Tyler Baltierra is clarifying some polarizing comments he made during a recent episode of his and wife Catelynn Lowell’s Cate & Ty: Break It Down podcast, insisting to listeners that he was not comparing addiction to adoption.
As fans of “Teen Mom” know, Tyler and Cate placed their biological daughter Carly for adoption in 2009. In 2024, the couple was cut off from contacting the teen after her parents, Brandon and Teresa Davis, closed their adoption. While Tyler and Cate frequently speak about (and criticize) adoption, Tyler recently struck a nerve among a number of fans after claiming that society is more sympathetic to those who struggle with addiction than those who have placed a child for adoption, using the sympathy that ‘Teen Mom’ star Amanda Conner has received after her recent DUI arrest.
Tyler’s comments came during the May 27 episode of Cate & Ty: Break It Down, in which he and Cate spoke about Amanda– who is the wife of ‘Teen Mom’ dad Ryan Edwards, being arrested for DUI, child abuse and other charges, with the pair even titling their episode, “Unexpected Updates & The Amanda Arrest Fallout.”
During the episode, Tyler told listeners he’s glad that people have learned more about addiction and are “more sympathetic” to those who are struggling with it; however, he went on to say that he also finds it “interesting” how people responded to a recent post Cate made about missing Carly on her birthday, compared to the “sympathy and empathy” Amanda received after being arrested and later admitting that she had relapsed.
“ … We’re talking about a woman in recovery who relapsed, and during that relapse, put her child in danger and herself in danger … ,” Tyler said, referring to the fact that Amanda’s arrest came after Ryan called the police to inform them that his wife was allegedly driving high with their daughter Presley in the car.
Tyler went on to say that Amanda “gets this amount of sympathy and empathy because she’s struggling with this addiction problem,” while Cate– “who’s sober, not on drugs [and] a great mom”– receives a much different reaction from the public when she posts about “how hard it is that she doesn’t get to see the baby she relinquished out of desperation.”
Tyler told listeners the different reaction to these two scenarios “blows [his] mind,” and serves as a reminder of how much focus has been put on “studying addiction,” whereas “adoption is still in the shadows.”
“Like, how is it possible that a woman who endangered children because she’s a drug addict gets more sympathy and empathy over a birth mother who relinquished [her child] out of desperation talking about missing [her child] on her birthday?” Tyler added.
Days after the podcast episode dropped, Tyler took to his Instagram Story to respond to the backlash he received on social media, telling listeners he “just KNEW” that his comments would be taken out of context.
“To clarify, I was not comparing addiction to adoption,” Tyler wrote. “I was comparing society’s empathy, awareness & understanding towards addicts & birthmothers. This was in no way to ‘shade’ Amanda AT ALL, I would never shame anyone in recovery.
“If you listen to the whole episode, I say it multiple times how I wish her & her family nothing but healing,” he continued. “I’m the first one to know the effects of addiction & the struggles that come along with recovery.”
“I’m proud of her for seeking help & I’m rooting for her!” Tyler added.
Tyler went on to claim that the comments he made on the podcast episode were “a simple observation of societal/cultural differences when it comes to how we sympathize with addicts who are suffering vs how sympathize with birthmothers who are suffering.”
Listen to a clip of Tyler’s comments from the podcast episode below.
RELATED STORY: ‘Teen Mom’ Alum Amanda Conner Speaks Out Following DUI Arrest; Admits to Relapse: “I Fell Hard”
(Photos: Instagram; MTV)
34 Responses
Says the guy who told Cate that if she didnt put the baby up for adoption, he would leave her.
Says the guy who, despite being asked multiple times, would not stop using Carly as a platform to make MTV money.
Says the guy who, with his lazy, loser wife, lost open adoption access to the child because they just couldn’t stop exploiting her to make money without actually having to work, and then blames “adoption”, “their adoption counselor”, “their families”, “Brandon and Theresa”, and “the entire system”.
They supposedly gave up Carly to have a better life for her, and to be able to have better lives for themselves. They have managed to achieve NOTHING. The only good thing that came out of this was that Carly dodged a bullet and ended up with loving, caring parents who dont have criminal records, drug problems, and arent trailer trash.
Change your name when you turn 18 Carly, and run like hell from these two clowns.
I’ve been watching their story for over a decade now…Can they ever talk about anything besides adoption ? How can this be their entire personality for forever.
I hate Tyler and Caitlyn. Get jobs you worthless bums.
The last thing Tyler and Cate need is a podcast. They need to stop talking. Tyler especially has verbal incontinence, and Cate is just an idiot. What’s scary is you know there are a handful of people who think they’re well informed. Tyler needs to learn he doesn’t need to articulate every thought in his head.
Cate & Tyler have violated Carly’s privacy for MONEY for her entire life! 😳 They have nothing else to say!! I hope when Carly turns 18 she is able to act LEGALLY to make them STOP!! If I were Carly I would want NOTHING to do with them, EVER!!
How about you just shut up and find a job.
Why does Tyler have to be jealous about someone getting more empathy than someone else? That’s weird.
Since Tyler is a complete idiot who likes to cosplay like hes smart, imma make it real simple for you: ADDICTION IS A DISEASE, ADOPTION IS A CHOICE. Not the same situation at all. And with Butch as a dad, he should know that already…
Addiction is a disease where you make a lot of bad choices. I would know, because I made the choice to get sober. Let’s not take accountability away from people. They have a choice to become addicts, and they have a choice to become sober too. It’s not hopeless.
Who is being symapthetic towards Amanda? I have only seen people trashing her. This really shows how Tyler really doesn’t see the real world. He is 100% in his narcissist bubble.
Maybe it’s because “society” is sick to death of C&T banging on about adoption and “trauma” all the fucking time. Change the record! And Cait being pressured to relinquish her child….. Yeah, that was you and your mom ty, when Cait was having second thoughts and you told her you d finish with her if she kept the baby……scum.
idc how dramatic this may sound but kail giving these two idiots a podcast is for sure in the top 5 worst things she’s done
It’s like Adam Sandler artificially propping up Rob Schneider’s acting career
I understand what he’s saying. Ultimately, they placed Carly for adoption BECAUSE they had unstable home lives as teenagers due to their parents addictions. That was the price Caitlyn and Tyler had to pay for having addict and alcoholic parents. It wasn’t their fault they had the lives they did. Yet they still get a lot of hate for speaking about their adoption, the trauma it caused them and the longing they have to be in her life. Compare that to the compassion, support and understanding Amanda is receiving even though she put her child in danger. People could just not be hateful and realize we are all people at the end of the day.
Could you not apply that same logic to these two though? Just think of all the things they’ve done to attempt to harm Carly and her family. Honestly these two are pretty hateful themselves.
I don’t want to mince words though. What they went through and how it can still affect them at times is d was traumatic. I totally understand that ND even some of the things they have aid. But NOTHING justifies the things they’ve done, or most of the things they say. That’s exactly why they get less compassion than others might. It is, mostly, a direct result of their actions, sadly.
It doesn’t have to be that way, but they make it so.
This. This is part of the problem.
As far as I am aware they have never done anything to intentionally harm Carly. If I’m wrong, please give an examples. That’s a bold accusation. Talking about how they wish they made other choices for Carly is not being harmful. Talking about how they miss her on her birthday is not harming her. They are allowed to talk about her. This idea that they are bad people or harmful people because they talk Carly is insane. They don’t give specifics about her life such as her school, church, friends, etc. I would be willing to bet that Carly would rather know they care about her and wanted her than to think they just didn’t care about her and give her up because of it. At the end of the day, Carly should be the priority, not protecting adult feelings.
Are you intentionally ignoring when they stalked and harassed Carly and her family so much they had to cut all contact. The text bombs, the contacting other children to try and learn more about Carly (all stuff her family did not want and had to specifically ask them to stop numerous times)
Stalked and harassed? Are you being facetious?
It is my understanding they were contacted by someone claiming Carly was in danger and that was what started the texting. Do I agree with how they handled it and how far it went? No, absolutely not. But again, is that really so much worse than driving while high with your toddler in the car? Why does one of these elicit empathy but not the other? It’s a double standard.
Biological parents talking about a child they placed for adoption does NOT make them bad people.
Your understanding is flawed. The text bombing started when Carly stopped responding to Cate after Carly decided she didn’t have time, or the desire to go, for a meetup they wanted. Cate started harassing Carly’s parents who in no difficult to understand terms told her they needed to stop . Cate them continued and started sending pics and “look what you’re missing” texts to an, at the time barely teen, child and her parents to garner some kind of response. This was long before they started contacting random kids.
No they were not told that she was in danger ,lmao. They said that to save face because it is creepy af to contact random children for info on one of their friends. They asked these literal children all kinds of stuff about Carly.
Now, come on, lol..
No one’s surprised at their ability to turn any story into a way to bring the topic back to Carly and themselves. Cate, and Tyler as well, have received decades worth of sympathy and empathy over their adoption. They’ve made it their whole life, identity, and finances. The fact that he can’t see why empathy and sympathy for their situation is waning is exactly the reason why it’s waning. We are exhausted. A random birth mom posting about missing her adopted child is met with empathy and sympathy and he knows that. This is just another example of him still talking about Carly when they promised to stop. What are the numbers for their podcast? I mean, who’s actually listening to these two still after all these years of the same stuff?
My take is that people can and do sympathize with Cate’s struggle and how hard it must have been for her. And how hard it must still be.
The issue is how Cait and Ty are behaving and choosing to address this. It’s been 16 years – Carly is the daughter of Brandon and Theresa. Her parents are doing what they feel is best. We may never fully know or understand the reasons why – but I think Cait and Ty can respect the situation while still acknowledging the pain they feel. The biggest issue I have with the behavior is that there is a complete lack of respect or understanding for Brandon, Theresa, and Carly. All we hear about is how Cait and Ty feel. I wish those two would try to put themselves in the other person’s shoes before making all of these strongly worded posts that likely read as offensive to the adoptive family and their daughter.
I don’t think Tyler or Cate have gone a day without talking about trauma. They have been through so much therapy, it’s sad. Unpopular opinion but therapy is really not meant to be life long. These two continue to be stuck in the past. Cate looks like she is 400lbs and acts depressed while Tyler rants and raves over the Carly’s adoption. I hope when Carly turn 18yrs she never, ever speaks to these two.
Most people who give up their children, so that the kids have a better life of course, actually do get empathy and sympathy.
These two idiots don’t because they have made this their entire identity. They talk about nothing else, they focus on nothing else, and they demand reactions and responses from people that are unrealistic.
I actually did have a ton of empathy and sympathy for them at one time. I am willing to bet others did too. They are the reason this is no longer the case. I still have a little sympathy, especially around important dates like birthdays and holidays of course. But overall, nope, they did this.
I myself at first, though that those two were selfless people, I was proud of the hard decision they made at a young age, and that they dealt with this a lot better than many others would have.
But as the years went on, I find these two bitter, nasty and immature.
They should ( back then) have had intense counselling and intense therapy, to help them come to terms with the choice they made, to become better people, it’s to late for that now, they are just two bitter vile people.
I remember crying watching their episode when they handed Carly off to the adoptive parents. I get that it was traumatic, but if they had just followed the rules they would still have access to Carly. I don’t feel sorry for them now because they did this to themselves. They will always be her bio parents, but they are not her parents, Brandon & Theresa are. They need to realize that & take care of the kids they do have,
These two are some of the worst parents/people I’ve had the displeasure to come across, which is really saying something.
He’s just tantruming out because Amanda’s arrest forced him to share the media spotlight he and Caitlyn need like oxygen. The two of them need worldwide attention just as desperately as addicts need drugs or alcohol.
Is this like when he told Catelynn he didn’t want to be married to a big heifer but didn’t mean that badly either or?
It’s almost like Tyler should stop talking or something…
You just can’t compare addiction with adoption because they are two entirely different things. What you can compare though is the fact that both parties at play here are making money off their situations. Does that require equal amounts of empathy? Meh…. i dunno. What I do know though is that C&T have been flogging this dead horse for a bit too long now and NEED TO STOP USING IT FOR CONTENT! GAAAHHHHHHHH
Shut up already, we don’t care about you
Weirdly, I do see the point he was trying to make. Was it misguided? Yes, but I don’t think at the root core he’s wrong. If this were about a random birth mother, I think there would be more sympathy. However, Catelynn’s behaviors in the recent years have exhausted the public’s ability to sympathize with her. The overall point I agree with but the examples he used to try and “prove his point” were the problem.
There are no parallels, only Cait and Tyler would try to make somebody else’s arrest about their adopt choice.
These two air bags need therapy, not a podcast. I called Tyler out for being unhinged in their manic persuit of Carly and he blocked me.
tyler has to denigrate other women to uplift his own wife bc he’s a feminist you guys
Oh weird, they made a situation that had nothing to do with them about themselves. Somewhere Carly is cringing.
I suspect that Carly is out there living in fear of the almost total strangers who are pathologically determined to take her from her family.