Teen Mom star Maci Bookout is under fire for the way she’s handling her relationship with her ex, Ryan Edwards.
Longtime Teen Mom viewers know that Maci and Ryan’s relationship was short-lived and tumultuous, to say the least.
Although their romantic relationship didn’t last, their co-parenting relationship is one they’ve been working on for years, as they share a 14-year-old son, Bentley.
Maci made a surprising decision this week when she attended Ryan’s court hearing.
Ryan stood before a judge to address the four outstanding charges against him, including harassment, possession of a controlled substance, DUI, and a second possession of a controlled substance charge.
As previously reported by Monsters and Critics, Maci told The Ashley’s Reality Roundup that she attended because “as Bentley’s mom, it was important for [her] to show up for not only Ryan but Bentley as well.”
When word hit social media that Maci attended the hearing — which has since been rescheduled to July 12, as confirmed by Monsters and Critics — the Teen Mom star faced some harsh criticism.
This week, Maci shared an up-close photograph of herself to plug her podcast, Expired Podcast.
Maci stared at the camera with an intense expression in the image, which was captioned, “Can We Talk About This ✨BABE✨ 📸 @alannajtay 👩🏼🦰 @gabriellabordomakeup 💋 @shainaramsey #ExpiredPodcast #truecrime #podcast #chattanooga #tennessee #mtv #teenmom.”
Most of the comments on the post focused on Maci’s beauty and success as a mom.
Teen Mom star Maci Bookout under fire for attending Ryan Edwards’ court hearing
However, some of Maci’s critics expressed their disappointment with her.
One such comment came from an Instagram user who bashed Maci for attending Ryan’s court hearing, pointing out that she was supporting domestic violence by doing so.
“Disappointingly you went to Ryan’s court hearing after he was abusive to his family,” they wrote. “Ryan needs serious changes before anyone gives him the time of day. No one needs to be supporting domestic violence if the individual is not willing to make very real and clear changes. He hasn’t done that yet. Very disappointed indeed, Macy!”
Another critic called out Maci for not allowing Bentley to see his father.
“Unworthy mother WHAT a shame she doesn’t let her son go see his witch father,” their comment read.
Ryan and Bentley’s broken father-son relationship
One major reason Bentley isn’t seeing his father these days is because Ryan is behind bars at the Silverdale Detention Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Before Ryan’s recent arrests and jail time, he had a history of drug abuse and run-ins with the law, which marred his and Bentley’s father-son relationship.
However, Maci and Ryan made great strides recently, as Dr. Cheyenne Bryant revealed. The exes have been working on building a “really beautiful” co-parenting relationship, and during the Teen Mom Family Reunion Season 2 finale, Aftermath, Ryan admitted that he wanted to start spending more one-on-one time with his firstborn son.
Now that Ryan is serving jail time, it’s likely put all of their relationship work on hold.
Teen Mom: The Next Chapter is currently on hiatus.