Jenelle Evans is no stranger to controversy, and it seems that now her shocking moves may have cost her her MTV paychecks.
The controversial Teen Mom 2 cast member has come a long way from the teenage mother who considered going to jail over missing a Kesha concert (“It’s not just a concert, it’s Kesha.”), but the mother of three is never far from drama.
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Now, the MTV personality is facing an uncertain future after the network cut ties with her husband David Eason over a homophobic Twitter rant.
Keep scrolling to see Evans’ most controversial and shocking moments.
Substance abuse
The mother of three has struggled with drug use on and off during her time on television. In her book, Read Between the Lines: From the Diary of a Teenage Mom, she even confessed that she was using heroin four or five times a day at the peak of her addiction.
“I was hooked,” she wrote, adding that she didn’t want to “glamorize the drug by going into the long details of why people love it so damned much.”
Despite claiming to have gotten clean years ago, Evans also recently admitted on Vince Russo’s The Brand podcast to testing positive for THC, the chemical found in marijuana, after giving birth to her daughter Ensley last year.
“I’m not going to lie about that,” she said. “I tested positive for THC — Ensley did not test positive.”
She added: “So [Child Protective Services] were like — I was in the hospital — they said, ‘Did you smoke when you were pregnant?’ I said, ‘I did within the past 30 days. I said I have really bad esophageal spasms and I throw up every 5 minutes, I can’t even eat.’ And they said, ‘OK, some moms do that. We are not here to judge, we are writing down your information.’”
Troubles with men
Evans has also struggled with her relationships with men.
She conceived her first son Jace, now 8, with ex Andrew Lewis, who was six years older than she was when they first met.
In her memoir, she said finding out she was pregnant was the “most frightening moment” of her life, adding, “Even with another life growing inside of me, I had never felt so alone.”
Evans raised Jace on her own, until her mother Barbara Evans was awarded custody of the little boy, which she maintains to this day.
Five years later, she had son Kaiser, now 3, with Nathan Griffith, but the two split soon after the birth.
Her third child, daughter Ensley, was born in January 2017 with husband Eason, whom she wed in September. In her memoir, Jenelle said Eason is “so different from the other men I had been with,” adding she had “finally snagged a good man.”
Fights with mom
Jenelle’s relationship with her mom Barbara has been a major source of drama on the MTV reality series, especially as it relates to Barbara having custody of Evans’ son Jace.
During the most recent season of the show, the 26-year-old admitted that she no longer had hope of reconciling with her mom.
“I think our relationship’s lost,” she said. “I don’t ever think there’s really coming back at any point in time.”
On the Teen Mom 2 season finale in November, Jenelle opened up about her relationship with her mom, after refusing to invited her to the ceremony.
“I wish I could have a mom there but I have no family coming,” she said. “[Barbara] disapproves of David. That was the big reason — that’s why she wasn’t invited in the first place. You don’t like David, so why are you coming to the wedding, then?”
Wedding Drama
While Jenelle has painted Eason as the first good relationship in her life, the two almost didn’t go through with their September wedding, with Evans threatening to cancel the ceremony less than 24 hours before the big day.
“Until he acts like I exist then I’m not filming anymore,” she screamed at the Teen Mom 2 crew. “I want him to talk to me. I want him to ask me what’s wrong with me. He doesn’t care. I don’t even know if I’m doing a f—ing rehearsal, because everything is f—ed up right now. We can just cancel the whole f—ing wedding.”
Jenelle had previously threatened to quit the show after it showcased her and Eason’s marital problems in what she alleged was an unfair way.
“Yes, me and David have our ups and downs but yesterday’s episode was uncalled for,” she wrote on Instagram in October. “Because David didn’t feel like explaining another argument or drama on camera they make it look as if David is hiding some weird a— s— from the public as if he was hurting me in some way?!”
She continued: “I have decided after this season I’m probably calling it quits for filming this show. I told [producer Morgan J. Freeman] it’s getting [too] out of hand and it’s not healthy for us anymore, just harming us mentally. They treat all of us as if we are in a freak show and in cages. WE aren’t human beings to [MTV] what-so-ever.”
Child abuse accusations
Jenelle and Eason have also been accused of abusing their children after fans noticed some parenting habits on the MTV series they found disturbing.
During an episode of the show’s most recent season, Eason and Jenelle were trying to take save-the-date pictures when 3-year-old Kaiser was shown crying for his mom to no avail, yelling, “Feed me!” Eason then grabbed the toddler by the arm and dragged him off camera.
The incident struck many as disturbing, and sparked a hashtag movement #SaveKaiser, calling for police to investigate the MTV cast members’ household.
The family of Griffith, Kaiser’s father, also had allegations of abuse towards Eason at the Teen Mom 2 reunion special.
“The first thing he says to me is, ‘Nana, David punched me,’” Griffith’s mom said of Kaiser, adding that she has filed a claim with Child Protective Services in Ohio.
Jenelle has denied the allegations.
‘Teen Mom 2’ reunion drama
The Teen Mom 2 end of year reunion was also a source of drama for Jenelle and Eason, who was accused of pulling a knife during the cast party.
The report that Eason had pulled a knife after a bartender refused to serve him another drink first surfaced in October, but has since been corroborated by castmates Kailyn Lowry and Leah Messer, who said they would never bring their children to another cast party in a recent episode of Lowry’s podcast, Coffee and Convos.
But Jenelle maintains that Eason only pulled the knife to pop some balloons in anger on his way out.
“So supposedly David’s a dangerous person because he popped some balloons,” she said incredulously on an October Instagram live.
‘Insensitive’ gun photo
Just hours after 17 people were killed in a traumatic Florida school shooting Valentine’s Day 2018, Jenelle and Eason found themselves in trouble once again when they posted a photo of the Teen Mom 2 cast member shooting a semi-automatic weapon on Instagram.
Fans who found the post insensitive soon created a petition to get the couple fired.
“Following the terrible tragedy in Florida where 17 people lost their lives, David [and] Jenelle Eason and Briana DeJesus, stars of the MTV show Teen Mom 2, displayed gross insensitivity by posting disturbing pictures and videos on social media,” petition author Ginger V wrote. “David posted photos of his wife, Jenelle Eason, holding and aiming a rifle, the same weapon that the gunman used in the Florida massacre.”
The petition racked up more than 2,000 signatures in the first few hours.
Defending her husband
On the heels of the petition to get them fired, Jenelle and Eason reached a new level of fan disfavor after Eason went on a homophobic Twitter rant, in which he referred to LGBT people as “abominations” on Feb. 19.
He quickly deleted his account after the offensive tweets went viral, but MTV soon cut ties with him over the comments.
“David Eason’s personal comments do not reflect the views of MTV,” the network said in a statement. “With six weeks left of production on Teen Mom 2, effective immediately, we are ending our relationship with him.”
Jenelle issued a statement to TMZ in defense of her husband, claiming he “didn’t understand” how offended people would get or “how Twitter even works.”
“He agrees he will keep his comments to himself from now on,” she said. “David doesn’t hate people from the LGBT community. … We are sorry for the comments that were made.”
Uncertain future with MTV
Jenelle’s ties to her husband may be getting her fired from the show that pays her bills as well.
Soon after Eason was fired, a source told Radar that MTV was still deciding what to do with Jenelle.
“The execs at MTV are having a meeting on Wednesday to discuss firing Jenelle,” an insider told Radar. “It isn’t looking good for her. They’re definitely leaning towards firing her.”
The source then also weighed in on what the network was likely to do.
“Her world is very soon going to crash down around her,” the source said. “The network has no choice but to take action after such a reckless set of events, or risk losing the entire franchise. She’s in serious hot water.”
The outlet also reached out to a source allegedly close to Evans, who claimed producers have assured her she is not going anywhere.
Another source, however, told the publication that she was not on the chopping block.
“Jenelle talked to her producer and other people at MTV,” the second source said. “They’ve told her she isn’t getting fired.”
Photo credit: Facebook/Jenelle Evans
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