The coparenting relationship between exes Amber Portwood and Gary Shirley is reportedly on the rocks…again.
The Teen Mom stars, who are parents to 16-year-old daughter Leah, have reportedly been filming a new season of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, and, while viewers last saw the exes seemingly getting along, they are currently not seeing eye-to-eye when it comes to child support for their daughter, Us Weekly reports.
“For a long time, they had a great relationship and considered each other to be extended family,” a source told the outlet. “But now, it’s getting rocky again.”
The source went on to state that Gary is accusing Amber of not paying him child support for Leah “for years,” and that he’s now considering taking Amber to court for back payments.
As fans of ‘Teen Mom’ may remember, Gary and Amber called it quits two years after Leah was born. Gary ultimately became the primary parent, with Leah living with him the majority of the time. (Leah continues to live full-time with Gary and Gary’s wife, Kristina Shirley, today.)
“Because [Gary and Amber’s] relationship was so long ago, Gary and Amber never set up formal protocols for payments,” the source for Us Weekly explained.
However, this is not entirely true. According to court records pulled by The Ashley, Gary and Amber settled their custody dispute in court in 2016. On May 13, 2016, it was decided that Amber and Gary would share joint legal custody of Leah, but that Gary would maintain primary physical custody. Amber was ordered to pay Gary $1200 a month in child support.
While Gary is accusing his former fiancée of skipping child support payments, a source close to Amber told Us Weekly that Amber has been paying Gary via cashier’s checks and cash over the years as she was supposed to be doing.
“ … She has some receipts,” the source said. “She’s been open with her struggles and it’s devastating this is happening with the father of her child.”
While the source didn’t elaborate on Amber’s “struggles,” fans of the show know that Amber and Leah have had a strained relationship over the years, one that arguably reached a new low last season when a family birthday dinner for Leah ended with the teen in tears after Amber called her a “d**k.”
While the mom and daughter went on to reunite later last season during some get togethers that included Amber’s then-fiancé Gary Wayt, Gary (aka OG Gary) revealed on TikTok in August that Amber hadn’t seen their daughter since June– the month that Gary 2.0 “went missing” after attending the wedding of Amber’s brother, Shawn Portwood, in North Carolina.
In addition to her relationship with Leah, Amber reportedly hopes to improve things between her and OG Gary moving forward.
“She’s worked so hard to overcome her challenges and she’s hoping things can turn around with Gary,” a source claimed.
Amber and Gary have not commented on the claims regarding the alleged child support discrepancy, nor has MTV officially announced a new season of ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter.’
(Photos: MTV; Instagram)
24 Responses
She has GOT to be the whinest person on that show!! She’s also the most FULL OF HERSELF! She likes to act like she is some BAMF. Her threats are ridiculous!! Im a 60 y.o. woman who COULD literally,
Kick her ass, and thats not an empty threat. Been there done that TOO MANY times.
But…. first she’s an addict, then she went to jail, then she was bipolar, then she met the dad to her other child (WHO HAS FULL custody) then got in trouble for some sort of Machete crap, then that Matt guy “apparently” stole from her and she accused him of cheating, then she was bisexual, then she acts like she’s this awesome mom (continually), all the while NEVER bothering to fight for a relationship with Leah!! She’s so DESPERATE for a man that her daughter is “worthy” of being called a dick?? WHO TF DOES THAT?! AMBER does!!!!
As many men as she’s had, you’d think she’d get the hint that the issue is HER! I have NEVER liked her!
I have had ENOUGH hearing about ambers “struggles”!!!!! Sure, every human has struggles but most of us are not fortunate enough to not have to work, live in big comfortable homes while watching Netflix all day. There is absolutely no reason amber has not paid child support (amongst other things) but especially child support- the bare minimum for a child you had but put responsibility of onto another woman.
Some single parents, get ready for the shock amber, have to work 2 jobs and have actual struggles (mental, financial, physical) and STILL HAVE TO PARENT 24/7!!!
And somehow, it is possible if you aren’t trash!
What I’m really dying to know is whether of not Gary and Kristina will continue to parent Amber after Leah turns eighteen.
That’s her kid, she should pay child support.
The courts can force her to take care of her kids, but they can force her to BARE MINIMUM support them.
GARY TAKE HER TO COURT!
Is the source Amber? Cos at this point that’s the only person that would have sympathy for her
It’s Amber’s responsibility to prove she paid and if not she better be prepared to pay up.
Co parenting 🤣🤣🤣🤪🙈
Yep you gotta parent and be one to co parent lol!!!
Doesn’t Amber make $400k a year?
How hard is it to Venmo or Zelle $1200 every month? She’d have receipts and there’d be no child support arguments (i believe Gary). Who uses cash for large sums of money?
Amber’s always working so hard on herself 😂, it’s literally her defense for everything she does and says wrong.
How much child support does she pay for James?
I think the difference here is James Dad isn’t afraid to haul Amber’s butt back into court if she doesn’t pay. And Gary has been to lenient with it.
Amber pays $2500 per month for James. TheAshley can correct me, if I’m wrong.
I agree with you, with Andrew vs Gary’s personalities. James also lives in California with Andrew, so higher cost of living might play a factor in the child support rate.
HCOL doesn’t factor in to it.
Jurisdiction can, since each state does things a little differently, but both Andrew and Gary filled in Indiana, so it doesn’t play a role in this case.
It’s a percentage of your income. It’s a formula.
Things they factor into the formula:
# of overnights, who pays for insurance,
who pays for education (if applicable),
number of children factor in, but the oldest kids actually get more it’s the younger kids who get less.
Some of the reason Gary could be getting less:
Amber is paying for Leah’s insurance,
Gary hasn’t sued to adjust child support since her income changed,
Gary makes a lot more money than Andrew,
the number of overnights that Amber is entitled too (doesn’t me she’s taking it).
What does Gary do for work even? And what does Andrew do?
Gary is an Indiana police officer, no clue what Andrew does, but his family also has money.
The only reason she pays less for Leah (and by that I mean nothing at all) is because Gary hasn’t taken her back to court. If he did, it would be granted and I don’t believe the MTV money alone will cover all of her expenses. She might have to actually *gasp* get a J-O-B, poor lil dear.
Its extremely frustrating that the payment for one child can vary so much. On one hand, weve got people like Adumb and Andrew paying like $300 bucks a month for one kid each, if even that much, which wouldnt support a dog barely if that dog had semi regular vet visits. Then, you’ve got James here, who is still just one kid, and his payments are $2500 a month, which is almost 10 times the amount that the other guys pay. TEN TIMES. That’s crazy to me. And I get it, it depends on what the parents make and their lifestyle and all, but its just hard to justify allowing a child to receive so little while others receive so much. I’m not a legal or financial expert, so idk how to make a better way to do it, but it just doesnt seem right to me, u kno? And I’m NOT saying amber should have to pay less, not at all. Shes got the money. It’s just bullshit that if these men DONT want to work, like David, then they dont have to pay. How is that fair? I know men that have actually said they make sure that they dont get a job that actually pays them on the books or w.e. u wanna call it, bc they know they’ll lose a lot of their earnings due to child support. Like WOW, what a great dad! Guys like adumb and the guy I’m talking about are all the same, they know that information and they know how to skirt around having to pay and it’s just disgusting. They shouldnt be allowed to walk around freely.
Also, how is it fair for amber to pay for James TWICE as much as she pays for leah? Leah’s an older kid whose clothes likely cost more, she prolly eats more and also has more school activities. Hell, I remember those fancy calculators being close to 100 bucks back in the day, I think. Now theres also laptops and cell phones, too! I guess maybe bc james lives in California, things could be considered more expensive? But when you factor in james living with his grandma and his dad being a lame ass lazy loser too who doesnt have to pay electric bills or rent or w.e., ud think that would even it out to be closer to garys amount. Idk, it’s just crazy to me the discrepancies in the payments.
Considering that was for joint custody, ambien better hope he does go after her for back child support. He’s the only parent, as ambien doesn’t even see her child. So she will have to pay more. Gary seems to have a good head on his shoulders and do what’s best for Leah. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wants to put money aside for college for Leah.
Well it says he’s going for back child support or something of that sort.
“She has some receipts.” That means she paid a handful of times and has those receipts, not that she’s paid the entire time. Also, $1200 is nothing when she’s pulling in that Teen Mom money.
Lol.
You know she’s like I bought clothes and food to keep at my house for LEAHYAAA, but she refused to come over, that’s GARRIEEEE fault, thus RECEIPTS.
Still required to pay child support…
Just get those bank statements out, its really easy to prove you paid CS. Lol.
how much can they actually pay a person on teen mom with NO KID
He should sue her. I highly doubt she’s being paying what she must.