After officially announcing his exit from MTV‘s reality series Teen Mom OG on Friday, Ryan Edwards has some harsh parting words for the network.
Edwards took to Instagram shortly after the announcement that stated he and wife, Mackenzie Standifer, would not return to the series, to discuss his struggles with addiction and simultaneously slam MTV.
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“I will never stop speaking out against this horrible disease!” Edwards wrote in a lengthy Instagram post shared Friday alongside an image quote that read, “Life can take you higher than drugs. Stop drug abuse. Live life.”
“[This disease] consumes your life and turns you into someone you don’t even know. … Each day is a struggle,” he said.
Edwards went on to write how he’s made “mistakes” and “really messed up” in the past, but he has hope ahead.
“It doesn’t mean I can’t change the future,” he wrote. “If you or someone you know needs help, please don’t hesitate to go SAMHSA.gov. Help is out there.”
Edwards continued, shifting his focus from addiction to MTV as an enabler in his drug abuse, writing it was important viewers and fans not to take everything shown on the network as “factual truth.”
“They don’t want to show me or Mack in a happy light or that I am active in my recovery. I AM,” he wrote. “They want me to look angry, passive aggressive and uncaring regarding things that mean the most to me. I’m done taking their s— and letting the world believe this by standing up for myself. You’re believing a lie. And soon… very very soon, you WILL see the TRUTH behind the LIAR.”
Edwards and his wife, Standifer, who are expecting their first child together, issued a statement to E! News on Friday stating how they would not be returning for the upcoming season of the beloved docuseries.
“We’re not returning to Teen Mom this season,” Standifer told the news outlet. “The network told us they don’t want to show Ryan as a recovering addict. But they did want to enter a contract with our unborn baby and have the baby film with Ryan’s parents so it would look like someone else is raising it.”
Fans of the show have seen Edwards, who also shares son Bentley with ex Maci Bookout, endure many ups and downs throughout his time on the show.
“They also want to take Maci’s word on how I’m doing,” Edwards told the outlet. “Maci said she’s not going to film unless I enter rehab again and quit the show. But I’m sober.”
The news comes a day after reports said Bristol Palin would be joining the cast of Teen Mom OG, but the couple said their decision was not related.
