12 Months of Jenelle Evans: The Former ‘Teen Mom 2’ Star’s Most Shocking Stories of 2019

“My 2019 was crazier than Kieffer after a meth binge!”

It’s only the second day of 2020 and already former Teen Mom 2 star Jenelle Evans is making headlines, due to the reveal of her new boyfriendHerbert Wilkinson. While it’s almost certain that we’re in for plenty of “soulmate shenangians” now that Jenelle has (another) special man in her life, she continues to post memes on her social media account promising she’s turning over a new leaf, now that she’s left her husband David Eason.

“2020 is very personal…I owe myself a lot,” she wrote on Facebook on December 28. Today, she posted, “my past was toxic AF. I deserve to be happy.”

Let’s take a look back at Jenelle’s “toxic AF” past year by looking at her biggest scandal for each month of 2019. 

January: ‘Teen Mom 2’ crew members refuse to work with Jenelle out of fear of what David may do on-set. 

“Try to pretend to be a normal person just for one day, OK? I mean, it will be hard with that haircut but do your best…”

Jenelle kicked off the New Year with some David-driven drama—something that would become a recurring theme for the ‘Teen Mom 2’ star throughout 2019. This particular incident was reported exclusively by The Ashley after a source told her at least three different crew members demanded to be taken off of Jenelle’s shoots. 

The crew’s hesitance to visit The Land was allegedly a direct result of videos posted by David the previous month in which he threatened to shoot anyone who stepped foot onto the couple’s (sinking) property. At the time, a second source told The Ashley there were people from the show who no longer felt safe because David made it clear he doesn’t like MTV and “he has a ton of weapons.” 

February: Jenelle reveals she’s separated from David, only to reveal they’ve gotten back together the following week. 

“Breakup? What breakup? Wanna see my jellyfish?”

Jenelle gave ‘Teen Mom 2’ viewers a small glimmer of hope in February when she updated her relationship status on Facebook to “separated.” However, less than a week later, her “married” status was restored and nearly all other signs of the couple’s breakup had disappeared from their respective social media pages. 

March: Jenelle blasts co-star Kail Lowry on social media after Kail brags on ‘Teen Mom 2’ about helping Jenelle in the past. 

The social media slam came after an episode of ‘Teen Mom 2’ aired in which Kail reacted to Jenelle burning her Pothead Haircare products. During the episode, Kail referenced a time in 2011 or 2012 when she bailed Jenelle out of jail, as well as a second instance when she drove to New Jersey to give Jenelle a ride to the airport because Jenelle “was strung out on f**cking heroin.”

To the surprise of no one, Jenelle responded to Kail’s comments with a Twitter rant.

“Lmfao don’t act like you’re my hero now,” she wrote. “You gave me a ride in the past to pick up my mom… that’s helping someone’s entire life and doing ‘so much’ for them?”

Jenelle went on to (shockingly) give her mom Barbara the sole credit for helping her in times of darkness and telling Kail that she is and always has been fake. 

April: Cops are called to Jenelle’s house after 911 caller accuses David of killing Jenelle’s dog, Nugget. 

Towards the end of April, news broke that a male caller had contacted the Columbus County, North Carolina, police department to report that David had killed Jenelle’s French Bulldog, Nugget. The sheriff’s department confirmed to Radar Online that the call did in fact take place.

“A call was made today, and it was relayed that the woman’s husband had killed her dog. The Sheriff is out there right now investigating and there will be an incident report filed later.” 

Days after the incident allegedly took place, Jenelle shared on social media that she was “devastated” and “sad”–likely referring to Nugget’s death. She also changed her relationship status on Facebook to “separated” and unfollowed David on Instagram. David continued to deny that he killed or hurt the pooch.

May: Jenelle is fired from ‘Teen Mom 2’; She and David lose custody of their children.

“This has been a very bad month!”

It would be impossible to choose which scandal from May was bigger: Jenelle getting the boot from ‘Teen Mom 2’ after nearly 10 years on the show, or her and David losing custody of their three children: Maryssa, Kaiser and Ensley. As The Ashley told you at the time, Jenelle’s firing came as a shock to Jenelle, who thought she was due to have a conference call with Viacom execs. That call never came, and Jenelle found out she was fired by seeing the announcement online. 

June: Jenelle gets into an argument with Barbara outside of a North Carolina courthouse. 

“It’s just business as usual ova here!”

While leaving the courthouse after receiving a reunification plan from a judge to find out what steps they needed to take to regain custody of their kids, Jenelle found someone to take some of her frustration out on: her mom. 

After breaking the rules by approaching Barbara to give Ensley a hug, Barbara reminded Jenelle her visits with the toddler (or any of the kids) could only take place in a court-approved visitation center, at which point Jenelle assured her mom, “I’m saying hey to her!” 

“I’m right here outside the courthouse and I’m giving my daughter a hug,” she continued. “If you have a problem with that then go get an officer because obviously she’s not scared. I’m hugging her!”

But the mother-daughter parking-lot squabble didn’t end there… 

After Barbara overheard Jenelle telling a TMZ cameraman that she was happy she “got this moment” with Ensley, Barbara cackled back, it’s “all for the cameras!” Jenelle then accused  her older brother Collin of “posting naked pictures” of Ensley online.

July: The custody case against Jenelle and David is dismissed. 

At the beginning of July, Jenelle and David’s fight to regain custody of their children ended abruptly (and quite unexpectedly) when the judge dismissed the case and ordered that the children previously removed from The Land be returned to the couple immediately. 

At the time, a source told The Ashley that the judge in the case “did not see evidence of neglect” on Jenelle and David’s part, despite comments made by David’s daughter Maryssa on the stand regarding the alleged abuse and alleged substance abuse, as well some of the kids’ teachers taking the stand and 911 calls–those made public and those that were not made public. 

Following the judge’s ruling, Jenelle said she and David had been enrolled in “Parenting Classes and Substance Assessments.” 

“David completed an anger management course and I have completed a domestic violence class,” she added. “This was not asked of us by the judge but simply because we thought it could only make us be strong people/parents.”

Fans were outraged and shocked by the dismissal. 

August: Salon cancels Jenelle’s cosmetic company launch after learning of the Nugget incident; Jenelle claims she cancelled the event herself. 

“I didn’t want to hang out at your stupid salon anyway…stupid!”

Weeks before Jenelle’s JE Cosmetics line was set to launch, Flirt Beauty Boutique, the New York City salon slated to host the event, backed out after learning of the (then-alleged) dog-killing incident involving David. 

“This event has been cancelled at our venue,” the salon wrote on Instagram. “Our salon was unaware of what [Jenelle] and her husband have done or have been connected to, and it no way, would we support such brutality. We apologize for not doing our research beforehand.” 

While the salon was applauded for their move, Jenelle quickly came forward with her own version of what went down.

“NOT CANCELLED!!! I know there are a lot of rumors circulating about the @jecosmeticsinc launch,” she wrote on Instagram. “The launch to the PUBLIC will be 09.19.19, preorders will begin before that and soon will be announced. The launch party I’ve decided to do is a PRIVATE event. Do not believe the rumors others are posting onto their pages or into the media. No matter what I decide to do or no matter what happens… @jecosmeticsinc will launch to everyone on 09.19.19 and NOTHING will stop us! …on a side note how can someone ‘cancel’ my event when I’m the owner? #Rumors.” 

Jenelle went on to claim that because the location of her launch was leaked, she decided to change the event venue; this story didn’t sit well with fans, many of whom pointed out that Jenelle’s own manager Johnny Donovan was the one posting about the event online. 

September: Jenelle and David finally admit that David killed Nugget; Cops reportedly look into opening a new animal cruelty investigation. 

“That dog could have killed us all, I tells ya!”

While sitting down for an interview with PeopleTV’s People Now Jenelle and David attempted to justify David killing Nugget (despite Jenelle previously claiming in court that she “couldn’t remember” if David ever admitted to committing the crime). During the interview, Jenelle blamed everything from Nugget’s behavior and David’s “country lifestyle” to social media for Nugget’s death. David provided his own explanation as well, citing his daughter’s safety as his main reason for murdering the dog. 

“It was a situation where my daughter [Ensley], her health, her safety was in danger,” he said. “This was something that nobody wants to ever have to do. The dog was aggressive. Yes, she might not be huge or whatever, but you know when a dog bites a child on the face more than one time, then it should never be around the child again. If you give the dog up for adoption, one day it’s going to be around children again.” 

David went on to claim that if he would have contacted authorities, the law states the dog would have to be euthanized, which he said he preferred to do himself. 

“I’m not going to pay anyone to euthanize my dog when I could do it myself,” he said. 

After Jenelle and David’s interview aired, it allegedly caught the attention of investigators at the Columbus County Sheriff’s Department, according to TMZ, leading authorities to look into opening a new case to investigate David for animal cruelty. 

October: Jenelle announces that she plans to divorce David. 

After laying low on social media for a couple weeks, Jenelle resurfaced with an announcement that she and the kids had moved away from The Land and that she plans to divorce David

“I’ve mostly kept off social media the past few days because I’ve been focused on making some big life decisions,” Jenelle told fans online. “I’ve lived my life on camera since I was 17 years old. And a lot of it hasn’t been pretty. But it’s been my life. Like anyone else I want what’s best for my kids and I want to be happy. With time away from Teen Mom I’ve started to look at my life differently and I know I need to make changes. I’m starting that now.

“The kids and I have moved away from David,” she continued. “Nobody gets into a marriage expecting it to end but I know that’s what is best for me, and for my kids. Today I’ve filed papers to start that process.” 

Jenelle went on to thank fans for supporting her and assured all that both she and the kids “are doing great” and that fans would be hearing from the family again soon.

November: Jenelle files a restraining order against David.

“David no like.”

After leaving The Land (and the state) with Kaiser and Ensley, Jenelle filed for and was granted a restraining order in November, preventing David from contacting her or their daughter for the time being. 

“The restraining order was granted because Jenelle was able to show proof [to the judge] that abuse had occurred,” a source told The Ashley.

Once David was served the temporary order, he took to Facebook claiming he didn’t know where Jenelle or Ensley were and that he planned to file a missing persons report for the pair. 

“So since Jenelle has disappeared and I have no contact with her or Ensley, I have no option but to file a missing person’s report,” he wrote. 

David went on to reveal that Jenelle had yet to file for separation–a detail The Ashley’s source confirmed.

“She has not yet filed because if she files in North Carolina, she has to wait a full year and be separated before she can file for divorce in that state,” the source said. “She is going to file in [another state] so that she can bypass that.” 

While David did contact police around that time, he allegedly did so because he was under the impression that one of his dogs had been stolen from The Land. 

December: Jenelle’s newest soulmate is revealed, less than two months after she split from David.

God speed, Herb!

At the end of December, Jenelle high(HIGH!)-tailed it to the East Coast to pay her new boyfriend, Herbert Wilkinson, a visit. While Jenelle was there, Herbert posted an Instagram video of them out on the town, telling her “Smile babe!” while filming her.

This was less than a month after Jenelle told her social media followers that she was “not dating anyone.” (Click here to read more about Herbert!) 

While Jenelle was off having a “la-dee-dah time” with Herbert, her daughter Ensley stayed with Barbara, while Kaiser spent time with his dad Nathan Griffith. 

RELATED STORY: ‘Teen Mom’ Year in Review: Take This Quiz to See How Well You Remember What the ‘Teen Mom’ Stars Did in 2019!

(Photos: Instagram, MTV, Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images, Twitter, Facebook)

30 Comments

  1. When soulmates include Neuse Correctional Parolees and tinder connections (distance is of no concern, ready and willing to risk esophageal spasms for a few hours) dumpster fire is the inevitable outcome.


  2. She owes herself a lot?! No bitch, you owe YOUR KIDS a lot! Your whole life has been about YOU, and YOUR wants and needs, (drugs, dick, and drama) it’s time to put your selfishness aside and think of your kids for once! I’ll bet she’ll wax poetic about this fame whore Herbie, claiming that ‘they never fight,’ they ‘get along so good,’ and that ‘he’s great with my kids and Jace really likes him’ when he’s just as big of a piece of shit as the others! He can kiss his sobriety goodbye, being with this trainwreck, if he hasn’t already.


  3. Her complete lack of self-awareness or any introspection whatsoever completely annoys me. She doesn’t seem to be aware that her past was “toxic af” because SHE is toxic af. She doesn’t need a man, but she does need some intense therapy. Until she works on herself and her relationship with her children, she will lack the ability to better her life.


  4. This new guy 150% had to slide into her DMs somehow. Tinder tends to show what’s nearby. But why? She has no money or TV show anymore, dude. You aren’t going to get your big break on reality tv and make millions. Plus, when you get home from rehab, aren’t you supposed to wait a year before dating? Stupid, stupid people.


    1. I’m… interested.,.. to see what jenelle’s new personality will be now that she has a new soulmate. She’s been all sorts of things: a “rebel” emo/goth/punk type with Jace’s dad, a super gym rat/protein shake type with Nathan a strung out druggie with Kieffer, a swamp monster/“homeschooling” stay at home mom/fundie gun nut with David. And that’s just from the 4 or 5 seasons I’ve actually watched. I wonder what characteristics she’ll pick up from the new guy as she molds herself into a completely new person to suit his tastes.

      All the new guys coming into the kids’ lives must be so disorienting and freaky, but can you imagine how weird and scary it is to see your mother transform into a completely new person with each boyfriend. She dresses differently, she talks differently, she has different friends, different hobbies, different political and religious views, different ways of “parenting” and relating to her kids based on who she’s with. I imagine it’s one of the reasons why she seems to be so unbounded to her kids: each time they get to know her she changes her entire life and personality and becomes a totally new person.


    1. Yeah she is! If you google borderline personality disorder, every single symptom describes Jenelle to a T! Including the drama in all relationships!


  5. I do wonder if she finally realizes that everyone was right about EVERYTHING and how badly David effed up her life…worse than any other soul mate, and all that bad stuff that happened to her last year was completely self inflicted, because she wanted to be selfish and hard headed and do whatever she wanted….but I doubt it though…


  6. I can’t believe she is with someone new after only 2 months, they were married and had a kid together!
    When I was younger I was in a relationship for 11 months, after we broke up it took me A YEAR to get over it, and be able to move on.
    My next relationship, Once again, it took time to get over it, before I moved on!
    I’m glad I did too, that way my current partner wasn’t a rebound and it actually worked out, been together 10 years and have 2 kids.
    That’s Janelles problem all her soulmates are rebounds, Cos she never takes time to actually get over a break up before getting with the next guy.


    1. And my previous relationships there was no kids, and we weren’t married. I didn’t have kids until I was with my current partner


      1. Different people grieve differently. I’m also guessing your ex didn’t kill your dog. I’m no fan of Jenelle Evans, but it really bothers me seeing people attack anyone for something like that.

        Like, good for you it took you a year. Some people never recover, some take less time, and she likely stopped loving him a long time ago.

        Find something else about her to judge. Like literally everything else about her life is free game.


        1. @BILLIE, it’s not just about Jenelle, it’s also about her children.
          They need their mother. They need time to get used to their new situation and to heal from the old situation. They don’t need a new man in their lives right now. Somehow we got the impression Jenelle was going to start a new life with Kaiser and Ensley, in a new place. But once again Jenelle puts HER needs first…


    2. I can’t believe they’re not yet engaged and in the process of having her tubal reversed and making a new baby.


  7. What is complete bullshit, is the fact that Jenelle as able to get a restraining order by proving abuse. Yet those 3 children were given back because ‘there was no evidence of abuse.’ Complete bullshit. Not one person, family or state, are looking out for these children.


  8. I was really thinking this might be the turning point for her. Damn optimism 😂 well at least she can’t have any babies with this soulmate.


  9. Well at least now David knows he was merely a placeholder for Jenelle to parade around and say look at me I’m married and so happy! Because that’s literally what every single guy she’s ever been with is.


    1. She literally said that on camera, I believe it was when David wanted her to leave the stage: “Everybody (…), but we’re so happy.”
      That’s when I knew for certain she wasn’t happy.
      (David told her: “I’m leaving, you can stay or you can go with me”, knowing very well she
      had to leave with him.) She left.


  10. Well, we all knew she’d have another soulmate soon enough. She hasn’t been without a man since she was a kid. We’ll hear all about how great he is and how happy she is for a few months, then when things go sour we’ll hear about how abusive is was.

    I’ve been separated from my abusive drug-addict husband for almost a year and the last thing on my mind is finding a new one. I’m more focused on getting back into school to finish up my degree so I can get out a good job and get out of my mama’s house and provide for my kids on my own, THEN I might think about finding one to take things SLOW with so I don’t end up right back in the same shitty situation I was stuck in and my kids can have a happy, healthy, normal life. It pisses me off so much that Jenelle had all the financial resources to get away and start over without a man and give her kids a good life, but she’s chosen men and drugs over and over again.


  11. Really, another guy? This bitch changes mates more frequently than she changes her crusty panties. She has never put her kids first and never will. She chose to have those kids, they didn’t choose her as a mother. A good mother doesn’t have 3 kids by 3 different guys. A good mother thinks about what is best for her kids, not what is best for her. A good mother never puts her kids in danger by marrying a lunatic that that hits them and emotionally abuses them. Jenelle hasn’t been a good mother, never will be and the kids have only been her meal tickets on Teen Mom 2. She has exploited them from the minute they were born and continues to do so because the only thing they are to her is a source of income. She doesn’t care about any of them, she only cares about how she can use them to make money.


  12. I mean….. if I even had 1% of the life Jenelle had I would take this time as a single mother to purchase a home close to jace and Barbara and Nathan so that all my kids can be close. I’d build a swing set, get the kids some new toys, make them feel loved and appreciated. Never in my life would I hop on over to another guy. “I deserve to be happy”, Jenelle, your KIDS deserve to be happy. Real mothers sacrifice their desire for d*** so that their kids are happy.


  13. Just to confirm, is Maryssa still on The Land with David? If so, should we start a go fund me page for her escape???


    1. Most people on here are worried about the well-being of her children. If Jenelle didn’t have any children, we would have shut-up about her a long time ago.


  14. “My past was toxic AF. I deserve to be happy.”

    In true narcissist form. I guess being happy with just your kids isn’t enough. No, bitch. Your KIDS, who don’t deserve any of the fuckery you’ve put them through throughout their entire lives, deserve to be happy.
    Please sign them over to someone who cares about them as genuine human beings rather than keeping them around because you think it makes YOU look good on an Instagram post.

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