Amber Portwood Claims Daughter Leah is Being “Groomed” By MTV & Gary Shirley: “You’re Not Gonna Sell My Daughter”

During one of her latest TikTok Live rants, Amber Portwood accused MTV and ex Gary Shirley of grooming her teenage daughter, Leah Shirley, insisting that both parties are “fighting” to keep Leah on TV, despite Amber’s wishes. 

While Amber has recently made a habit of insulting various cast members from Teen Mom, as well as the entire cast as a whole, she took aim at MTV over the weekend while speaking to YouTuber Elle Bee on TikTok Live, insisting to viewers that both the network and the parents of ‘Teen Mom’ kids– including Leah’s dad, Gary– are grooming their children. 

“Yes, children are groomed, but not only by parents,” Amber claimed. “My child was groomed by a whole entire franchise. I will not allow [it], I do not care what Gary does and why he’s fighting me, this is the whole reason. 

“I’m not gonna give too much [information] guys, ‘cause I’ll get in trouble, but I’m gonna say something, certain things are happening because they wanna keep fighting for my daughter to be on TV and I do not want my daughter to be on TV and that’s all I’m gonna say … ,” Amber continued. 

Amber– who is estranged from 16-year-old Leah– went on to insist that while Gary and others may be willing to do certain things for money, she isn’t one of them. 

“ … No, get the hell out of here,” Amber said. “You’re not gonna sell my daughter, but they will, as they are.” 

While speaking about MTV, Gary and “all of them” who are allegedly grooming her daughter, Amber told viewers that Gary is “notorious for telling Leah, ‘But this is your job, too,’” and claims that he has made these comments to Leah in front of Amber, as well as in front of the ‘Teen Mom’ crew while cameras were rolling. 

“ … These are facts, y’all, I know it sounds absolutely ridiculous and insane or whatever, but you guys are saying something about victim or something like that, but I want to actually fight for my daughter not to be used to be on television,” she said. “She’s one of the reasons why I left the whole entire franchise.” 

As you may remember, Amber claimed on TikTok Live in March that she had quit the ‘Teen Mom’ franchise.

While Amber insisted over the weekend that she can’t “explain too much” more about the alleged situation involving her daughter, this isn’t the first time she has accused MTV of wanting Leah to continue filming for the ‘Teen Mom’ franchise. 

As The Ashley told you in May, Amber hopped onto TikTok Live to defend her decision to continuously speak out against the long-running franchise, claiming that her ultimate goal is to prevent Leah from going through what she went through on the reality series. 

Amber also alleged at the time that the show’s producers were trying to get Leah prepared to star on a new spin-off show about the ‘Teen Mom’ teenagers, insisting (as she did again over the weekend) that her decision to walk away from the franchise was made in an effort to prevent Leah from appearing on the alleged spin-off. 

“I don’t want her to go through what I went through,” Amber said. “I don’t want her to be pushed to the forefront [of a show]. I don’t want it, guys. I just want her to understand and not be judgmental … .” 

Amber claimed at the time that she had spoken with a producer to express her concerns regarding the ‘Teen Mom’ kids show idea; however, she said the producer had “no remorse.” She also accused the show’s producers of making cast member Catelynn Lowell (as well as others) have an on-air conversation with Leah on Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, a decision that Amber took personally. 

“I never knew that I was going to get bullied and torn down by a franchise I helped build tremendously,” she stated. 

Despite Amber’s claims, no one else on the ‘Teen Mom’ cast has confirmed– or even mentioned– that this spin-off idea is actually being discussed.