If there's one lesson all young viewers viewers should learn from watching Teen Mom, it's that parenting is incredibly challenging and probably not the sort of lifestyle you're ready for when you're still in high school.
Unless you can get a reality deal out of it, that is. Because if you can make that happen, you'll be earning the kind of salary most adults can only dream about.
Amber Portwood, the 20-year-old who got pregnant at 16, got snapped up by MTV, and was recently jailed for allegedly abusing her babydaddy, makes—are you ready for this?—$280,000 per year.
Portwood's legal troubles are the reason her salary has been made public. While shooting Teen Mom, MTV cameras recorded Portwood hitting Gary Shirley, her ex-fiancee and father of her child. She was booked on two felony counts and a misdemeanor for domestic battery on December 27, and upon being released from jail on a $5,000 bond, she appeared before a Madison County magistrate who ordered her to reveal her earnings.
Portwood stated her occupation was being a "television personality." When asked to reveal her salary, her lawyer initially objected, but was overruled. Portwood was forced to disclose that she makes $140,000 with a six-month MTV contract, for a $280,000 annual paycheck.
So many questions. Is that a typical Teen Mom salary, and if so, why do they always seem so broke? Or did Amber get a special deal for being a man-smacking trainwreck? Finally: is that money going to her kid's eventual counseling needs? Or for stilettos and more ill-advised tattoos?
The really sick thing is that as inflated as that salary sounds, it's probably nothing compared to what MTV is pulling in for Teen Mom. I can't decide if I should be disgusted that Amber is earning this kind of money, or outraged that MTV is paying her such a small percentage of their pregnant-teen-fueled profits.
Actually, I think I'm just depressed that these shows are so insanely popular.
What's your take on Amber Portwood's $280K salary?
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Comments 56
i always wondering that to if she was really making that to because if i had that money i wouldnt live in apartment and my bed wouldnt be on the floor and i would have plenty of crib sheets for my child and a pretty decorative room for her to
my question is, I recently saw where Gary had tried to take her to court to get custody of their little girl and lost, and was wondering...why didn't he use all those MTV tapes to prove that she was abusive and volitile around their daughter in order to get custody? If my husband had access to tapes of his ex-wife abusing him, do you think he wouldn't have used them to get custody of his kids? I don't think Gary really wanted his daughter since he would have to deal with Amber all the time for the rest of his life, and I bet he's sitting back thanking God that the crazy woman is out of his life, even though he's given up his own child in order to get rid of her abuse.
On another note, she was so abusive to him, what if she decides that her little girl looks too much like her daddy, and starts abusing the baby too? People with anger issues, and I mean OBVIOUS anger issues like Amber and the season 2 counterpart, should not have their kids. The state should use the tapes to take the children away or give custody to someone who'll take care of the children.
That could pay for a lot of much needed therapy!