The Teen Mom/16 and Pregnant franchise has been a source of constant controversy since day one.
Some critics complained that the show glamorized teen pregnancy for an impressionable audience, while others have argued that the shows are exploitative and take advantage of young women at the most vulnerable points in their lives.
Lending credence to the latter argument is the fact that many of the moms who have appeared on the series have publicly clashed with producers, often complaining that they were villainized and intentionally misrepresented.
Jenelle Evans has lashed out at producers on social media, even going so far as to accuse them of negatively affecting the outcomes of her many custody battles.
Farrah Abraham was recently fired by MTV, and she’s since seized every opportunity to call out Teen Mom OG showrunners as manipulative opportunists.
And now, one of the franchise’s newest stars has added her voice to the chorus of outrage.
Ashley Jones was featured on the first season of Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant.
And as The Ashley’s Reality Roundup points out, Jones was very unhappy with the way she was portrayed on the series.
When the above photo of Ashley appeared on Instagram, she took to the comments section to air her frustrations:
“I love how the other girls are all smiling and happy and you choose to post none of those happy moments for me,” Ashley wrote.
“The whole season I was edited to look like a monster. Joining this show was by far the worst decision of my life.”
She added:
“All those hours of filming and all the positivity I spread and y’all didn’t show any of it.
“No trust for the producers or anyone else that works on the show and knows the kind of person that I am but says nothing to editing.”
Jones also stated that the fights between her and her boyfriend, Bar Smith, that were shown on the series were entirely scripted.
“If you want to see how me and Bar really are, on a daily basis without these edited ass scripted fights join my YouTube channel,” she wrote.
Jones went on to allege that there was a racial component to the biased editing, writing:
“It’s funny how the black girl is always made to look mad and ignorant.”
Some fans were sympathetic, but most seemed to feel that it was Jones who made herself look bad, not the show’s editors:
“YOU made yourself look mad and ignorant,” wrote one viewer. “Has nothing to do with you being black!”
“If you would have checked out all the other [‘Teen Mom] social media accounts beforehand you would have known how to act appropriately when the cameras were around so they don’t make you look like a trashy monster,” chimed in another.
Ashley may not wish to return for another season, but she certainly proved she’s capable of carrying on a proud Teen Mom tradition by clashing with fans on social media!
