Dr. Drew Pinsky claims the cold hard cash that the original cast of “Teen Mom” earned per episode may have influenced pregnant teens at the time to pursue a role on “16 and Pregnant” in the hopes of following in the prosperous (yet incredibly trainwrecky) footsteps of Farrah Abraham, Maci Bookout and more.
Dr. Drew– who hosted all of the “16 and Pregnant” Reunion specials, as well as those for the ‘Teen Mom’ shows– appeared on Monday’s episode of “Hollywood Demons: Surviving 16 and Pregnant” (alongside The Ashley!), with the docuseries exposing many behind-the-scenes secrets of MTV’s groundbreaking reality series. Dr. Drew also confirmed the whopping salaries the OG cast were pulling in during the show’s hey-day.
“The unfortunate reality is, by the time ‘Teen Mom’ comes around, there is such a thing as a reality star and therefore, they can command more salary,” Dr. Drew explained in the episode, referring to original ‘Teen Mom’ cast of Amber and Farrah, as well as Catelynn Lowell and Maci Bookout.
As The Ashley previously told you, the girls featured on “16 and Pregnant” were only paid $5000 (and a video camera!) for appearing on the show. That salary doubled for the first season of ‘Teen Mom,’ but continued to increase.
Dr. Drew went on to reveal that, “towards the middle of the [‘Teen Mom’] series,” the OG moms started earning $25,000 per episode.
“ … I remember then I started hearing about managers and agents and publicists, also,” Dr. Drew recalled. “Later in the run of the ‘Teen Mom’ series, the girls started getting $40,000 to $50,000 per episode. As the series rolled along, a young person who was pregnant might look at ’16 and Pregnant’ and go, ‘Well, that is a way to make money, it’s a way to get some sort of deal.’
“Who knows what they’re thinking– and probably, very magical kind of thinking– but it did look like a reasonable thing to do if you were pregnant,” he added.
As The Ashley exclusively revealed in 2024, the original dads who went on to appear on Teen Mom: The Next Chapter– i.e. Tyler Baltierra, Gary Shirley and Ryan Edwards– were pulling in about $30,000 to $35,000 per episode that they were featured on. (The salaries of the dads/boyfriends who weren’t featured on the franchise from the beginning were less, due to them not putting in nearly as many seasons as the OG dads.)
At the time, a production source told The Ashley that these figures were “basically what the original top girls” made on the series, which Dr. Drew’s recent comments have further confirmed.
(This whopping salary does not even include the performance bonuses the cast received when episodes did really well in the ratings, or any brand deals or opportunities the cast received outside of their ‘Teen Mom’ paychecks.)
It’s worth noting that these super-sized paychecks that the ‘Teen Mom’ stars were earning did not have taxes taken out, as the moms (and dads) were not employees of Viacom/Paramount and were paid as 1099 workers. Because of this, it was the responsibility of the individual cast member to pay their quarterly estimated taxes.
Additionally, cast members were only paid if they were featured on an episode in some way; however, as The Ashley has previously reported, cast members did not have to physically be in an episode to earn a check, as they were paid (in some form) even if they were featured in an episode via phone or FaceTime call.
‘Hollywood Demons: Surviving 16 and Pregnant’ is currently streaming on HBO Max. Watch a clip from the episode below.
(Photos: Investigation Discovery; MTV; Instagram)
6 Responses
I loved Dr Drew in Cellebrity rehab but not in the teen mom franchise. Not once did he pull up those who did wrong things on the show like Jenelle. Amber and Farrah. They were never held accountable for their behaviour, he enabled them. I feel he let the girls down by not taking a stand when they were wrong. I do not know if it was his decision or mtv’s but it was the wrong decision.
He was horrible in Celebrity Rehab, IMO. He exploited those addicts for his own profit and notoriety. He coddled and pampered a lot of the patients, especially the men. I specifically recall him sticking up for and babying Mike Starr after Starr got verbally and physically abusive with one of the female counselors. A real rehab facility would probably have booted the addict out for getting abusive or at the very least would have made that patient face some consequences. But Drew is a misogynist and a fake who talks a good game.
Look up Drew’s BOARD CERTIFIED credentials. He’s board certified in Internal Medicine only. He self-certified as an addiction SPECIALIST, not a psychiatrist even though he frequently refers to himself as an addiction psychiatrist. Drew has NO board certifications in psychiatry. Look it up on certificationmatters.org for the truth. He’s a charlatan.
Also, 12 of the 38 total patients on Celebrity Rehab have died. Many of them died of ODs: Joey Kovar, Seth Binzer (Shifty Shellshock), Mike Starr, Jason Davis, Tawny Kitaen, Frankie Lons , and Joanie Laur (Chyna). Rodney King drown while highly intoxicated. He went to Celebrity Rehab for his addiction to alcohol. It’s safe to say, Drew isn’t the addiction expert he claims to be.
He also would give little disclaimers when a patient of his died. “Addiction is unpredictable and sometimes they don’t make it”. That may be true but the way he said it sounded more like he was absolving himself of responsibility. It was just a shoulder shrug moment for him every time he discussed yet another patient of his that died.
Dr. Drew reminds me of Dr. Phil constantly tooting his own horn. Dr. Phil may have graduated as a clinical psychologist but he couldn’t even prescribe psychiatric medication yet he constantly advised people on his tv show about psychiatric medication. He has not held a license in 20 years. But people listened to him like he knew all.
I was a fan of Mike Starr as far as him being a talented musician in one of my favorite bands. But I remember the episode you are talking about and I have never been so furious, disappointed and disgusted in both Mike Starr and Dr. Drew.
This no one discusses his credentials.!!