten up and fly right if you really want Leah in your life.
She hasn’t apologised (on camera) to Christina, doubt she’s done it off camera.
I don’t get why Gary pussy-foots so much around Amber. Is he trying to suck up so she won’t dump him from the show, aka Maci & Rhine? Is he trying to keep that sweet MTV $$ rolling in? Is he scared of her getting physical again?
Best thing Gary could do is quit MTV, work a 9-5 and guard Leah’s privacy & feelings closely by cutting out her bio mum.
You don’t need your manager to “handle” your Instagram account.
You need them to DELETE it. For good.
Find a new place/hobby for your manic attacks. Exercise, paint, scream in a bag. Open up an Etsy store for headscarfs for the blind.
If you want any kind of future relationship with your kid, DELETE DELETE DELETE.
Seems kind of simple to me.
HEADSCARVES FOR THE BLIND LOL
Good grief Gary Stop kissing her butt!!
Stop being an enabler, all for mtv cash ?
Amber did the dog eat your homework too?
??
Excuses. She blames EVERY single thing on her mental illnesses. Literally everything. At some point, she needs to take accountability that sometimes she is just a shitty person who means what she says on Instagram. She absolutely meant to call Kristina a whore and say what she said about her. Stomp blaming your mental illnesses on everything.
The manager must have been sick because Amber went live on IG last week I believe.
Maybe she should have that manager change the password and not give it to her.
Shut the fuck up, Amber, you lost your last chance with Leah Yeats ago
Wtf is this moron’s problem?? I’ll tell you. She’s a shitty fucking person, period. Only cares about herself because I’ve not seen nor heard her apologize to Kristina ONCE, nor to her daughter. ‘But my manic episodes bla bla bla.’ No. You don’t get to blame it on a manic episode. It’s not like Tourette’s, Amber. You have control over the shit you say & respond to, those are CHOICES. You suck as a human being, as a mother, as a person. She needs to leave Leah alone. She doesn’t want to fool with Amber’s bullshit anymore. Read the room, Gary!!!!