Former ‘Teen Mom’ star Farrah Abraham is speaking out about the potential merger of Paramount and Warner Bros., while demanding that all episodes of “16 and Pregnant” and ‘Teen Mom’ be pulled from streaming, citing “generational financial abuse.” Farrah claimed that the kids of ‘Teen Mom’ are owed money— her 17-year-old daughter Sophia included— and insisted that her former co-stars join her fight against the merger as a way to end “hate-watching.”
Or something…
Here, The Ashley is responding to some of Farrah’s chief complaints using the actual contract Farrah and the other ‘Teen Mom’ girls signed for themselves and their child(ren) in order to participate in the series.
Amid her campaign for Mayor City Council District 5 in Austin, Texas, Farrah took to Instagram to address California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton about an “urgent matter” regarding the “Paramount+ merger with Warner Bros./HBO Max.”
In her video, Farrah argued that, for 18 years, Paramount+ has profited off of episodes of “16 and Pregnant” and ‘Teen Mom,’ while not properly paying those who appeared on either show. Because of this, Farrah told followers that she has “demanded that [the episodes] be taken down.”
“They are in current default of current payments,” Farrah claimed, with entirely too much confidence. “This is generational financial abuse.”
Farrah went on to insist that, as part of her effort to end “corporate bully tactics,” she’s submitted a 27-page forensic audit regarding the potential merger directly to state and federal authorities. (Can you imagine the Farrah Speak that is contained within those 27 pages?!)
“ … to the AG Bonta and the [Department of Justice], do not approve the Paramount merger while this company violates workers’ rights and child labor laws,” she stated. “Hold this company accountable. Do not ‘California’ my Texas. We pay our children and we care for them.”
In the caption of her delusional diatribe, Farrah claimed that there are “unpaid earnings” owed to her daughter, Sophia, as well as to her former co-stars. She went on to address some of those castmates directly– including Catelynn Lowell, Maci Bookout, Amber Portwood, Kail Lowry, Chelsea Houska and Jenelle Evans– while encouraging them to, “stop suffering in silence” by joining her efforts.
“Fight for your teen selves, your children and parents,” Farrah wrote. “Stand up for a class action. All the children and parents did not consent to being apart [sic] of ‘hate watch TV’ AND not being paid properly– JUSTICE FOR TEEN MOM!”
Farrah went on to state that, “entertainment reform starts today,” before claiming (seemingly out of nowhere) that she “was sent by ‘Teen Mom’ to a trauma center” and that, “all the children deserve a fully paid intensive healing center stay.”
Her video concluded with alleged screenshots from Kail and Amber confirming the amount they were paid for ‘Teen Mom 2’ and ‘Teen Mom,’ respectively.
“$10,000 before taxes for season 1,” Kail commented, while Amber informed Farrah of her initial salary via DM, writing, “I remember season 1 was $5,000 [an] episode.”
(The Ashley can confirm that Amber is most likely talking about her payment for “16 and Pregnant,” which was $5,000. For ‘Teen Mom’ Season 1, the cast was paid about $10,000 for the season.)
Farrah also claimed that Paramount owes Sophia money for bonuses she earned and wasn’t paid.
(Just so you know, the cast received ratings bonuses throughout the series’ run. These were extremely common when the ‘Teen Mom’ shows were in their heyday and were bringing in crazy high ratings. Basically, if episodes reached a certain threshold in ratings, the cast would get a bonus. Farrah is trying to say that episodes hit the ratings needed to receive the bonus but the bonuses weren’t paid.)
The Ashley has some things to add regarding Farrah’s claims. All of the girls— as well as the kids on the show— were paid for participating on ‘Teen Mom.’ The girls all signed contracts with New Remote Productions— the production company behind the show at the time— acknowledging that they knew what they were signing themselves (and their child) up for, and that the footage and episodes are the “sole property of Producer and MTV.” (That is all verbiage from an actual early ‘Teen Mom’ contract obtained by The Ashley, by the way.)
Regarding Farrah’s demand that all ‘Teen Mom’ kids receive a stay at an intensive healing center:
The contract that the cast signed stated that they are aware that “producer will not provide medical or psychological care or counseling to me or my child.”
Regarding Farrah’s demand to remove ‘Teen Mom’ from streamers because they weren’t paid for that:
Farrah and the cast members also agreed that the producer can exploit all filmed materials in any way they wish— using formats available at the time they signed the contract and formats that might be available later on in the future. (This is where streaming would fit in.)
Regarding Farrah’s claims that the kids & parents featured on ‘Teen Mom’ didn’t consent to be part of “hate watch TV”:
This is false. They actually did agree to be part of this (or, in the case of the kids, their parents agreed for them to be part of it.)
According to the contract signed by The Big F and the other ‘Teen Mom’ stars, they were aware that participating in the show may expose them (and their child and family members) to “public ridicule, humiliation or condemnation…”
“I further acknowledge and understand that my and my child’s participation in [‘Teen Mom’] may lead to emotional strains on me, my child…[and my] family…” the contract reads.
Anyway, Farrah informed her followers in her post on Sunday that her message was regarding the meeting between California’s AG and Paramount Skydance that was scheduled for Monday. That meeting was ultimately canceled.
The two parties were slated to discuss a potential settlement of the state’s antitrust lawsuit seeking to block Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. On Monday, however, California’s AG confirmed in a statement to NBC News that he “pulled down this meeting,” before going on to accuse Paramount of “playing games” and accusing the company of leaking details about the settlement discussions. Paramount has denied being the source of the leaks, which were detailed in a Wall Street Journal article published on Saturday. Meanwhile, Paramount has agreed to freeze the potential merger until either the antitrust challenge is resolved or June 1 of next year– whichever comes first, according to NBC News.
You can watch Farrah’s full video below.
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(Photos: MTV; Instagram)
