Being on reality TV isn’t always glitz and glamour, and Briana DeJesus is opening up about one of the scary encounters she had with a fan. The Teen Mom 2 star took to Twitter on July 6 to reveal the effect that being in the public eye has had on her, detailing an alleged stalking incident.
“Quick rant: I know I’m known. I know I’m on tv and millions watch. I get that but I am a normal person so stalking me in a public place and following me around is not cool,” she wrote. “I know it comes with the territory but I don’t like being followed so please stop.”
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“I don’t mind being stopped to take photos and have a quick chat but going the extra mile is weird and it makes me feel uncomfortable,” she added in a second tweet.
Fans of the MTV reality star were quick to offer their support and defend her statement that being in the spotlight doesn’t give fans a right to cross personal boundaries.
“Being in the public eye doesn’t mean you no longer are deserved boundaries and respect. You’re still a person,” one person wrote. “People can be so rude.”
“People should really respect your boundaries,” another agreed. “You’re a normal person with 2 beautiful girls. Yes you’re in the public eye but you deserve your privacy.”
“It’s very disrespectful. Smile wave and move on,” wrote a third. “You should not have to worry about some weird schmuck bothering you or your kids just because you are in the same place as them.”
DeJesus responded to the fan by recalling a time that “someone sat right next to me at the movies and chatted the whole time.”
DeJesus rose to be in the public eye following her appearance on 16 and Pregnant in 2012. She then went on to appear in the short-lived spinoff series Teen Mom 3 alongside three other girls from her season of 16 and Pregnant. Following the series’ lackluster performance, MTV selected her as the fifth cast member of Teen Mom 2.
Unfortunately, her time on the series and its spinoff’s has been less than pleasant for her. In March of this year, she and Jenelle Evans both announced that they would be refusing to attend the Season 9 filming. Soon after taking a stand, however, both women walked back their refusal.
Not long after, in April, DeJesus’ touch and go relationship with the network was again put on blast when she took to Twitter with a scathing rant, writing that, “this ‘tv show’ I am on means nothing to me.”
