'Teen Mom OG' Star Gary Shirley Slammed for Letting Daughter Leah Ride an ATV Without Helmet

Teen Mom OG fans were not pleased on Monday night when they saw Gary Shirley letting his daughter [...]

By Michael Hein

Teen Mom OG fans were not pleased on Monday night when they saw Gary Shirley letting his daughter Leah ride an ATV with no helmet on.

Monday night's episode focused heavily on the relationship between Amber Portwood and her first daughter, Leah Leann Shirley. Portwood and Shirley had Leah in high school, and she is now nearly 9 years old.

Many viewers were distraught to see Leah and her younger sister, Shirley's daughter Emilee, jetting around on an all-terrain vehicles — or quads — without helmets on.

"Really Gary!? Quads and no helmets on the girls," one fan asked, with a steaming mad emoji. "Wtf!?" They tagged several Teen Mom accounts in the post to vent their fury.

"Four wheelers are fun, but PLEASE consider getting the girls helmets," added another, this time tagging Shirley and his wife directly. "In the blink of an eye, your life can change... #Thanks."

"Hey @realGaryshirley how about you put helmets on your girls when they are riding #atvs," another user wrote, throwing a snappy GIF at Shirley and the MTV production.

Some fans responded to the Teen Mom OG accoun'ts posts with complaints about Shirley's lax safety protocols, even if the posts were not related to Portwood or Leah.

"I cant believe Gary had Leah and [his] toddler on 4 wheelers without helmets," one person wrote beneath a preview of the episode. "Such a great dad. NOT."

"Woow why can't Gary put a helmet on that little girl if she's going to be racing around on an ATV," added another. "Safety please! Doesn't take much speed to get a brain injury."

The episode itself made very little noise about the ATV rides, which were just shown in passing. However, it did put some focus on Portwood and Shirley's co-parenting style. In this episode, Portwood got a visit from her older brother, Shawn, who commented on her relationship with Leah, and the custody arrangement with Shirley.

"Are you okay with the current custody situation?" Shawn asked outright.

"I'm going to have to be," Portwood answered. "She wants to do her own thing. Like, Gary came over, and he's like 'she just wants to do her own thing on the weekends.' And she really is at that stage."

Still, as Shawn pointed out, disrupting the court-ordered custody arrangement could have consequences down the road.

Teen Mom OG airs on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on MTV.

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