2025 was a wild year for Teen Mom tomfoolery, TikTok tangents and general trashbaggery. From breakups to bitter court battles, the year was filled with drama from the ‘Teen Mom’ stars. While most of the juicy stuff happened off-camera, The Ashley was here to fill you guys in on the scandals the cameras missed!

While it seems that the ‘Teen Mom’ ship may have finally sunk (given that, as of press time, the show has yet to be renewed, despite the fact that the cast has not filmed in nearly a year), that didn’t stop MTV’s not-so-teenage breeders from getting themselves into some strange shenanigans in 2025.

Here, The Ashley takes a look back at the most outrageous ‘Teen Mom’-related scandals and events that happened each month of 2025….

January: Leah Messer Hit with Additional $65k in Tax Liens, Bringing Her Total Over $715k

The tax troubles kept building for Leah Messer in 2025. The ‘Teen Mom star has been in considerable tax debt since at least 2020, but this year it was revealed that she was hit with two more tax liens (totaling over $64,000!), adding to the heap of federal and state taxes she has that remain unpaid. 

All of those liens– combined with an unpaid state lien from 2020 in the amount of $9,238 and a federal lien from 2019 for $123,841— brought Leah’s tab with Uncle Sam to an eye-popping $715,437! 

With the fate of ‘Teen Mom’ (and Leah’s ability to cash in on her teenage pregnancy) hanging in the balance, Leah’s financial woes were undoubtedly on her mind this year.

 

February: Judge Orders Ryan Edwards to Pay His Ex Mackenzie Child Support After Ryan Accuses Mack of Selling His “Sentimental” Jet Ski & Other Items

A court hearing in February ended with a Tennessee judge ordering Ryan to pay Mackenzie child support for their two kids, Jagger and Stella, months after he had refused to do so. The judge also used the hearing to rule on several other topics that the estranged exes had been legally battling over, including the Motion for Contempt that Ryan filed against Mack earlier in the month, complaining that his ex-wife had sold (or got rid of) items that had “significant monetary and/or sentimental value” to him, including “sentimental” items like a jet ski, car jack and rifle. 

The judge ruled that Ryan has to pay Mack $1553 each month, and that Ryan be given time to go into the home he once shared with Mackenzie to retrieve his “sentimental” jet ski and other items. At the same hearing, the judge ruled that Ryan’s now-wife Amanda Conner would be allowed around Jagger and Stella, despite Mackenzie protesting it. 

 

March: Woman Claims Kail Lowry’s Fiance Elijah Scott Cheated with Her on a Cruise; Kail & Elijah Split Soon After

The “Teen Mom” universe exploded in March when a woman uploaded a video to TikTok, accusing Kail’s then-fiancé Elijah of cheating on Kail while he was on a cruise in May 2024. (In May 2024, Elijah and Kail were engaged, and Kail had given birth to their twins, Verse and Valley, just a few months prior.) 

The woman— whose name is Britt— claimed that she had sex with Elijah during that fateful voyage, unaware that he was engaged to Kail. In her original video— entitled “Unknowingly slept with an engaged man”— Britt claims that she and her friend met Elijah and his cousin while they were on a cruise— a trip that was paid for by Kail! Britt came with some photos and videos of her and Elijah (that were PG-rated), with one showing her holding his hand with his “K” (for Kail) tattoo very visible.

At the time of the reveal, Kail and Elijah were on a tropical vacation together, and Kail had just posted about how happy she was in her relationship with Elijah, with whom she also shares son Rio. Britt stated that she discovered that Elijah was engaged to the ‘Teen Mom’ star when one of Kail’s TikTok videos from the trip showed up on her TikTok “For You” page.

Kail remained silent on the scandal for a few weeks (although she ditched her engagement ring soon after). Eventually, she posted a TikTok (with Elijah) calling out “fake news.”

Still, Kail broke up with Elijah and confirmed the split on Lala Kent’s podcast in July.

 

April: Tyler Baltierra & Catelynn Lowell Caught Texting Minor Friends of Their Estranged Daughter Carly 

In April, news began to roll out that Catelynn had been texting a minor friend of her estranged bio daughter Carly, in hopes of staying in contact with the teenager, despite Carly’s parents cutting off communication between Carly and Cate and Tyler. By May, several TikTok accounts began leaking the texts sent between Carly’s alleged friend and Catelynn (and later also Tyler). In some of the texts, Catelynn told the friend that she was hoping to communicate with Carly in secret, and even encouraged the girl to set up a call between them while she and Carly were at school.

More and more text messages began to be released throughout May and June.

In October, Cate and Ty addressed the scandal on their podcast, admitting they were wrong to engage in the conversations— even though they now believe they were being catfished by an adult pretending to be a teenager.

“Full accountability for being wrong,” Tyler said.

“Should the conversation have happened that long as they did? Absolutely not,” he admitted. “But I’ve said this multiple times…it was just the desperation. That’s what happened. And I think desperation, it has a root cause. Why was I so desperate to make sure that these things [we were hearing about] were not happening?

“If we had access to information [about Carly], none of this would have happened,” he added.

May: Amber Portwood Unleashes on Daughter Leah During Season Finale; Calls Her ‘Rude’ & ‘Disrespectful’

“Teen Mom: The Next Chapter” fans were left stunned in May after watching Amber go “Portwood AF” on her daughter, Leah. During the show’s season finale, Amber blasted her 16-year-old— as well as Leah’s dad Gary Shirley— in a tirade unleashed after she read a text message sent to her by Leah, informing her that she wanted to stay estranged from Amber, and that no one had influenced her decision to cut ties.

Amber did not take kindly to Leah’s message, launching into a vicious rant in which she called Leah “rude” and demanded that her daughter stop disrespecting her. She called Gary— whom she has accused of influencing Leah into avoiding her— as well as other unsavory things— a “nasty man” and a “prick.”

A pajama-clad Amber was angry that she has been set up by MTV with this stunt. She ignored the producer who was asking her questions and instead looked directly into the camera to speak straight to Leah and Gary.

“Leah— stop! You’re 16. STOP!” Amber told her daughter. “People see the disrespect, by the way, and they tell me how much you disrespect me too! STOP! You’re rude! There’s no reason to be rude.”

“You have this piece of s**t, nasty man [Gary], and this is the kind of s**t that I get from my daughter who I love so much?!” Amber yelled. “…Ya nasty prick!” 

Months later, Amber stated on TikTok Live that being set up for that scene by the producers was one of the reasons she left the show. 

“What they did with my daughter, when they had her text me, that whole bullcrap situation they planned to get me to have a reaction? It was disgusting,” Amber said.

 

June: Javi Marroquin Blasts Ex-Wife Kail Over Custody Battle, Kail Allegedly Moving New Boyfriend Into Her House & More

Kail’s second baby daddy, Javi, took to Instagram Live in June to unleash his fury and spill tea on everything from Kail’s (alleged) secret new boyfriend, her (alleged) lack of mothering and more!

Over the course of his long Live, Javi blasted Kail for allegedly neglecting her parental duties for their son Lincoln— and for (allegedly) showing up to one of Lincoln’s sporting events with a new boyfriend— whom Javi claimed Kail was moving into her Delaware home, just months after her split from Elijah.

Javi also slammed Kail for not giving him enough time with Lincoln following his move to Virginia earlier that year. Although Kail and Javi had done an episode of Kail’s podcast together just months earlier, where they seem to repair their fractured co-parenting relationship, Javi claimed that was no longer the case.

“It’s not normal!” he said while crying. “Crazy, so crazy. And I’m tired of keeping my mouth shut for co-parenting… With those actions, I do not respect someone like that. Just because I keep it civil and just because I can say hello to you at sporting events, does not mean I respect you… That is why we will never co-parent.”

Javi also accused Kail of carefully crafting her public persona.

“Everything has been so calculated,” he said. “Everything she does is calculated! Allegedly, everything she does is calculated and you guys fall for it. Everybody that enables her falls for it and says this person is a great mom— enough is enough! She’s enabled her circle.”

Kail eventually responded during an episode of her Coffee Convos podcast, insisting that Javi was trying to play the victim and denying several of the things that Javi claimed about her in his rant.

 

July: Amber Portwood & Ashley Jones Sling Insults After Going Head-to-Head in TikTok Live Screaming Match

One of the biggest (and certainly the loudest) ‘Teen Mom’ fights happened in June and July, when Amber and Ashley faced off against each other on TikTok Live after months of slinging insults at each other on The Interwebs!

The TikTok tirade began when Ashley started expressing her displeasure with Amber’s online and on-screen treatment of her daughter Leah. Ashley gave Amber a good tongue lashing on TikTok Live, which Amber replied to with her own TikTok Live rants aimed at Ashley. After plenty of back-and-forth insults, the girls’ feud escalated to a whole new level in June, when Ashley surfed onto Amber’s TikTok Live and things exploded. While “face-to-face” with Amber, Ashley annihilated her, taking aim at the fact that Amber doesn’t live with her kids, and telling the couch-enthusiast at one pint, “What are you doing, you loser b**ch? Sixteen years and you’ve done nothing but fail— at parenting, at life.”

After the June face-off Amber continued to rant on TikTok Live about Ashley, prompting Ashley to surf onto the social media platform in July to lob a final (and brutal) barrage of insults at Amber.

“I genuinely thought this Amber Portwood situation was done, but what do I wake up to? Another three-hour Live that she’s done about me at 3 a.m. so now I have some things to say,” Ashley began her video, before addressing Amber’s frequent bragging about how much money she has made.

“You’ve made $30 million or whatever and you still cannot buy either of your children’s love,” Ashley said. “You still cannot buy the love of all these men you keep having in and out of your life like a hotel revolving door…”

“Calling me broke is not the dig that you think it is,” Ashley continued. “Because what I do know is that when I die, my daughter will remember me as a great mother, someone who loved and supported her. Not someone who chose men over her. Not someone who gave her insecurities. Not someone who spoke to her like she was a dog on the streets.”

 

August: Jenelle Evans’ Son Jace Leaks Their Private Text Messages Online

Jace Evans was responsible for the biggest ‘Teen Mom’-related scandal of August, when he decided to expose his mom Jenelle by posting screenshots showing conversations between them in which Jenelle cussed at him, accused him of lying about her now-ex-husband David Eason strangling him back in 2023, threatened to get Jace taken away and more!

The mother/son pair had a tumultuous relationship leading up to Jace exposing the texts, with Jenelle calling the cops on her son multiple times in 2025, and Jace running away. 

“I am finally putting out how my mother really is,” Jace said, before posting texts showing Jenelle writing “F**K YOU!” to him. Other screenshots showed Jenelle calling Jace a liar.

“Just like the way you lied about David strangling you,” Jenelle allegedly wrote to Jace. “You make things worse on yourself.”

“I never lied,” Jace replied. “He tried to do [that s**t].”

Jace also claimed that although Jenelle was present during the allegedly strangling, she was “standing there yelling in my face cussing me out just watching things happen.”

In the final screenshot, Jenelle threatened Jace.

“So keep it up and I’ll make ONE phone call,” Jenelle wrote, before telling Jace, “You won’t get a damn thing from me anymore including a phone.”

Less than 24 hours after Jace released the texts, he was on a plane to North Carolina to live with Jenelle’s mother, Barbara, who raised Jace for most of his life before Jenelle got custody of him at 14.

Jenelle later stated that Jace posted the texts were retaliation for her punishing him.

“Recently he’s also been in trouble with the law these past few months and is having a hard time adjusting to the rules set before him,” Jenelle revealed. “I’ve been trying everything to help him navigate it, but we are butting heads in the process.”

 

September: Jenelle Evans’ Friendship with Tori Rhyne Ends (Again) in Underwear- and Bedwetting- Feud

September brought the end of Jenelle and Tori’s latest attempt to be friends. Less than a month after Tori moved to Las Vegas to live with Jenelle (and get into some HIGH!jinks on the Las Vegas Strip), the besties’ friendship began to sour. Tori had already made plans to move back to North Carolina when Jenelle came down with bronchitis, which she eventually hospitalized for.

Tori seemingly remained at home with Jenelle’s kids Kaiser and Ensley while Jenelle hacked her way through four days in the hospital. When she was finally released, Jenelle immediately hit the Interwebs to express her anger that a certain someone failed to fetch her some fresh underwear and bring them to her in the hospital.

Jenelle revealed that she had peed herself from coughing so much, but Tori couldn’t be bothered to procure her some new panties. The former besties decided to air their, well, dirty laundry out on Facebook for the world to see.

“Just know if we’re friends and you’re in the hospital, I would bring you underwear if you begged me.. actually you wouldn’t have to beg me,” she wrote. “I’d be there in a heartbeat.. even if we haven’t spoke in years. Do I get the same treatment? Nahhh, def not from my best friend. I’m still [in] shock about it … couldn’t even get off my bed. #JustAThought #RantOver”

“She couldn’t take an Uber to drop me off underwear after peeing in the hospital bed?” Jenelle wrote. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“You had bronchitis, why are you pissing the bed?” Tori responded.

Jenelle then revealed that she was hacking so violently that she tinkled into her unmentionables.

“Because I was coughing for 2 hours…now I’m lying?” she wrote. “You didn’t even visit so how do you know? I texted you I pissed myself when it happened.” 

The girls eventually deleted their bickering sesh and Tori went back to North Carolina. It does not appear that Jenelle and Tori have spoken since. 

 

October: Barbara Evans Has a Stroke

October brought a scary medical emergency for Barbara— one of the ‘Teen Mom’ franchise’s most beloved grandparents. Barbara suffered a stroke in early October, leading her to be hospitalized for several days before she was finally sent home to recover. Jace and Jenelle’s sister Ashleigh cared for Barb, and Jenelle flew to North Carolina to see her ailing mother, despite Barbara not being thrilled to see her. Ashleigh claimed that Jenelle “started some drama” during her trip home, but Barb was expected to make a full recovery.

“My mother’s OK she needs lots of healing,” Ashleigh— who hasn’t gotten along with Jenelle for years— wrote. “… I also used to be a certified nursing assistant med tech, I used to work in long-term care so she’s in very good hands. She’s walking. She’s alert, she’s talking. She just needs lots of rest. She will be OK and make a full recovery thank you for the prayers [and] kind words. She’s loved by all her family and close friends. She’s got a great support system here.”

 

November: The ‘Teen Mom’ Cruise Gets Cancelled After Accusations of Fraudulent Activity

November saw the idea of a “Teen Mom Cruise” come crashing down for the second time in a decade.

Cast members from ‘Teen Mom’ announced in August that they would be taking part in a ‘Teen Mom’-themed cruise, set to sail off to the Caribbean for five days of tropical trashy fun in April 2026. The cruise— put on by a company called Showroom Travel Agency— was just one of several reality TV show-themed cruises the company was hosting both this year and next year. While cast members like Jade Cline, Briana DeJesus and Jenelle Evans did their best to promote the cruise and get fans to shell out over $3500 to book the cruise, things soon began looking shady.

In November, cast members from The Challenge (who were scheduled to do their own cruise with the company) began to publicly uncover the shadiness going on behind the scenes of the company, accusing it of fraud. That same day, Showroom Travel Agency posted a statement in which the company’s owner Mike Gibson seemingly admitted to some shady business practices and announcing that the ‘Teen Mom’ cruise and all others were cancelled.

“Sadly I bit off more than I can chew,” he wrote in the statement. “I have used revenue from one cruise and lapsed it into paying deposits for other Postgame Cruises (an action a lot of businesses do). With mass cancellations and failure to hit sales goals on future cruises, the funds have not been made to pay for all talents to participate in this cruise. This is sole responsibility of me, the sole owner of Showroom Travel, Mike Gibson.”

December: Chris Lopez Slams Kail Lowry; Claims She’s Keeping Their Kids from Him & She’s His Karma for Sleeping with Her While She Was Married

It was a December to remember, thanks to Chris and Kail. Although they battled throughout 2025, one of the co-parents’ biggest fights happened just weeks ago, when Chris slammed her on TikTok Live, claiming she was forbidding him from speaking to their sons, and that having to co-parent with the Teen Mom star is his “karma” for sleeping with her while she was still married years ago.

Chris— who shares son Lux and Creed with Kail— told his TikTok viewers that he hasn’t been allowed to have any communication with his sons. He also quoted the Bible and told his fans that he having to coparent with Kail is his “punishment” for boinking Kail while she was still technically married to Javi. 

“Sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life,” Chris stated, before reading from Proverbs 6:29, which states that a man who sleeps with another man’s wife will not go unpunished. “I’ve been punished, bro!” 

Kail soon responded to Chris’ rant, informing her TikTok Live fans that Chris didn’t get the kids because they were sick. She also revealed that she had to call the cops on Chris around Thanksgiving because he “took” Lux and Creed for a week and wouldn’t tell her where they were.

Kail denied many of Chris’ claims, and went on to remind him of some of the terrible things he has done to her over the years.

“Let’s not forget when you tried to sign off your [parental] rights [to Lux],” Kail said. “Let’s not forget when you strangled me while holding him. Let’s not forget when you strangled me up against the side of the house while I was pregnant. Let’s not forget when you pulled me in the house by my hair when I tried to escape. Let’s not forget when you held me hostage in my own house. Let’s not forget when you pushed me down the stairs and held me hostage in the basement. Let’s not forget when you broke all my mirrored furniture.”

She also accused Chris of shaving Lux’s long hair against his will, something Chris confirmed he did but stated it was because Kail had failed to take care of his locs.

 

 

That’s all for 2025! Here’s to more ‘Teen Mom’ creepiness and craziness in 2026!

RELATED STORY: Jenelle Evans Complains About Her Deadbeat Baby Daddies; Insists She Couldn’t Help Picking Bad Guys

(Photos: TikTok; MTV; Instagram)