Amber Portwood Gets in Blowout Fight With Ex Gary at Daughter’s Birthday Dinner, Leaving Leah In Tears
Tensions between Amber Portwood and her ex, Gary Shirley, flared once again as the pair tried to celebrate their daughter Leah’s 15th birthday.
On Thursday’s all-new Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, Gary invited Amber to Leah’s birthday dinner, but things didn’t go exactly as planned after Amber was late to celebrate, after promising she wouldn’t be.
“Let’s make bets on how long it will take for her to get here,” Leah joked. “She’s always late,” Gary added, before the MTV cameras pan back to Amber, who is seen leaving her home 30 minutes after the dinner started.
“We’re starving here,” Gary said while on a call to his ex, who shot back, “Why are you on me?”
“Well, you’re late,” Gary replied. “No,” Amber maintained before sharing her ETA.
While Amber’s punctuality is a point of contention between the pair, things only escalated when she finally arrived and started lecturing Leah.
“Did you know now, at your age, you need me more than ever? ‘Cause you’re about to get real crazy?” Amber told an already annoyed Leah, who failed to respond.
The mother of two then revealed she has a new boyfriend — also named Gary — which neither shocked or amused Leah, who simply said she’s “scared” by the news. And for good reason, after Amber already had a few tumultuous relationships play out on the show — including with Andrew Glennon, with which she shares son James, 5.
“Why are you looking like that?” Amber asked, to which Leah protested, claiming she was simply just drinking her lemonade and not throwing shade at all.
Amber seemed to think otherwise, however, and started chastizing the birthday girl for giving her an attitude, telling her she says things “just to say it.” She also says that Leah brings out the most “sarcastic” side of her before blaming the 15-year-old for pushing her buttons.
Bringing things back to her new boo, Amber offered to show Leah and her sister, Emilee, a photo of Gary — something Leah shows no interested in at first — before asking her mom if she wants a third kid.
Taken aback by the question, Amber seems slighted, but Leah assured her mom she just wants her to be happy.
“What the f–k you talkin’ about?” Amber asked. “I didn’t say nothin’ about him,” Leah maintained. “That’s the point,” a frustrated Amber responded before saying, “That’s her being a dick.”
“See, you make me wanna cuss,” Amber said before getting a talking to by Leah, who reminds her mom that she has “self-control” and could scale back the curse words if she wanted to.
While Gary had been watching their interaction quietly from across the table, there’s no doubt his frustration was mounting with the after-school dinner extending hours later than they had planned.
“What time is it babe?” Gary asked his wife Khristina. “Why are you asking what time?” Amber then wondered. “‘Cause she needs to study for her homework and it’s 6:00,” Gary shot back, with Amber urging Gary to calm down.
At this point, however, Gary isn’t here for it, and the exes go at it. “You got an issue or something?” Amber asked, before adding, “Gary you good?”
But it’s Gary who thinks Amber has the issue, with the co-parents engaging in a tense back-and-forth that ultimately leaves Leah in tears.
“You’re not gonna act that way with me for no reason and then you’re gonna have this big ole attitude with me. So excuse you for your attitude for no reason,” Amber told him. “I’m not having an attitude with you but you keep going. You do your thing Amber,” Gary responded.
After some name-calling from Amber — who continued to insist that she was not late for the dinner — an emotional Leah is seen crying. Though Gary apologized, Amber asked what he was apologizing for — before Leah told them both, “Can you both stop please.”
“Just stop, both of you,” Leah told them both. “Both of you need to stop.”
Reaching her limit, Leah then left the table with Khristina and Emilee — before being heard in the bathroom saying, “I don’t want to do presents anymore.”
That doesn’t stop Amber and Gary from going at it though, with Amber accusing Gary of being the reason their daughter was left in tears on her birthday.
The dinner sadly ended with Gary leaving with Christina and the kids — Amber calling him a “trash bag” as he walked out — and Portwood breaking down in tears over being the one to “blame” at the end of the altercation.
“This is why I never have a f–king chance with her,” Amber said through tears, signaling that their strained relationship is still very much a work in progress.
See the family drama continue on Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, airing Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on MTV.
