Mackenzie Douthit is giving her ex-husband Josh McKee a lot of grace in the parenting department, despite confirming on social media last week that Josh is neither paying child support nor making trips to Florida to visit their three kids.
As fans of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter know, Mackenzie and Josh– who split in 2022 after nearly 10 years of marriage– share sons Gannon and Broncs and daughter Jaxie. Mackenzie has previously claimed that Josh only speaks to their eldest child, Gannon, and does not communicate much with Jaxie and Broncs. Following her split from Josh, Mackenzie began dating Khesanio Hall, whom she’s praised for stepping up as a father figure to her children. Earlier this year, she and Khesanio secretly tied the knot and in June, the couple welcomed twin girls.
While Mackenzie has never hidden the fact that Josh has had little to no involvement in their children’s lives following their divorce, she recently revealed on social media that she’s at peace with the current arrangement with her ex, despite Josh still opting not to step up in the co-parenting department.
“When I got my divorce with Josh, he said, ‘I don’t wanna pay child support and I won’t pay child support,’” Mackenzie explained on Live. “And I said, ‘I don’t wanna go to court,’ and he said, ‘That sounds fantastic. We’re getting along and I don’t have much, you got the house, you got a Ford Explorer, can I have my truck?’ And I said, ‘Yes, you can have whatever you feel is fair that you get.’ And he said, ‘I want my truck.’ And he got his truck.
“And that’s it,” she continued. “We did not have to go to court.”
Mackenzie revealed that during this exchange, she also asked Josh what he thought was fair to their three kids, claiming that she assured him at the time that she did not wish to “remove” the kids from his life. She also told fans that she believes she’s been “a great person to divorce” and even though Josh is neither paying child support nor has he made any trips to Florida to visit his kids, she continues to be friendly to him.
“ … ya know, when he had a girlfriend, I’m like, ‘You guys [can] come stay with me, it’s fine, like, I’ll pay for your [airline] tickets,’” she revealed. “I want him to be in his kids’ life. You know why? That is half of those kids, that is their father.
“It is not my job to sit and talk crap on Josh all day,” she continued. “It is my job to raise my kids, to wake up everyday and be the best mom I can be. What he does is his business. Kids will figure out whatever they need to figure out one day.”
Mackenzie noted that while her children “love their dad,” they also know that she’s the one who takes care of them the best. She claimed that because Josh also realizes this, he deserves some credit.
“We have to give Josh his flowers where they’re due,” Mackenzie said. “Because Josh looked at his kids’ life and said, ‘You do a better job than me, Mackenzie, you will raise the kids. I can’t help you financially, I don’t even have my own life together, so you got this.’
“We gotta give it to him,” she continued. “We have to give it to him … .”
As The Ashley previously told you, Mackenzie claimed on Instagram Live last year that Josh was aware that Khesanio had stepped in as a father figure to their kids and she insisted that Josh was totally fine with the arrangement.
“[Josh] has said, ‘Khesanio is doing a really good job raising these kids,’” she stated, before going on to reveal that she planned to give Gannon, Jaxie and Broncs the option to change their last names from “McKee” to “Hall” once she and Khesanio were married. (It’s unknown if any of Mackenzie’s children have chosen to do this.)
Watch a clip from Mackenzie’s Live below.
@mackenzie.taylorfan #teenmom #teenmomog #mackenziemckee #foryoupage❤️❤️ #viralvideo
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(Photos: MTV; Instagram; TikTok)
21 Responses
Honestly? Mackenzie is a DAMN good mother and has taken on what a lot of people would be bitter about and yet, she isn’t. I really admire that she not only handles her responsibility with her kids but that she knows it is what it is- Josh is a trashbag and won’t take care of the kids in any way and instead of fighting with him and taking him to court, she chooses peace for herself AND The kids. I am very grateful she met Khesanio and that he not only loves her the way she deserves to be loved, but that he also loves the kids and is there for them. As far as Josh goes? WOW. I don’t know many men that are THAT big of a POS that he would not only NOT want to see/be with their kids, but that he would have somewhat of a relationship with ONE child and completely dismiss the other two. That is beyond weird and messed up. Honestly, he SHOULD be paying her financially at the least but if she is fine with the situation, then I say, good on her. I am actually really close with the father of my oldest two boys (he’s also my ex husband) but he’s ALWAYS been in their lives and not only financially supports them but sees them all the time, and loves them. The father of my youngest was MIA through my pregnancy, but came around after our son was born, and while financially he isn’t consistent, he sees our son, loves him and is part of his life, which to me- is all that matters. I can support us financially even though things are tight at times. I honestly don’t know many women that would look at the situation like this and it shows her maturity and that she really does handle her responsibilities and all focus is on the kids. I’m just glad she doesn’t have to do it on her own anymore like she was, before Khesanio. Their twins are ADORABLE by the way!
What is happening with these trucks? I remember Cory wanting a truck more then a house for his twins, didn’t Leah leave because of it?
All about trucks😅
Incel men always think Big Truck=Big 🍆. its so telling lol
He should at least be liable to pay for the kids therapy bills in the future though. Since they will all have abandonment issues.
He should just sign his rights away and let her husband adopt them. Since he doesn’t want to see them or pay for them, and he doesn’t even care he has kids
Mackenzie seems beyond kind and mature about the divorce. It’s healthy for kids not to see their parents fight, but its also awful Josh has chosen to not really involve himself in his kids’ lives.
The kids see who was there for them growing up and who wasnt. Im glad they seem to have a good father figure in Khes and that they can witness a healthy relationship with Khes and Mackenzie.
Josh is going to have to answer to his kids someday and thats going to be entirely on him.
Gross behavior on Josh’s part. Three kids? In this economy? Oh no dude, you have to pay SOMEthing. If you don’t want a court order, fine. But you should have to contribute when you can.
The truth here seems to be the usual.. she lets him out of child support if he doesn’t ask for visitation or custody. He doesn’t want to pay child support for three kids and seeing them is hard so he’s fine with this.. they were married when she left the state and he also briefly lived in Florida so he can’t fight her on moving or anything so it’s a win win for both of them
A person loving a truck more than their own children is a concept that just blows my mind. This man needs Jesus Christ.
Josh hit his head way too many times while doing rodeo.
I could not stand his drawn out mumbling. He seriously is dumber than a box of rocks. Also, very very unkind. I felt so bad for Mackenzie. Her mom refused to allow her access to BC and forced her to be with Josh. I’m glad she’s happy now.
What really disgusts me about Josh is the fact that he purposely only speaks to one of his three kids which does nothing but create a continuous narrative in the other two kids heads that they aren’t as good as the one child that he does talk to and that narrative will inevitably spiral into thoughts like “clearly there’s something wrong with ME if my dad will only talk to Gannon.” As we all know, those thoughts of self doubt and that pattern of devaluing oneself do nothing but continue to spiral and take you down a *very* dark path if they are not addressed properly. I started to say that even someone as dense as Josh should realize this but then I remembered that he would bring the one kid he will talk to with him when he went to see the “girlfriends” he had while he was still married to Mackenzie and I stopped myself. It’s VERY clear that he’s trying to turn Gannon into a carbon copy of himself with the exact same “morals” he has and all of this just proves what a cruel waste of life he is.
exactly, like it was brushed off way too quick the fact that gannon admitted he knew josh was cheating on mackenzie because he introduced him to ONE OF HIS MISTRESSES
i wish more people realized how much of a genuinely kind person mackenzie is and u can definitely tell a lot of that was angie’s doing because i remember angie used to always preach about being kind to everyone and i love seeing that’s something that’s always been consistent with mackenzie and you can see it more now that she’s actually matured! i hope now that she’s actually with an amazing partner, she’ll actually be able to be the type of mother angie was 💕
Sometimes it’s best if the parent isn’t involved at all in their kids lives. I don’t think this “rodeo clown” was ever really into Mackanzie and never wanted to be a father to begin with. At least, Mackenzie seems happy now with her new family. IMO, getting the court system involved, sometimes, does more harm than good.
It was very apparent that Josh did not like, nor care about her. He’s such a mouth breather.
wow. she is way (WAY!!) more chill about this than like 9️⃣9️⃣% of people would be.
*insert lucille bluth ‘good for her’ GIF here*
also, khesanio is 💯 better to be with kids than jawsh could ever aspire to be.
Maybe some dead roses is what he should get? Fuck that, too much effort to get them.
Josh is SUCH a piece of sh*t. He “doesn’t have any money”, yet he is still living his life with his stupid truck-the thing he cares about more than his kids. Grow TF up. I would be doing anything and everything to make sure I was with my kids and they were supported. Disgusting. What a waste of space.
I’m sure Josh is “totally fine with the arrangement” of Khes being a father to Josh and Mac’s kids. He has zero responsibility. He doesn’t financially, emotionally or mentally help his children. Child support is just that, it is for your kids. It’s a shame that it was left up to him to do nothing for his 3 kids. So I don’t think Josh deserves his flowers or whatever the hell that even means.
While she has made some poor decisions it seems she is doing just fine. She is a better person than I would be in that situation.