Amber Portwood’s domestic battery arrest had nothing to do with her problems with drug addiction. The Teen Mom OG was arrested Friday and later charged with three felonies — domestic battery, criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon and domestic battery committed in the presence of a child less than 16 years old — after an altercation with boyfriend Andrew Glennon. A source close to the reality star said the incident does not mean she relapsed.
The source spoke with press and said drugs were not involved in the altercation leading to her July 5 arrest.
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“The situation is a little more complicated than what’s been reported. There was an argument that escalated and now they aren’t allowed to communicate,” the source told PEOPLE. “There were no drugs involved.”
Portwood was arrested after allegedly assaulting Glennon while he was holding their 1-year-old child James in his arms. Glennon reportedly filed for sole custody of their son. The charges stemming from the arrest were revealed Wednesday.
“This is a very challenging time for Amber, who loves her son more than anything,” the source added. “Now she will need to determine next steps following what just occurred, but she has a great lawyer.”
TMZ recently reported Portwood was holding a machete at her boyfriend during the altercation. A judge also gave Glennon a restraining order against Portwood, which extends to their son. The MTV star is forbidden from going near Glennon or James until the criminal case is resolved.
Portwood has been open about her struggles with addiction. In August, she admitted she began abusing drugs at age 11 and had “spiraled out of control” by the age of 15.
“It wasn’t [until] I got pregnant with my daughter Leah that I stopped doing drugs all together ’cause I was so scared of something happening to her,” she said on the Dopey Podcast.
“Six to seven months after Leah was born, I started taking opiates again, medication for my back for my scoliosis and I got addicted from there,” she added at the time.
She got clean during her 17-month prison sentence, prompted from a 2010 fight with Shirley, and claims to have remained sober ever since. Both Portwood and Glennon have not spoken publicly about the circumstances surrounding her arrest. The couple had been dating for two years. They met on the set of Marriage Boot Camp: Family Edition.
Teen Mom OG airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on MTV.
