The Ashley has been receiving a lot of questions regarding “Hollywood Demons: Surviving 16 & Pregnant”— the documentary she appeared in that aired on May 18. (If you haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, you can now stream it on HBO Max and the ID Channel!)
As viewers saw, The Ashley provided commentary about the show (as well as about “Teen Mom”) and many of the girls who appeared on the episode to discuss what happened in their lives after “16 and Pregnant.” The Ashley’s been getting plenty of comments and questions, so she decided to bring them all to The Roundup and answer as many as she can!
All of the questions below were sent to The Ashley via Facebook, X or Instagram!
Q: Who was the girl they used in the promo ads for the episode?
A: A ton of people asked The Ashley who the girl featured in the photo above (which was used to promote the “16 and Pregnant” episode) is, as no one could recognize her. There’s a good reason for that: The Ashley’s producer tells her that the photo was meant to be used for the “Child Stars” episode from earlier in the season but was accidentally used for the “16 and Pregnant” episode. The girl in the photo was never actually on the show.
Q: Did you get to meet Dr. Drew?
A: Although Dr. Drew was also interviewed for this episode, we didn’t film our segments at the same time. Although I didn’t meet him while filming this show, I have met him several times in the past.
Q: What made you participate in this documentary?
A: As Roundup readers are aware, I rarely do anything that puts the spotlight on myself. In fact, I have turned down other opportunities to appear on TV because I like to let my writing speak for itself and keep things about reality TV and not me. However, I said yes to this opportunity because I thought the subject matter was really important.
I knew how much had happened behind-the-scenes of “16 and Pregnant”— both during filming and after— for so many of these girls and I thought it was a good thing that they could tell their stories. Since I am a literal database of useless ‘Teen Mom’ knowledge, I wanted to help them do that.
Q: Why did you specifically not mention Jordan Cashmyer’s name when you were talking about the other girls who passed away from drug overdoses?
A: A lot of people have come for me about this. (If you haven’t seen the doc, there’s one part where I speak about Valerie Fairman and Autumn Crittendon, who both have passed.) In the documentary it appears that I mention those girls’ names and say, “there was also one other girl who passed away..” but don’t specifically say Jordan’s name.
That is not the case. I did actually say, “There was one other girl, Jordan, who passed away…” However, her name was cut out by production. From what The Ashley has been told, Jordan’s family specifically requested she not be discussed in the documentary.
Q: What else was cut from your interview?
A: A lot. We filmed for hours and, of course, only some of what is filmed can be used. I spoke at length about each girl who was featured on the doc, but only my commentary on Karley‘s episode made it in. I also exposed a few secrets that didn’t make the cut— such as the fact that ‘Teen Mom 3’ was originally going to feature the girls from “16 and Pregnant” Season 3 and not Season 4.
However, when one of the girls from Season 3– Jordan Ward— got pregnant again immediately after filming (and was secretly pregnant during the Season 3 Reunion), the producers decided to go with the girls from Season 4 instead. (So basically Mackenzie, Briana & Co. owe Jordan for their ‘Teen Mom’ fame!)
I also heavily criticized Dr. Drew’s behavior at some of the Reunions, particularly his treatment of Allie from Season 3. That was cut completely
I talked about how I was in the audience during the filming of the “16 and Pregnant” Season 3 Reunion and saw how Dr. Drew basically told poor Allie that she was all alone, and insinuated that it was unlikely she would achieve her goals. It was clear, in my opinion, that his goal was to make her cry (which he did) and I thought that was really terrible.
Q: What was on the third clip that the police got from MTV of Amber abusing Gary that never aired?
On ‘Hollywood Demons,’ the prosecuting attorney from Amber Portwood’s 2010 case spoke about the incidents that aired on MTV that had viewers calling the police to report the two acts of domestic violence that Amber had committed against Gary Shirley on-camera. He also mentioned that there was a third incident that didn’t air but was filmed. Authorities only found out about that incident when they subpoenaed the raw, unedited footage from MTV.
Because The Ashley received so many questions about what was in that third, unaired clip, she decided to dig deep into her ‘Teen Mom’ archive and found the answer for you.
The unaired incident took place on July 18, 2010 (about a month after the scene where Amber kicked Gary down the stairs with the TV was filmed). According to the police report, things started with a verbal argument between Gary and Amber, but escalated when Amber slapped Gary across the face while cameras rolled.
“Amber then got into a fighter stance and punched Gary several more times in the facial area and the upper body,” the report reads. “Initially, Gary was sitting down, but got up and exited the room as the punches were thrown. Upon viewing the uncut footage, Leah is clearly sitting on the floor in the same room when the battery was occurring.”
Gary later gave a statement to police, confirming that the three incidents caught on film “were not staged by MTV and were real life, with anger.”
Why were some of the faces of the dads and babies blurred in the doc?
From what I was told by some of the girls who participated in the documentary, some of their baby daddies were not comfortable being shown on-camera, or having their kids (who are now teens) shown on-camera. If they don’t consent then their faces can’t legally be shown on-screen.
Thanks again for all your support! You can watch ‘Hollywood Demons: Surviving 16 & Pregnant’ on HBO Max or streaming on ID Channel!
Stay tuned for more stories about where the girls of “16 and Pregnant” are today!
7 Responses
What horrible things to say to a dissabled child. The man should see a real doctor of psy for his issues.
I think we knew back then that Amber also punched Gary in the face.
Dr Drew showed what a POS he is way back when he tried to justify Farrah’s behavior. He’s always been about pushing an agenda normalizing dysfunction, plain and simple. That’s the reason the show was created and he’s been on board from the start.
Thank you for speaking up for the girls. I’ve made my opinion that on Dr Drew professionalism as a medical professional apparent here before to mostly downvotes, which fair people have different lives and likes. His shows have damaged a lot of people, imo.
Though his credentials are miles ahead of the like of “Dr” Phil.
It’s really weird to blur the faces of the baby daddies like we can’t just go look at their episodes lol
Reality tv is a brain-drain.
Wow, juicy indeed!!! Thanks for the info!! My mom worked at the hospital in Pasadena where Dr. Drew used to work. I have always thought he was a fame seeking scum sucker, so your tea is no surprise, I suppose you would have to be that type of person to be a long-term “TV Doctor” of any sort.
we love you and thank you for everything that you share and do for us fans!!! 🩷