After watching part one of the Teen Mom OG reunion special, viewers weren’t happy about Dr. Drew allowing Amber Portwood to continue “victimizing” herself.
Amber Portwood is one of the original cast members on Teen Mom OG who has been filming for 14 seasons with the franchise.
Amber is familiar with sitting on the couch with the reunion’s hosts, Dr. Drew Pinsky and Nessa Diab, alongside her castmates.
Dr. Drew sides with Amber Portwood during Teen Mom OG reunion argument with Gary Shirley
During part one of the Teen Mom OG reunion, Amber Portwood sat on the couch with her ex and baby daddy, Gary Shirley, with whom she shares daughter Leah, 13.
Gary brought up that he has been taking Leah to therapy because she expressed that she needs to sort through her emotions towards her mom now that’s she older.
In his eyes, Gary was putting Leah’s needs first and wanted her to be heard. However, Amber was more concerned with the fact that Gary didn’t tell her Leah was in therapy until they filmed the reunion.
Dr. Drew felt that Gary needed to talk to the therapist about what the boundaries should be and reminded him of Amber’s stance, which was “You’re putting the child in charge of therapy,” as Dr. Drew put it.
When Dr. Drew tried to console Gary, alleging that he understood his side as well as Amber’s, Gary wasn’t having it.
“I understand what you’re saying too,” Dr. Drew told Gary as Amber continued to scream at Gary from her side of the couch.
“No, you don’t because you’re not listening!” Gary fired back at Dr. Drew.
Teen Mom OG viewers bash Dr. Drew for not holding Amber Portwood accountable for her behavior
After watching the scene, Teen Mom OG viewers felt that Dr. Drew was in the wrong and should have held Amber accountable for her behavior instead of throwing blame on Gary and they took to Twitter to voice their opinions.
“I miss the old @drdrew,” one Teen Mom OG fan tweeted after the show. “The one that didn’t walk on eggshells and called out these moms on their BS. Because we all know Amber needs to be called out on her BS and understand why Leah wants no parts. And stop blaming Gary and Kristina!”
Another disgruntled Teen Mom OG viewer called out Dr. Drew on Twitter and felt that Leah needs to be allowed to navigate her mental health on her own terms.
“Let that girl heal and digest it all,” the tweet read. “For a child that is a lot to digest. When she is ready to resume or increase contact with her mother she will.”
They continued to call out Dr. Drew for letting Amber play the victim and never being held accountable in any situation.
“This mess of @drdrew allowing Amber to victimize herself in all scenarios is the wrong message,” they added.
“@drdrew you never take [Gary’s] side,” expressed another Teen Mom OG fan after watching the reunion.
The viewer also mentioned that Leah’s therapy should be private – something that Dr. Drew should be familiar with – and that the reunions have become a place where Amber is allowed garner attention with her behavior.
They continued, “As a Dr you know confidentiality is everything & Leah’s should be respected. Ya’ll have given @AmberLPortwood the platform to continue her entitled pretentious behavior. If it weren’t for GARY she wouldn’t [be] makin money.”
Many Teen Mom OG viewers are unhappy that Amber has been able to continue filming on the show after her arrests for violence and drug abuse and have called for her to be booted on several occasions.
Amber’s most recent arrest in 2019 involved her allegedly attacking her second baby daddy, Andrew Glennon, with a machete while he hid with their son, James, behind a locked door.
Amber’s co-author of her recent book, So, You’re Crazy Too?, denied the allegations, however, and claimed that Amber only threw a flip flop at Andrew.
Part two of the Teen Mom OG reunion special airs next Tuesday, December 7 at 8/7c on MTV.