Unexpected Updates & The Amanda Arrest Fallout feat. Elle Bee

Summary

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Cate & Ty Break It Down

Episode: Unexpected Updates & The Amanda Arrest Fallout feat. Elle Bee

Date: May 27, 2026
Podcasters: Tyler & Catelynn Baltierra (of MTV’s Teen Mom), with guest Elle Bee

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Episode Overview

In this candid and emotionally charged episode, Catelynn and Tyler are joined by frequent guest Elle Bee to discuss major updates in both reality TV drama and real-life struggles. The first half centers on the aftermath of the “Unexpected” series’ Bella and Hunter storyline, delving into legal updates, family dynamics, and continued ethical questions about filming minors. The second half offers a raw, detailed breakdown of the recent arrest of Amanda (from Teen Mom-affiliated circles), addiction and recovery, and its ripple effects on loved ones. The conversation is punctuated with personal reflections as all three share their experiences growing up with addiction and the societal biases that persist.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Updates on “Unexpected’s” Bella, Hunter & Family Legal Situation

(starts at 02:00)

• Update on Bella & Hunter:
  Elle confirms the two teens have broken up. Hunter, now living with his father, has a new girlfriend. He's set his social media accounts to private to protect his privacy amidst media attention.

  • Elle: “He did, in fact, break up because...now that he’s living with his dad, he’s living like a teenager. He gets to...hang out with some females, and Bella did not like that, so they broke up.” (03:00)

• Sealed Court Case & Custody Battle:

  • The details of Hunter and Bella’s case are sealed due to minor involvement—an act everyone agrees is in the teens’ best interest for privacy.
  • Hunter’s father now has full custody; any visitation with his mother or Bella is at his discretion and supervised.

• DNA, Guardianship, & Paternity:

  • Elle states that since a guardian ad litem has been appointed for Hunter, Bella, and the baby (Wes), it’s strongly implied the DNA test confirmed Hunter as the father.

    “If the DNA test had come back that the baby wasn’t Hunter’s, the case would be dismissed...so I’m assuming it came back that he’s the father because the courts have now appointed them a guardian ad litem.” (09:50)

• Family Dynamics, Parenting, and TV Ethics:

  • Tyler and Catelynn discuss how Hunter ended up living so independently, noting parental addiction, lack of custody orders, and enabling behaviors.
  • Both express deep discomfort with how reality TV producers have handled underage stories, especially regarding privacy, appropriate questioning, and boundaries:

    Ty: “As a parent, I would have been [saying to] a producer, ‘Absolutely not. We are not talking about that on TV. He’s too young.’" (12:25) “It gives off a very predatory, weird, too comfortable vibe. Like, not parent and child—more like friend, best friend. Just fucking creepy. Red flag creepy shit.” (12:07)

• Broader Issues Raised:

  • Whether networks should instate a minimum age to appear on reality shows.
  • The potential for TV exposure to exacerbate trauma and poor outcomes for minors and young parents.

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2. Ethical Dilemma: Reality TV Producers & Exploitation

(ongoing from 04:08, and revisited at 19:34-21:52)

• Producer Pressure:

  • Tyler questions the ethical responsibility of networks, specifically TLC, noting a focus on shock value over the well-being of participants.
  • Elle notes, for some families, a desire for fame seems to override child welfare.
  • Comparison with “Teen Mom” experience:

    “TLC was so pissed they didn’t get [the teen pregnancy show] first...Unexpected was inevitable. We all knew TLC was trying to brew their own version.” (20:38–21:31)

• Societal Responsibility:

  • All agree that networks need to draw a firmer line and take greater care with minors' stories, emphasizing the long-term impact interviews and footage can have.

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3. The Amanda Arrest Fallout: Relapse, Legal Trouble, and Family Impact

(Major section starts at 22:17)

• Timeline of the Event:
  Elle describes the sequence of Amanda’s arrest for DUI, child abuse/neglect, and failing field sobriety/drug tests after she took off in a car with her child while under the influence.

  • “She was charged with DUI, child abuse and neglect...She was swerving, essentially driving under the influence...She refused the chemical testing.” (24:54)

• Ryan’s Involvement & Emotional Fallout:

  • Ryan (Amanda’s partner) reportedly has been trying to support and intervene, even taking Amanda to Walgreens for an on-the-spot drug test. After Amanda fled, he called police.
  • Elle’s sources say Ryan is “still doing really good” and focusing on helping Amanda while trying to keep their child safe.

• Systemic & Legal Questions:

  • Amanda was recently placed on probation, raising questions about how she was able to bond out after this new charge.
  • The same judge who oversaw Ryan’s cases is assigned to Amanda’s—a fact Tyler finds odd.

• Impact on Kids and Grandparents:

  • Discussion turns to concern for Presley, Amanda and Ryan’s baby, and possible custody changes.
  • Elle notes that Amanda’s older son is now with his father more often, and Amanda was recently fired from her job at a rehab facility for allegedly refusing a drug test:

    “Bosses called her in...‘We’re concerned, we want you to take a drug test.’ And she said, ‘No.’ She left.” (39:42)

• Support System & Community Response:

  • Tyler emphasizes the need for support—not judgment—for families dealing with addiction:

    “We also need to stop criminalizing addiction and addicts, because it’s not a criminal thing...it’s a mental health problem.” (61:27)

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4. Societal Double Standards & Stigma

(Premier discussion from 44:45–48:05)

• Sympathy For Addicts vs. Birth Parents:
  Tyler calls out the discrepancy between social media sympathy for mothers struggling with addiction (even when they endanger children) versus harsh criticism toward birth mothers experiencing grief after adoption.

  Ty: “How is it possible that a woman who endangers children because she’s a drug addict gets more sympathy and empathy over a birth mother who relinquished out of desperation, talking about missing [her child] on her birthday?" (44:45)

• The “Pedestal” For Sober Addicts:
  Elle observes that addicts who recover are often put on a pedestal, while their prior harm is minimized, but birth parents are not afforded such grace, even without a history of substance abuse or abuse.

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5. Family Dynamics: Codependency, Enabling, and Recovery

(Extensive throughout; highlighted at 52:16–59:20)

• Parental Role in Addiction:

  • The hosts and Elle discuss how parents (like Jen & Larry, Ryan’s parents) are often unfairly blamed as “enablers,” when in reality, familial codependency is an addiction itself and extremely difficult to break.
  • Ty:

    “People don’t understand about ‘enablers’...codependency is an addiction. There’s literally Codependents Anonymous.” (52:17)
    “No one enables if they’re not suffering some kind of pain themselves...It’s a response to trauma.” (56:36)

• Calls For Empathy:

  • The hosts agree that the disease of addiction is a family issue, and people on the outside need to be slower to judge and quicker to show compassion:

    “We all just need to kind of zoom out a little bit and realize that we’re all just human beings, make mistakes, go through, trying to heal, trying to learn, trying to do better.” (59:20)

• Idea for Future Episode:

  • Elle floats the idea of bringing Jen and/or Larry on the podcast to discuss what it’s like parenting a child struggling with addiction, and the line between “loving” and “enabling.”

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6. Personal Reflections: Growing Up Around Addiction

(Scattered throughout, notably at 41:44, 45:02, 60:25)

• Tyler and Catelynn share how their own experiences as children of addicts color their perspective, expressing deep concern for the children involved in these reported situations.
• Tyler especially highlights how kids often are left to manage their own trauma—whereas parents in recovery receive social support:

  “It always amazes me how people can have more sympathy for an addict parent than they do the child of an addict parent...it's just different.” (47:02)

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7. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On reality TV ethics:
  • Ty: “Should TLC have, like, an age? Like, a minimum of 15 years old, 16 years old? Or else we can’t, like, consciously...It’s weird.” (04:08)
  • Elle: “Production asked Hunter, ‘What’s the longest you guys have gone without having sex?’ And I’m like, this is weird.” (12:17)
• On legal maneuvers in family court:
  • Ty: “All lawyers advise that...you always file for full [custody] and then let them end up with 50.” (18:35)
• On codependency:
  • Ty: “Codependency is an addiction. The worst codependents are usually parents unfortunately because the love blinds them...” (52:17)
  • “It's a family disease. That’s why they call it a family disease. Because everyone got a role to play.” (57:36)
• On compassion:
  • Kate: “I cannot imagine being a parent and your child being an addict...you want them to be safe; you want them to be fed...but you have to keep you safe first and foremost.” (55:18)

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8. Resource Shout-Outs & Guest Info

(near episode close, 67:41)

• Elle Bee is thanked for her candor and reporting; can be found at “LB Official” across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
• Discussion closes with calls for compassion and support for all those affected by addiction—especially the kids.

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• 02:00 — Bella & Hunter updates; court case details
• 09:50 — DNA tests, guardianship, paternity developments
• 12:07 — Discomfort with show’s parental boundaries
• 19:34–21:52 — Reality TV ethics: age limits & exploitation
• 22:17 — Amanda’s arrest breakdown; addiction, response from Ryan
• 39:07 — Amanda fired from the rehab facility
• 44:45–48:05 — Sympathy inconsistencies: addiction vs. adoption
• 52:16 — Enabling, codependency, family disease
• 61:27 — "Stop criminalizing addiction"
• 66:16 — Hope that children can recover from family addiction with support
• 67:41 — Elle Bee’s platform info

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Summary Takeaways

• “Unexpected” and similar reality TV shows need more robust ethics, given their impact on minors and families in crisis.
• Family court cases are complex, particularly when addiction and custody are overlapping issues.
• Society is making progress in sympathizing with those battling addiction, but major gaps remain in empathy afforded to birth parents post-adoption or the child victims of addiction.
• Parents who are labeled “enablers” are often suffering and acting from trauma and love; understanding codependency is essential to grasping the full picture.
• Tyler, Catelynn, and Elle use their platforms to call for empathy, education, and better resources to support families—especially children—caught up in cycles of addiction and systemic failure.

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Transcript

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[Elle]

Hey, guys.

[Kate]

Welcome back to another episode of K and Ty Breakdown. Today we have Ty with us and Elle. Elle is back again.

[Ty]

Al, you're just like a regular. Might as well just be a co. Co host.

[Elle]

It's Kate and I'll break it down. Yeah,

[Ty]

I wasn't here last time. You got to hang out. So I don't know what.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Ty]

What's happening?

[Kate]

So last time I spoke with Elle about Bella and Hunter and that whole situation with Phelan and the court and all of that because I. I was telling Elle that, you know, we never watched our show, but I love watching unexpected.

[Ty]

Isn't that weird?

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Kate]

So I wanted to check in with you to see if you have. Are there any new updates? I know that a lot of it is c sealed, which is a good thing, but I wasn't sure if you. There was any updates at all that people know about.

[Ty]

What do you mean sealed the case?

[Kate]

Yeah.

[Ty]

Oh. Oh, okay. Okay.

[Kate]

Like his dad, Hunter's dad went and said, can we seal this? And.

[Ty]

Oh, okay. Got it. That makes sense. Okay.

[Elle]

Yeah, yeah. So the case is sealed, but I do have some updates. As far as Bell and Hunter, there was some speculation that they may have broken up. And they did. I did have some people reach out to me that know them, and they did, in fact, break up because Hunter has been allowed now, now that he's living with his dad, he's living with, like, a teenager. He gets to. And he was hanging out with some females, and Bella did not like that, so they broke up. But now I've heard that he may have a little girlfriend. And listen, I. I don't. I can't help what people send me.

[Kate]

Okay?

[Elle]

I can't help, but someone did find this girl's page and sent me the new girlfriend's page. I'm not sharing it. She's a minor. It's not. But, yeah, so it does seem like he may have another girlfriend or at least be talking to this girl, because on his social media, Hunter had made a post where he was. It was like a little. Little video where said something along the lines of, I'm thinking about. And then it showed where he could delete his apps was like, delete Snapchat, Delete Tik Tok, delete Facebook. Right? Where it showed he's, like, thinking about deleting everything. And then if you went to some of his pages, it showed he's following a very limited number of people. And this girl that he's allegedly dating is one of the people that he was following. And someone reached out to me and was like, yep, this is the girl that he's talking to. So he. Yeah, it seems that he is talking to someone else.

[Ty]

You know what I think about, too? I think about immediately when we're talking about this. I think about, like, he's 14, right? Yeah. Okay. So could you imagine being. I was 16 when I got on TV, so this is a whole two years before, like, 14 years old, and people are already like, who's your new girlfriend? Are you broken up with your past one? Do you know what I'm saying? Like, to be that, it makes me think, like, is there, like, should TLC have, like, an age? Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, like, yeah, a minimum of 15 years old, 16 years old. Or else we can't, like, consciously, like, you know what I mean? Like, it's weird.

[Elle]

He's made his pages private, which. When I was actually got this information yesterday, and I noticed that his pages were private, and I was like, that's got to be tough on him.

[Kate]

Oh, I bet. Especially their whole story from everybody's story. Their whole story blew up way more than anybody else's on the show. I do have to say that I'm. I'm proud of his dad for.

[Ty]

Hell yeah.

[Kate]

Asking the judge to steal everything because there's minors involved, you know, and obviously everybody can see that. It grew a lot of attention and a lot of attraction and people talking about it. I mean, here we are talking about it. But I am glad that the stuff is sealed and I'm glad that his. All of his pro profiles are private and stuff, and hopefully he can just start to, you know, if he is dating this girl, hopefully it's like, innocent like a kid should be, you know, just doing normal teenage things. I know that his dad has a lot more structure, a lot more rules. He has to be involved in certain things.

[Ty]

Are there any other kids at his dad's house? Does he have any other siblings?

[Elle]

Yeah, he has a younger sister. Yeah.

[Ty]

Okay, so. And see, this is what I'm. I always thought it was weird because me and Kate would watch it and they would air the scenes about, like, his dad not going to the. Or not going to the barbecue or something. Something got messed up. And I kept thinking of my head. I'm like, this seems so weird because, like, first off, how I was confused on how Hunter even got in the position that he was in. Like, how did you get to live across the street from your girlfriend with your mom, and your mom and your girlfriend's mom are friends? Like, how did that even. Like, how did this even happen? I don't understand.

[Kate]

So his dad, like, me and I talked about it for. His dad actually was involved. His dad knew about the show, that the show was happening. They wanted him to be a part of it. And his dad was like, no, I don't want nothing to do with the cameras. I don't want nothing to do with the show.

[Ty]

But his dad knew that his son was living.

[Kate]

No, a lot of the stuff that we found out while watching the show is when his dad found out about it. And then that's why his dad's filed, went to the courthouse and stuff, because he. He thought his mom had him. He didn't know that his mom was letting him basically live at Bella's house and sleep.

[Ty]

And how did he not know that? That's my question.

[Elle]

So they had a good co parenting relationship. Right. So when they. When they split up, she struggled with addiction. The mom, at one point, she was homeless. Her. Hunter and her younger son moved in with Hunter's dad and the stepmom and the other child lived there for like a year and a half, went on vacation with them. The mom and stepmom became best friends. They have pictures together, like they were cool. Well then when she got her own place, they just co parented. Like he got Hunter on his time, she had Hunter on her time. He did sports, they went to the games and everything was fine. Hunter started dating Bella, who lived right across the street. He knew that Hunter was dating Bella, but had no idea that. He just trusted that the mom was, you know, had rules for him and wasn't allowing him to go spend the night. Listen, this is my opinion. There's something between. Hunter's mom deals with addiction, Right. There's been rumors about Bella's mom. I don't know. They're super friendly. But I really think once Bella and Hunter started dating, Stacy started leaving her kids. Not just Hunter, it was Hunter's little brother too, who was at Bella's parents house all the time. Like they always had him too. So I think Stacy was just leaving Hunter at his girlfriend's house and her younger son there was. And she just kind of run off and done her thing. And the dad did not know. He. He didn't know. Like, he learned of some of this stuff when we were learning of it. And that's why he filed for emergency temporary custody, you know, during all of this coming out, because that was when he found out.

[Ty]

Wow.

[Elle]

He found out his son was sexually active. When the son was like, oh, my girlfriend's pregnant. He's like, whoa. Like, wait, what? Like, which he did know that they were being, you know, inappropriate because he had seen some pictures on Hunter's phone that Bella had sent to Hunter, like naughty pictures. And he contacted Stacy, Hunter's mom, and was like, bella's sending. They're sending pictures. He. He contacted, he reached out to Bella and was like, don't do this. She was like, I don't know what you're talking about. She gaslit him, acted like she didn't know what he was talking about and that it wasn't happening. He reached out to Fallon and said, you need to like control your daughter, like talk to her. This does not need to happen. They're way too young. And Fallon got mad at him.

[Ty]

Wow. Okay.

[Kate]

Plus, like how he's like, how did the dad not know? Well, a teenager is not going to go home and tell themselves either and be like, I was, you know, the whole week I was at mom's. I was staying the night of Bella's house the whole week. You know, kids aren't.

[Ty]

No, I know. I just, I just didn't know if, like, if, if his dad was aware that. That his mom was struggling with addiction. You think? Yeah. So you'd be like, hyper vigilant. I think. Oh, my God. You know, like. But I guess you're just relying on. You're not there. You don't live there, so you don't really know. But that's. I can't imagine finding all this out on the show.

[Kate]

Yeah. No. Okay, so that we do know that they're broken up. Is there any other updates?

[Elle]

Okay, so they requested the DNA test. Right. And while it's sealed, I did check. And Wes and the ba. The baby and Hunter have been appointed a guardian at Litem, which tells me this is moving forward. If a DNA test had come back that the baby wasn't Hunters, the case would be dismissed. There would be no reason to carry on with the case if it came back that he was not the father. So I'm assuming it came back that he's the father because the courts have now appointed them a guardian at Litem. We can't, you know, while we can't see. Exactly. You can kind of tell.

[Ty]

Yeah.

[Elle]

How things are moving just by that. So. Yeah, I'm assuming that came back that he's a dad.

[Kate]

Okay. Well, hey, I guess, you know, stuff will probably trickle on, as it always

[Ty]

does, but at this point, the dad has full custody. Right? Full custody. There's no right. Okay. There's no weekends going there. You know what I mean?

[Elle]

Like, note, the dad has full custody of Hunter, but he can allow. Everything's at his discretion if he wants Hunter to see his mom and. And too. Even Bella. Like, he could allow Hunter to see Bella and Wes, but it was at his discretion and he was allowing them to see each other, but it was supervised, so it had to be under the supervision of somebody else. And that was something that Bella got upset about, is that Casey, Hunter's dad, was allowing Hunter to hang out with his friends and girls unsupervised, but she was not allowed to hang out with Hunter unsupervised.

[Ty]

Well, she's young. She's a. Yeah.

[Elle]

You guys are. I mean, you guys are having sex, so. I mean.

[Ty]

Yeah. I mean, well, yeah, you can't trust

[Elle]

that you guys are not gonna.

[Ty]

Right.

[Elle]

And have another baby on the way, you know, so. Yeah, you guys too.

[Ty]

Well, yeah, because when we were watching it and they're. The way that she was talking about plan B and how many times use it and the moms, like, this is so, like. I don't know. I don't know how else to describe it. And I mentioned this to Kate when we first started watching it. I was like. And I know it sounds bad to implicate, but I swear it just gives off a very predatory, weird, too comfortable vibe. Like, not parent and child. More like friend, best friend. We're just.

[Kate]

Just.

[Ty]

Just fucking creepy. Like friends, Red flag creepy shit.

[Elle]

I said I haven't felt uncomfortable watching some of these.

[Kate]

Yeah, some of the stuff was very right.

[Elle]

Production as Hunter. What's the longest you guys have gone without having sex? And I'm like, this is weird.

[Ty]

This is what I'm talking about as far as age limitations. Because as a parent, I would have been a producer. Absolutely not. We are not talking about that on tv. He's. You know what I mean? Like, they're young. We already know why we're on this TV show. It's unexpected. We don't need to do what I'm saying. So I think there's a lot of times where I even. Production, I think, pushed too far based on the age of. That they were talking to these kids. And again, this goes to the whole point of, like, Teen mom and unexpected. And it's like, where. Where. Where is the boundaries? Where's the line of, like, okay, we're trying to make a TV show, but they're also human beings who are going to live with this interview for the rest of their lives. Like, so, you know the fact that none of the parents, like, shut it down. Like, no, I don't. Like the first question that came out like that from a producer's mouth, I don't think. Oh, no, no, no, no. We're like, yeah, like, no, no. Like, that's. Isn't that weird that they just allowed it to happen? It's just strange to me.

[Kate]

Yeah.

[Elle]

I think Fallon had such a urge to be famous, even at the expense of these children, though. Like, she. I mean, even if you go back to her tweets, like, how she was tweeting you guys and all the team.

[Ty]

I didn't know that. Someone showed it to me. I was like, what the.

[Elle]

Like, all the Teen mom cast. Papa Randy, I mean, kl, y', all, Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake. Like, I just think she had this desire to be famous at whatever cost. And even if it was, like, shock value, you know, with her children. And then you didn't have Casey on there, who maybe if Casey would have signed up to do the show, which I understand why he didn't. And he didn't want Hunter to do it either. He didn't want Hunter to do it. He told him, no, I don't want my son to do it. But they did it. But maybe if he would have been there, he could have been like, no, this is too much.

[Ty]

I don't think that's why I was confused as far as Kyle custody went back then, because I'm like, well, you know, a minor can't sign up to do a show unless both parents agree let it happen. So that's why I was kind of confused on like, when I first heard about.

[Kate]

I was like, my dad didn't have to sign mine.

[Ty]

Right, but you're my full custody of you. Do you know what I'm saying? So, like, I didn't know if like during the time of filming when all that happened, did they have exactly. Shared custody or did one have physical custody, like stole and then one had like, you know what I'm saying? Oh, it wasn't court ordered. It was kind of them coping.

[Elle]

That's what it was. There was no custody in place, which means mom could probably make all the decisions.

[Ty]

Yeah, well, 50, 50, if there's some court order, then, then it's, you know, automatically 50, 50, which means, yeah, they can both make decisions. Wow. Okay. Well, damn, that's crazy. I feel bad for the dad, honestly. If you didn't know any of this and your poor son is over there and, you know, he's such. He's such a. He's so young that he doesn't understand what's being done by the adults. So, like, you don't even know if you're being pressured or, you know, how do you know if he's not feeling obligated to do certain stuff? I don't know. The whole thing is just sad, really. It's like these poor kids. Like, damn, I just hope he stays with his dad. I hope he just kind of lives his normal life and, you know, can be a dad to his kid. And the hard part about it is a watching the show, I noticed, I'm like, yeah, I guess since he's so young, like, and you're a dad, you really don't have a choice. Like you can't go work a 9 to 5 because you're too young. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, there's so many things that actually are limiting like that he can do that. It's kind of like he is at the mercy of the adults around him to either help him get through school so he can get a normal job and raise his own kid and then on top of it, raise the kid until that happens. Like it's just so many. Yes.

[Kate]

So let's hope, let's hope that the judge grants Hunter's dad like custody of the kid or at least 5050 because then he can, you know, call some of the shots.

[Elle]

Yeah, that's what he's going for. He Hunter's dad has filed for full custody of Wes on behalf of Hunter, but from my understanding, really just want 50. 50. But they file for full. Of course they were advised to this

[Kate]

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[Ty]

All, all lawyers advise that go. You always file for full and then

[Kate]

let them end up with 50.

[Ty]

Yeah, go back and forth.

[Kate]

Yeah, right, yeah.

[Elle]

Which honestly if this would not have taken place and Hunter's dad just would have fought for him now that they're broken up, I could absolutely see Fallon and Bella keeping the baby from Wesley. So it's a good thing they had already started this process because I said from day one, I said if those two break up, I see them withholding the child from him and holding the child over his head.

[Ty]

And see now the dad has to fight for Hunter and his grandkid, you know what I mean? And for his kid to have access to his grandkid, that's just so. Yeah, well I mean I hope his dad, everyone, I hope they just all figure this out.

[Kate]

I hope so.

[Ty]

Wild shit. It is a mess. Yeah.

[Elle]

But I mean this is why kids shouldn't have kids.

[Kate]

Right? Right. Because it's craziness. So sad. But hopefully I'm just happy that Hunter's in a safe place and I hope

[Ty]

I honestly though I will say moving forward I think TLC could do, I think they should learn from that. They need to do a little better in my opinion just from a production standpoint from you know, people who don't. Aren't involved in reality TV shows. You don't know what happens behind the scenes and all the red tape and the contracts and specific things you have to go through. So like I hope TLC learns from this in a little bit at least create some kind of different like or

[Kate]

learn from this at least I don't

[Ty]

know, just get a little more ethics as much as possible as you can in this weird ass industry that doesn't have any ethics. I know they don't, you know but

[Elle]

maybe it started off as trying to educate people on, you know, unexpected pregnancy or teen pregnancy but I think these networks have gotten money hungry when they see what it can bring in.

[Kate]

And I think some of the girls episodes on unexpected do show them. They do, you know what I mean? I think that they do show the struggles and you know, maybe why you should and to talk to your kids and then you have other, of course other other people's stories where you're like ah, this is a little weird.

[Ty]

But listen. Yeah. Ever since we could remember, though, our executive producers even told us that TLC was starving once they saw 16 and pregnant air and Team mom air. They were just like. And a lot of them. Yeah, the producers that worked on our show left TLC because they were doing 90 Day Fiance. So a lot of TLC new insiders knew that they were doing this new kind of like teen pregnancy show. And they. And TLC from the get go was so pissed that they didn't get that idea first. And the one that launched it so unexpected was kind of inevitable. I. We all knew TLC was trying to brew this TLC version of 16 and pregnant teen mom, and that's how we got unexpected. So. And now at this point, I mean, if you think about it, Team Mom's been off the air for so long. Unexpected. Kind of went and filled in that little bit of a. Yeah. That little bit of a gap or vacuum. And here. Here the we are, you know.

[Elle]

Exactly. Now they have their. They have their teen mom, I guess you could say. Yeah. And they're not limited it, though, to like. Whereas, you guys, I don't think there was anyone under the age of 16. 16, right now, they're like, bring on the 12 year olds. We don't care.

[Ty]

You know, I know what I feel like. Oh, God. I do think they have a responsibility, don't you, to like, just kind of minimize you got. Come on, man.

[Kate]

It's in the industry. They want the most shocking shock factors that they can get. But like I said, maybe they'll learn from this.

[Ty]

But hopefully.

[Kate]

But then again. So moving on to another topic of conversation. So we woke up this morning, you know, to some sad news. And I didn't even see it first. Tyler saw and he was like, did you see what Elle posted? And I was like, no. And then he told me, and I'm like, this is so sad.

[Ty]

But I only read the first little thing about it. That was when you first posted it. So I don't really know what's going on.

[Elle]

So I'm gonna tell you guys something. So this is probably a month ago. Every day for almost two weeks. I checked, like the. The website for inmates because I just knew this was coming. I have too many family members that struggle with addiction. I've been watching Amanda and listen, I do not want her to fail. There's a lot of people on the Internet because I cover this. They're like, you're preying on her downfall. And I'm like, absolutely not. I'm not praying on this girl's downfall. I would love to see her and Ryan succeed, but I'm not. I'm not just blind to the possibilities. And when it's staring you in the face by her content, you can either deny it or you can accept what's happening there. And because of my knowledge of addiction and my experience with addiction, I. You know, I did for a moment think, could this be medication and mental health? It's possible. But the longer it went on, I was like, I don't think that's what it is. I really think she had relapsed. And then today, I mean, we've kind of confirmed it. Yeah, confirmed it because. Did y' all hear the 911 call?

[Kate]

Well, I'll have you. I'll have you go through everything. So you woke up this morning. You checked the page that you.

[Elle]

It was sent to me. Yep. I woke up and I was. I was laying in bed, just scrolling, and I went to my messages, and someone was like, al, get up. Amanda's been arrested. And I was like, whoa. And so I made some calls, shout out some text messages, trying to find what all had happened. She was okay. So here's what happened. She's been up for two days straight. Ryan was going to take her to a Walgreens or did take her to a Walgreens and was going to make her take a test, a drug test. She took off in the car with the baby. He called the cops, told the cops what was going on, said, I think she's under. I think she's under the influence of narcotics. He told them that she had been up for two days, and the police pulled her over. She was charged with dui, child abuse and neglect, implied consent, and driving on roadways lane for traffic. So to break all that down, the driving on roadways lane for traffic means she failed to maintain a lane. So she was swerving, essentially driving under the influence. Obviously, dui. She was under the influence of something. So child abuse and neglect charge probably comes from the fact that she had Presley in the car with her.

[Ty]

Right, Right.

[Elle]

Because she was on the influence. She put Pressley in danger. The implied consent means she refused the chemical testing.

[Ty]

Yep.

[Elle]

Oh, okay. She would not do the breathalyzer or sobriety.

[Ty]

None of it. Yeah.

[Kate]

But I wonder when she goes to jail if, like, can they force somebody to do a blood test or anything? I guess you can't really force anybody to do anything that they don't want to. Right?

[Ty]

Well, she lawyers up really quick then. No, but, I mean, If. If you want. If you're innocent and you want to, you know, you'll. You'll provide. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's like, if you're. Yeah. I mean, you'll should have no problem.

[Elle]

First thing, I'm screaming. If a police officer's like, you're under the influence. I'm like, test me.

[Kate]

Hello. Same me. Because I was stuttering because I was so nervous. Then he was like, oh, yeah, that's right. You're drunk. You're drunk. I'm like, no, I'm not. And then I started getting pissed, and I was like, give me a Breathalyzer right now, because I will pass that shit, don't I? And he, like, was accusing me for 20 minutes, and I'm, like, yelling at him. And then finally he did it, and I passed. And I looked at him and I said, told you so. Like, you're not going to tell me what I'm.

[Elle]

Not.

[Kate]

What I am.

[Ty]

I think he had to do the walking test and all that stuff. He had to, like, walk. And she was like, sorry, I have an anxiety disorder.

[Elle]

Like, sorry, I'm nervous.

[Kate]

Right?

[Elle]

That's. Cops need to be. I don't know. Like, they need to understand that when people are pulled over, they may get nervous because. Right.

[Ty]

Even if they're in a. Yeah, but

[Elle]

if you're nervous, police officers think you have something to hide. And it's like, I don't have nothing to hide. I'm just scared because I don't want to take it. I don't know what you're gonna do. Like, listen.

[Ty]

Yeah, she's. She's in there for. I mean, this is a holiday weekend. She ain't get. I mean, she's in there for a minute. She ain't gonna.

[Elle]

She has a bond already.

[Kate]

Really?

[Ty]

All right. Dang. So she got her. All right. Okay. Tennessee moves fast.

[Elle]

I guess she has a bond. It's $16,000. I did see online that the judge is Judge Gary St. Starnes, which is the same judge that oversees all of Ryan's cases.

[Ty]

So happening, by the way, how this happened. How. How is it possible? Because it's not a friend of the court issue. It makes sense if it was, like, the same judge for certain. But, like, how. How is every single arrest or. I mean, give me a break, though. This is really weird to me. I'm sorry. I mean, I. That's all. It's my opinion.

[Kate]

But also the first. One of the first things that Ty said after he read it, he was like, elspin Wright. She knew it.

[Ty]

Well, I remember. Well, it's funny, because I was like, there's so many. Because, listen, I. I'm with you. I saw the videos months ago. I'm like, no, the eyes, the movements, the jibber, the jabber, the jaw, I don't need. You don't gotta. It doesn't take a lot to convince me.

[Kate]

But also, you know, people with addiction.

[Ty]

Yeah. So I was on. So for my. I mean, I'm not gonna come out here, and, you know, I don't have your job, so I'm like, hey, by the way. But, like, you know, the stuff that I was seeing was, like, clear as day to me. I mean, people were denying it. Other creators were, like, saying that it was wrong. And I'm just over here, like, I'm seeing what I'm seeing. I know what I know. And, yeah, so, I mean, I had a strong inclination that it was, you know, it's been a minute that she's been. Something's going on, which makes me think of, well, what has. What has Ryan had to kind of, like, witness or endure or. What is he a part of, was he not a part of? Is he going to be drug tested as well? Where, like, is the accountability going to be across the board? Like, you know what I'm saying? Like. Like, could. Because like I said. And that brings up this whole, like, how is it that this judge is every single time.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Kate]

You might hit her hard. Then.

[Ty]

I. You know what I'm saying? I mean, just.

[Elle]

Amanda's on probation. She got put on probation. No. March in March.

[Ty]

Yeah. So this is a violation.

[Elle]

Oh, that's my thing is how does she have. Where I live, if you're on probation, you get arrested, you are automatically on a probation hold.

[Kate]

You.

[Elle]

You can't get out. But she does have a bond. So, once again, I don't know how that's. I don't know how she has a bond if she's literally. She just kept it on probation in, like, March.

[Ty]

I know.

[Kate]

I'm really confused, but I know that I think it's interesting because the fact that the call states that, like. And what we hear is that, you know, Ryan took her to Walgreens to get her a drug test, and then obviously, she must have gotten. She freaked out on him or something happened, and then she decided to leave. And so I reached out to my source that I know, and they said that. That Ryan's actually still doing really good. He's. And right now he's just trying to do the Best to help Amanda and help her get. Right. To help her get back on the right track. And that, you know, he's. That he's feeling a lot of emotions. He's angry right now because of everything that's going on with Amanda, but that he is trying to navigate everything and really just trying to help her probably see what she's doing. Like, maybe he wanted. Like, look, I know you're high. Take this drug test, and then I'm gonna confirm. You can't deny it.

[Ty]

Right. But. But at the same time, when you're. When you're not only a person, but a mother, on doing that, you know, to have something you don't know of anyone, you're paranoid already. You've been out for two days. You don't know who's against. You know, I mean, you're. You're like, no, I'm pretty sure there's no mother on the planet that would willingly take a drug test if they knew they were. You know what I'm saying? Not gonna pass it. So, like, the fact that she denied

[Elle]

it, they're not ready to get sober.

[Ty]

Yeah, I get. I get Ryan's point. Let's go to the Walgreens. Let's get a drug test. Let's. Let's see if, you know. But, you know, Ryan, out of all people, she's not gonna take that drug test. And so.

[Kate]

Or maybe. Maybe he should have gotten the drug test and brought it home, and then you confront her at home with it.

[Elle]

When someone told me about the. The Walgreens, I was like, there's no way Ryan Edwards is gonna take her to a Walgreens because he knows her. Like, he knows her personality. She might lose it. So I was shocked that that's actually what happened. So it must have been like they were really. He's like, no, we gotta get you tested now.

[Ty]

Yeah, it didn't make any sense to me.

[Kate]

And, you know, and I do. I really hope, like, you know, from what my source is saying is that Ryan is okay and that he's, you know, trying to help her. Like, and I really hope, and I pray that it stays like that, because he's worked really hard to get where he is at, and if it is, you know, his wife obviously is using and been up for two days. You know, I want him. He needs to lean on his support system and the people that care about him, so that way he doesn't, you know, lean into other things because those. That baby is gonna need him. You know, Presley is just a little innocent Baby. And if mama's gone, like, he. She is gonna need her dad and

[Elle]

I really look Virgin and Larry to step in, you know, specifically Jen, during this. And I would not be shocked if she filed for custody of that baby. Like, I would not be shocked in the slightest. They've never had to deal with. They've always had to deal with their grandchild's dad struggling, but they've never had to deal with the mother of their grandchild struggling and sending that baby home.

[Kate]

But if Ryan is doing good, then he.

[Ty]

They wouldn't need to fight for. Right. He would just get custody.

[Elle]

Well, he works. So, I mean, you know.

[Kate]

Well, Right. As far as, like, helping and stuff like that.

[Elle]

Yeah. Unless. Which I have heard some stuff about Ryan. I know since, like, December, he's lost two jobs, and one was due to, like, falling asleep, which could be, you know, medication, just tired from life. But the first job that he was at, he had been there for like, two and a half years. After he got out of rehab in kada, he got this job. He had been there for a while, and he lost it. And I was told he was falling asleep on the job. And then he had given other co workers kratom. I think I told you guys this, that he had given other co workers kratom and they've all gotten sick.

[Kate]

Is that like a fake?

[Ty]

No, it's. You go to the gas station, it's like, it's kind of similar to opiate. You get very. It's very drowsy down or like, whatever.

[Elle]

Yeah. But it made the co worker sick. And I heard he lost his job, but I have reported on that. And Amanda came out and said, yep, he lost his job, but it was because corporate came in and he didn't even have the proper license to be driving, like, a record truck. And. And with his background, he wasn't supposed to be working there, so corporate fired him. But my sources was like, it's not a corporation. It's privately owned. So I looked at the business license. It's not a corporation. Talk to some people that know, and they're like, it's. I. I know who owns it. It's not a corporation. So that couldn't have happened like the person.

[Ty]

Which begs the question, why would Amanda lie about something so lost your job if nothing's going on? You just say. You just say, oh, well, he fell asleep. He was like, I don't know. You.

[Elle]

You.

[Ty]

You would, like, you wouldn't have to make up something if she's been relapsed. She's been relapsed for a minute. And he had to have been aware of this, which makes me think I. I just really hope he's sober too. I hope he's. I hope he's stays the right course. I hope he's really contacting n a and a. Whatever he. Whatever his little support bubble is, his sponsor, whatever he's got, he needs to be, like, with them right now 24 7. Not with Jen and Larry, unfortunately. Like, you know what I mean? I mean, I think his parents.

[Kate]

No, he needs to be in a meeting.

[Ty]

He needs to be in a meeting today. Like. Like today. Like, right now. If anything, maybe even an outpatient thing for. For even if it's Al Anon or something that, like, where if he's not using, he can know how to navigate. When your partner is using your addict yourself, there's a lot of different things you have to take. It's. It's a lot different than just like a normal person who never struggled with addiction and then their partner is an addict and how that works. But when you're recovering addict and you guys are both in recovery together and one of your partners slips up and has a relapse, there's, like, there's a very methodical, like, steps you gotta take.

[Kate]

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[Ty]

So I just hope he's doing those steps and not. I hope the environment around him like his parents are not. Like, kind of like, it's okay, you know, like, I hope they're pushing.

[Kate]

Yeah, hopefully Jenna saying, let's find a meeting. Yeah, I'll go with you tonight.

[Ty]

Let's contact your, you know, therapist, whatever. Yeah, I just, that's.

[Elle]

They're giving boundaries to him. In regards to Amanda, when if you're gonna get her out, if she gets out, she needs to go to rehab. If you guys, if you're not gonna see to it that she goes to rehab or if she don't want to go to rehab. That's why I look for Jen to maybe Step up and get. Try to get custody of the baby. Because I feel like if Amanda comes out, if she's not ready for change, she's going to refuse rehab. And that's her baby.

[Ty]

I mean, and I know.

[Elle]

Well, and I not. But.

[Kate]

And I noticed that you said that Amanda's son. Because I know for a while he was living at the house with them, so she had. Oh, but now he's not. So did I wonder if the baby daddy realized something was going on? Yeah, because that's weird. Like, why was he there living with them, you know, all the time, and now all of a sudden, he's not really there anymore.

[Elle]

Right. He's more with the dad. He. He for some reason, was more with the dad. And I was told that it got swapped up to where he's spending more time at the dad's house than. Than at Amanda's. And then. I don't know if you guys know this, but Amanda was fired from the rehab facility. Did y' all know that? Yeah, she was fired.

[Kate]

Can you talk about that? Yeah.

[Ty]

Okay.

[Kate]

I don't think ty know.

[Elle]

Yeah, she was working at a rehab facility. And that when I came out saying, like, I'm concerned. I think she may not be sober, you guys, that was one of the things you said. I work at a rehab. I get drug tested once a week. And I'm like, I don't know. A rehab facility that even drug tests their. Their employees that often. My very best friend, same situation as Amanda. She was an addict. She's coming up on four years clean. She works at a rehab facility. I reached out to her. She said, the only time we test is for hire when you're going to be hired. And if they have suspicion, then they will test you. Issue.

[Ty]

Right.

[Elle]

And I had two people that worked at the same facility as Amanda that said same thing. They said one person worked there for, like, seven years. She was like, never was tested. She said, never saw other people tested except for new hires and if they had a suspicion. And then a former worker told me that Amanda's behavior become something you couldn't. You couldn't turn your head.

[Ty]

Yeah.

[Elle]

Yeah. So the bosses called her in, told like, hey, we're concerned. We want you to take a drug test. And she said, no, she left. She left.

[Ty]

Oh. Oh, so she just refused it.

[Kate]

Yeah.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Ty]

Okay. Well, okay. Like I said, though, this. All these things are not things that Ryan was unaware of. Okay? Like, it's impossible. He knew she was fired. He knew she refused that drug test. That. Which is a While ago. And now we're getting to this thing. So I'm just saying, like, I hope. I hope people aren't turning a blind eye to the fact that this gets really messy very fast. And there's two addicts who are in recovery. One slips up and, you know, and then all the blame gets put on one, and then the other one gets kind of, you know, scapegoated, that one. Because now they're all the focuses on this one. They're not really focused on this other one. And, you know, I just hope that everyone is being vigilant with what they're. With everything. Yeah, with both of them, I guess. You know what I'm saying? Because I know it sounds really. In a. In a beautiful, awesome world, it would be like, Ryan's completely sober, everything's great, and she's only the only one using. And maybe that is the case. I don't. I'm not sure. But I just know that it's like, it's difficult for that to happen for very long without other person getting dragged into it or just breaking up completely and then, you know, forgetting about it. But honestly, the only person I think about is Bentley. I mean, from my perspective, like, when you. Especially when you have this, like, longevity of hope where it's like, oh, my. I think the longest that my dad's ever been sober was maybe two years one when he was in prison. Then he got out, and then I think it was two years before he relapsed. And so you get this little glimmer of like, wow, I've never seen him over a year. So you do, you, You. You. You allow yourself to, like, let your walls down. I can be a little more vulnerable with them. I can let them come over to these events and that event and be more just normal with them. And then, boom, it's like your whole world gets shocked all over again. And you get, you know, walls go back up. You feel like an idiot. You start self doubting your. Your intuition and what you thought. Because now, you know, it just sucks. As a kid, like, I just feel like I hope he's. I. I know he's got a good support system. I know Mace is a great mom and Taylor's a great dad, and I know he's got. But it's still like, you know, the,

[Kate]

the anything emotions like that Macy'd be like, oh, yeah, we're doing something.

[Ty]

Just the emotions that come along with it is so difficult. I hope that it's. It's, you know, one of those things where the addict suffers. Yeah. But the child of the addicts involved, too.

[Elle]

Presley, God, it's like, damn, man.

[Ty]

I hope, I hope they both just get the help that they need, honestly, because it's just a sad situation. But I did, I did notice the one thing that always kind of, like, shocks me though, is that, you know, I see the comments and the comments are so, like, well, she's struggling and this is part of, you know, addiction, and it's part of relapse, is part of recovery. And, like, she's going through a hard time right now. Please get better. And all this, like, very sentimental, empathetic sympathizing, which is great. I'm so glad that addiction has that. You know, I think 60 years ago we would have been saying druggie, you know, whatever, like, deserves to be in prison, whatever. So I think society, we have learned more about addiction and what that looks like and how that affects people and mental health and everything. So I'm glad society is more sympathetic with, With. With that understanding. But it's interesting how, you know, we're talking about a woman in recovery who relapsed and during that relapse, you know, put her child in danger and herself in danger. And so. And now proven that she's actually, you know, on drugs or whatever. And so she gets this amount of sympathy and empathy because she's struggling with this addiction problem. And yet, you know, at the same time, my wife will make a post about her, who's sober, not on drugs, a great mom, about how, you know, how hard it is that she doesn't get to see the baby she relinquished out of desperation for her birthday. You know, and then the comments with that versus this. And it always blows my mind. It's like, wow, like. And it just goes to show as a society, like, we are literally. And it's because, like I said, we have, you know, focused so much on studying addiction. And I'm glad we have that. But it's just a representation of how. How adoption is still in the shadows, in the darkness, in the dark corners and mental health in general when it comes to adoption. Like, come on, dude. Like, how is it possible that a woman who endanger children because she's a drug addict gets more sympathy and empathy over a birth mother who relinquished out of desperation, talking about missing on her birthday. You know what I'm do you know? Yeah.

[Elle]

In your comment, like, when you put them side by side, like, you could do Ryan or Amanda, like, for years, they hurt so many people, you know, they. Ryan was, you know, a Debbie, dad to Bentley, hurt him, didn't show up and all the things that he did. Ryan unfortunately has, you know, assaulted, you know, Mackenzie, Amanda and threatened Macy and Taylor and, and so glad he got sober, obviously. But when he did get the applause for sure, give him the applause because it is hard to get sober. But he was put up on this pedestal once he became sober, once, you know, him and Amanda was doing great, they were put up on this pedestal which give them their accolades because it is different. I mean, it is difficult. It's difficult to get sober. So sure, give them. But they were put up on this pedestal where nobody could say anything about them. You cannot dare say anything bad about Ryan and Amanda or question their sobriety. The Internet is going to read you to filth. Right? But like you said, Caitlyn, who isn't an addict, who, who hasn't hurt a bunch of people, who doesn't have years of just craziness behind her, of hurting people and a path of destruction behind her, she's trying to post about like, oh, it's my daughter's birth, you know, my biological daughter's birthday. Miss her, she's going to get ate up. Yeah, them, like, you know, it's, it is really wild.

[Ty]

And it just, and I'm not saying anything about like, know comparing adoption to addiction. I'm just saying though, as far as society goes, like, we still have a lot of work to do because like I said 50 years ago, they would get, they would have gotten ate up because they're drug addicts. And if we had social media that long that, you know, that long ago, they would have been destroyed publicly for this. And so, but the fact that, you know, we haven't. Society still has not studied adoption and birth mothers and that kind of trauma or mental health or mental health in general because especially the women, because if they did, the comparison wouldn't be like how it is. And I just think that is so interesting to me how, and you know what I will say I feel like we know the drug addicts that get sober and they are put on a pedestal. I don't think people understand what it does to the child of the addicts who get put on a pedestal when they're in recovery. Like, everyone's like, oh, you must be so proud of your dad. You must be so, you know what I mean? All these things. And it's like, yeah, I am, but I'm also the innocent child that suffered because of this addiction that this person had. So it always amazes me how people can have more sympathy for an addict parent than they do the child of an addict parent. Because when I talk about any of the trauma I experience or Kate talks about the trauma she experienced from her mom's addiction or my dad's addiction, it's like, yeah, well, you know, just get over it or whatever. It just. It's just different. It's different. And I don't know. I just think that's such a weird, like, paradox. Yeah. Society. We got a lot of work to do, I think.

[Elle]

I really do feel like people let their hate disdain for whoever it is, like, cloud anything like it. Like, in regards to y', all. You guys, when it comes to y' all's haters, you can't say anything. I told you this before. I said, you can literally save a baby from a burning building. And people would be like, how'd you know that baby wanted to be saved? You know what I'm saying? Like, seriously, when it comes to the haters, I was on a live earlier, and somebody said, Mackenzie, Ryan's ex, are like, oh, Mackenzie's gonna use this. And I'm like, you're letting your hate for Mackenzie cloud your judgment. Because she should. She should be thinking about her children. She should be thinking like, oh, crap. Like, praise God, my kids were not in the car with Amanda. They weren't over there during this situation. And, I mean, thankfully, Jagger and Stella haven't been at Ryan and Amanda's in months. They've been at Jen and Larry's because obviously, the people in the situation clearly could see that something was going on with Amanda. So I don't know how that came

[Kate]

to be, because Mackenzie is being a good mom. And the fact of, like, something is weird here. You can still see them and have spend time with them, but in a place that feels safe, supervised.

[Elle]

Again, you can't blame. They went back to supervise and. And listen, if these were my children and I found out this had happened, you bet your bottom dollar I'd be calling my attorney and saying, listen, this is where we're at. What can I do? I just want to ensure that my kids are protected and they're safe. I would be on the phone with Ryan. I would be on the phone with Jen, and I would be like, listen, you guys got to get her help, because I don't want my kids subjected to that. I don't want her even adjunct Larry's if she's not going to go get help. I don't even want them around her general areas, because the videos that we've Seen of Amanda, you can tell she's not well. You can tell I wouldn't want my kids subjected to.

[Kate]

And if she hasn't been sleeping for two days, like that's upper of some sort, you know, like or.

[Ty]

Or an upper to stay up and then a downer, you know, to, to go to sleep, whatever. But obviously if you're not sleeping, like I don't think people get it. Like, you know, a lot of meth addicts, like they, they hallucinate. Like reality is psychosis really sets in very early on. Hallucinations. I mean you can. I mean a whole bunch of, you know, I mean, so it's a whole. Like that's just. I don't know. Just my heart breaks with them, I hope.

[Kate]

And at the end of the day too, like yeah, mine always goes to. And maybe because I'm educated and I've dealt with it my whole life but. But my mind automatically goes to all of the kids involved. All the kids because you know, and even Bentley and the two other like all of them. Because you know, the ones that aren't Amanda's kids, they. You could tell that they grew to a love Amanda, you could tell that. You know what I mean, Bentley and was hanging out with, you know, them a lot and Mackenzie's kids were and stuff too. Like that's gonna affect them too. Whether it's both of them or it's just Amanda. And I just feel. I feel that. I feel so bad for the kids.

[Ty]

Yeah.

[Kate]

And. And then, you know, baby Presley, like she's only one years old and you know, the only grandparents she have, you know, thankfully is Jen and Larry. I mean I feel like they are a safe space because you know, Amanda's parents aren't with us, you know, so it's just like this poor little baby.

[Ty]

Like I just hope, I just hope after all of the. The history with. With addiction now I hope the whole family has better tools, knows what's going on. You know, I mean they're, you know, ignorance is bliss, obviously. So a couple years ago, whatever, they didn't know anything. But now they do. So I hope that they're all surrounding both of them and, and getting them.

[Kate]

Yeah. Cuz I know the support that they need. I know that Jen did like a lots and lots of like classes.

[Ty]

Good, that's good.

[Kate]

With Macy. I know that they did a lot of that which was so. I was like so happy because it's so important and yeah, I hope there's change.

[Elle]

Have you guys ever thought about having Jen and Larry or maybe Jen, are Larry on to talk about like what. It's like they get a lot of hate, you know, for being like enablers and stuff like that. Have you guys ever thought about bringing them on to talk about what it's like being parents of a child struggling with addiction? I mean the whole world knows that Ryan struggles. So it ain't like it's a secret.

[Kate]

That would be great.

[Ty]

I think it'd be great, honestly. Because I think one people, that one thing that people don't understand about like quote unquote enablers is that its codependency is an addiction. So there's literally a codependence. Anonymous. That this is, this is what, this is what's classified as from the outside world as you know. Oh you're, you're enabling or. Well no, it's codependency. And the worst codependents are usually parents unfortunately because the love blinds them to like, you know, watch the show. Yeah, watch the show. Intervention. You'll see that the, the biggest suggestion that they, that they, the, the professionals will give the family members is you need to get codependence. Anonymous. You need to get into therapy for codependency. Here's a book about codependency. Here's. You know what I mean? Because codependency is the same. You're addicted to, to the addict. You're addicted to saving the addict. It becomes this cycle and whatever and it can be really the, the longer you're in the cycle, the harder it is to get out or to even separate yourself from the addict that you're trying to like, you know, not watch. Yeah, so I mean like,

[Kate]

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[Kate]

And I say it all the time. Like me and Ty talk about it and I'm like, I cannot imagine, I cannot imagine being a parent and your child being an addict because of course you're their parent. You want them to be safe, you want them to be fed, you want them to be know where they're at. Like that is. It's got to be so difficult. And that's why we have to, you know, go to the classes and we have to learn and we have to have our own support system to know, you know, things you can do to keep them safe, but keep you safe first and foremost because that has got to be the most difficult, scariest thing ever is having a child that's an addict. And I can't imagine that is a great idea. And we've always had a good relationship with Jen, so I wonder if she'd be up with up to do that.

[Elle]

I think it could be really helpful to other parents going through it because Jen and Larry, literally, I mean, every time I mentioned Jenna Larry, people's like, oh, they enabled, they enabled, they enabled. And I've tried to put myself in their position and I'm like, I couldn't imagine if one of my children was an addict. How do you let them know you love them and try to make sure they don't go off and accidentally OD or something like that. You want to just take care of them, like, no, stay here, I'll take care of you. There's such a fine line between loving and enabling. It's so hard. As a parent, I could never imagine

[Ty]

well, here's the thing. People even say, though, they're enabling. It's like, yeah, you can be an enabler and also be in pain simultaneously. It doesn't. You know what I mean? So just the fact that they're enabling. Yeah, they're enabling, though. But no one enables if they're not suffering some kind of pain themselves. And that's where codependency comes from. So it's like, if you. If you learn about. If you know about it, it all makes sense. And I. I think if. If the world and society would know more about codependency, they would, I think, have a little more grace towards people like Jen and Larry, or like, people like, you know, even my own mom, who's. I've told. I was like, you're enabling, Amber, you know, my sister, and, you know, she knows this. And so it's not like these people enable and they're just oblivious to what's going on or happy about it. Yeah, it's literally, it's. It's a response to trauma. That's what it is. You're responding to the desperation of not wanting this person to die or fall off the rails or whatever it is. And so that's what you do. You get in mesh with them and you become codependent. And that is literally a thing that people have to, like, go to therapy for and go to, like, you know, that's why they have codependents. Anonymous and like, that. It's really. It's a real thing. I just think people get so focused on the addict, and then they go, oh, there's a reason for. I'm going to blame this enabler because that's why they're an addict. And it's like, yeah, well, it's a family disease. That's why they call it a family disease. Yeah, because everyone got a role to play.

[Elle]

So, yeah, there was this clip of Larry. Do you guys remember when ryan wrecked. He OD'd behind the wheel and he wrecked and MTV, like, got down there to Tennessee and they. They filmed Larry, I think it was like, outside the hospital. And obviously, this is years of them, you know, hearing that their enablers. And he was so upset, and he said, I don't care. That is my son and I will be there for him. That is my son. That is my only kid. I love him, and I don't want him to die, and I will be there for him. He said something along those lines. And I remember in that moment just feeling like, oh, my God, like, to us, this is A show where we want to be like, oh, look at you, enabling, you know, but this is their son, their only child. Like, I just, it's heartbreaking. Yeah.

[Kate]

God forbid for it to happen to somebody that's saying those things, you know.

[Elle]

Right.

[Kate]

And how would you feel?

[Ty]

Well, yeah, and I think, like I said, it just comes from ignorance. I mean, people just read one book about codependency, you'll understand, especially coming to parents, you'll understand why. Like, you know, and I think people have a lot of opinions from the outside perspective of like, oh, well, this is what you shouldn't do as enabler. This is what you should do. This is too much, this is too little. But you're not in that family dynamic day to day. You don't know how things operate. You're just watching the 15 second clip of what, you know, whatever it is that they want to show you. So, I mean, I think everyone deserves a little grace here.

[Elle]

Right.

[Ty]

When it comes to addiction, I think everyone knows a little grace when it comes to birth, parent trauma, adoption, all of it. Like, we just need to kind of just zoom out a little bit and realize that we're all just human beings, make mistakes, go through trying to heal, trying to learn, trying to do better. And it doesn't, it, you know, it's, it's ignorance doesn't help in these situations. So if you're ignorant on the topic, just shut your mouth.

[Elle]

Yeah, you're just gonna be a butthole about it. Like, don't, like you're not going through it clearly. So hold your nasty comments, you know.

[Kate]

Yeah, well, well, hopefully, hopefully Jen, Larry, Ryan, like, hopefully just the family surrounds her and tries to get her to go somewhere just to see, you know, or helps her, to support her, to get into someplace to. Because when she was sober she was doing really great and she was always so funny and I loved watching her stuff. And like, we met her in person the one time in Nashville or in Tennessee and I was like, oh, she's so cool.

[Ty]

She was like, Caitlyn.

[Kate]

She was really. Oh yeah, like squeeze. Hugged me.

[Ty]

Well, she's the one that I said, I noticed Ryan at first and then all of a sudden she noticed and she booked it across the car, went to Caitlyn's because Caitlyn was driving, she was freaking out. Oh my God, I love you, girl. Yeah, yeah, she was. Yeah.

[Elle]

That's so. I didn't know you. That's so funny. That's cool. She's very funny though. I mean, when she's sober, she's yeah,

[Kate]

you could sell. You could tell the shift right on social media, and it's like, you know, come on. Like, yeah, it's. It's sad. So I just hope everybody rallies around her and hopefully they can help her realize her worth again. Or, you know what, all the blessings that she does have in her life, and hopefully she can grab onto it and turn it around.

[Elle]

Yeah, I was gonna say maybe. Hopefully the judge will court order rehab, but a part of me also is, like, if the judge court orders it and she's not. This is not something she wants. Would it even work? Like, is she gonna get out and do it again if it's not something that she wants?

[Ty]

Yeah, I think. I think as a. As when it comes to the criminal justice system, though, it's like, we need. We also need to stop criminalizing addiction and addicts, because it's not criminal thing. I mean, yeah, you can do criminal acts in response to being addicted, but the act of, you know, you being addicted is not a crime. It's a mental health problem. So let's not lock them up. Let's get them to rehab. Let's get them the reason.

[Elle]

Yeah.

[Ty]

To get sober. And so I actually highly agree, and I think most judges do it where they'll say, hey, we'll give you a bond, but you got a bond out here, and you gotta go right into rehab. You know what I mean?

[Elle]

They did that to Ryan once. They was like, we're gonna. You can bond up. You got to go to rehab.

[Ty]

And. And that's. And maybe the addict doesn't want that, but it doesn't matter. It's better than sending them to jail. You know what I mean? To sit there.

[Kate]

Right. At least there's. There's tools, and maybe an awakening will happen or, you know.

[Ty]

Yeah. So I don't know.

[Elle]

Very. It's a very sad situation. I feel so bad for everybody involved.

[Ty]

Well, I do hope. On another. On another note, I hope people who were totally tearing you up about talking about the suspicions about the relapse. I hope they all. Yeah, they owe you a big apology.

[Elle]

There's still people on my post this morning that said I was lying, that it said it was AI. And I'm like, yeah, there's like, you're. And I. I just said, listen, I made a post. I said, y' all can call and verify yourself. I'm not gonna get on here a lot. I would never, ever get on my platform and tell a lie. I might get on there, say my opinion, and maybe my opinion Might not be Yalls opinion or you know what I'm saying? But I wouldn't. I would never say something as a fact that it happened if I did not know for sure. That ruins my credibility. And this is what I do for a living. This is how I help support my family. So if my credibility is ruined because I'm posting fake news or lies, that. That doesn't help me any.

[Ty]

Well, yeah, and that's why. That's why I think it's one of those things where there's not a lot of creators that I think people should respect and follow and take. Take what they say seriously besides you and a couple other people, because of that fact that, listen, I'm not going to emotionally react right out of my opinion. And so I may give that opinion after I give you my fact. You know what I mean?

[Elle]

But it's.

[Ty]

It's always going to be, you know, you always do your due diligence and fact check and make sure that. That. That all that stuff's correct so you don't ruin your. Your whole reputation.

[Kate]

I mean, God damn, that's why you're one of our faves al trust.

[Ty]

L Ol.

[Kate]

Yeah. Seriously.

[Ty]

Yeah.

[Elle]

Thank you, guys. Do y' all know how crazy it is though? Really? How crazy it is that I've watched you guys for so long, then for you guys to be like, y' all watch out. It is literally like.

[Kate]

You've been on our podcast a bunch of times now and we're always in your life. I love it.

[Ty]

You know what, though, Elle? It's because you stayed authentic to yourself, though. You've never self betrayed your spirit, your intuition for the sake of publicity. You've stayed the course. You've stayed. You know what I mean? So that's why, I mean, I really believe the universe rewards authenticity over anything else. And that's what you've done. So, I mean, you know, yeah, you deserve your flowers there.

[Elle]

I appreciate that.

[Kate]

And the one time too, I was talking to my. I was like, yeah, you know El Bell?

[Ty]

Yeah, yeah.

[Kate]

She was like, why you call her El Bell? I go. I go, because she's such a stalker. Belle. Like, she's my El Belle. I love it.

[Elle]

I love that.

[Kate]

Well, hey, thanks for just randomly. Yeah, I just text you this morning, but thanks for hopping out.

[Ty]

We had a whole other schedule plan. Then this happened, like, well, you might as well. At 8.

[Elle]

I was like, you said the time. I was like, trying to figure out what time. That was my time because I'd already told my people I was Gonna go live at 10:30. Like, what time is that? My time? Because I may need to cancel mine to do theirs. I was trying to figure it out. I was like, nope, I can do both.

[Kate]

Yes, perfect. Yeah, it worked out perfectly.

[Elle]

I love how brushed my hair. Threw. Threw this on, ran out to my office and got started. Hey.

[Kate]

Well, no, it worked out good. Yeah. Because it all blew up this morning and I was like, oh, my gosh, like, we need to talk about this.

[Ty]

And I think me and Kate, coming from the child of addicts, this stuff kind of hits home to us. And so that's why we wanted to cover it. We didn't want to cover it to, like, gossip or you know, talk about whatever. I just wanted.

[Kate]

I just really hope that, you know, Jen, Larry, who, Ryan, whoever, you know, even if Macy or whatever, I hope they all just rally around her because I know. I know her and Macy were really close, too. So if everybody can just rally around her and just try to show her, like, come on, you got this. There's something better than this, you know, like, you did it once. You can start. It's fine, you know?

[Ty]

Yeah. I think it's safe to say we're all rooting.

[Kate]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Ty]

We're all rooting for the sobriety. We're all rooting for. For the kids. We're rooting for them to just stay on the straight and narrow and sober road and. And just continue to grow and heal.

[Kate]

So first for them theirselves, because it has to be first for them, but then just little kids, because it hurts these children so deeply.

[Ty]

Yeah.

[Elle]

And her. Presley is still young, so, I mean, she could still get sober and this be a life. Presley never has to remember that moment, dealt with this. She can always remember her mom as being sober, you know, but the other kids, they may. Bentley for sure is going to remember. Brandon will have a bit of it, but the other kids are young enough, and like you, Jagger and Estelle love Amanda and Presley, you know, so she can. And she might feel embarrassed by it, but there's, you know, no. Like, she has so many people that can rally around her. She has a huge support system online that if she can just admit the issue, go get help, she can come back clean and sober, and all of her people's going to be here to welcome her back. So. Right. Nothing she has to be embarrassed about. It happens.

[Kate]

It does. It does. It's just about what you do with the relapse that is the most important, you know, so.

[Elle]

Exactly.

[Kate]

Yeah, I hope so, Elle, but. Well, thanks again for just hopping on random randomly and we always love bringing you on because you have a lot of good insight and facts and just.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Thank you.

[Elle]

Absolutely. I'm always here. Hit me up anytime. I mean, usually I can hop on. So if. If Tyler can't make it, can't break it down. All right, all right, all right, El.

[Kate]

So if there's any new listeners here, where can they find you and what platforms are you on?

[Elle]

I am pretty much everywhere. Tick tock, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Yeah, everywhere.

[Ty]

At LB official, right?

[Elle]

LB official.

[Kate]

Yep. All right, perfect. Well, you guys, you know, thank you so much for listening and joining us this week and make sure to catch us next week and we'll be talking to you guys soon. Bye.

[Ty]

Bye. At first I didn't think it was real. I woke up to this blinding light and I was translated ported to another place Pluto tv. Then I heard a voice.

[Elle]

Come with me if you want to live.

[Ty]

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Definitely a verbo care thing.

[Elle]

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[Kate]

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[Elle]

Com.