The Teen Mom franchise has brought us many memorable feuds over the years.
And on more than one occasion, co-stars have come to blows during various reunion events.
Heated arguments are good for ratings, of course, but actual violence always carries with it the threat of costly legal action.
Which is why producers are very concerned about the recent exchange of threats between Teen Mom: The Next Chapter co-stars Jade Cline and Ashley Jones.
It started as an amusing war of words
Jade alleged that Ashley’s husband Bar Smith had not completed a rehabilitation program that MTV had sent him to.
Hilariously, she also roasted Bar for having “two sets of eyebrows.”
Ashley shot back that Jade’s fiancé Sean Austin had “meth head on skid row” teeth before getting sober.
Not surprisingly, the situation soon escalated beyond insults, with Ashley issuing a veiled threat about the upcoming reunion show taping.
“I will literally be seeing you in 16 days, don’t get no panic attack,” Jones tweeted.
“Girl pleaseee. You talk s–t online then stay distant in person,” Cline replied.
“You had MTV last year doing your whole segment alone. You been trying to be a mean girl since [Teen Mom Young & Pregnant]. It’s old. Run up or shut up in LA.”
Not surprisingly, producers weren’t thrilled to see threats flying back and forth.
“Online fighting like this is a nightmare for the producers,” one production source told The Ashley’s Reality Roundup.
“Even if there is a threat of physical violence [the producers] have to take action. Even if the girls claim they aren’t planning on doing anything.”
A different source compared the situation to the fight between Kayla Sessler and Dez Rodriguez, which was featured on Next Chapter.
“When punches are thrown— and they connect before security stops them— it is a huge legal issue,” said the insider.
“The footage captured [of Kayla and Dez’s fight] may not even be aired because of the legal issues.”
“Make no mistake: the fighting is always good for ratings,” a different source told The Ashley.
“But stuff like this– stuff that can be taken as threats of physical violence— gets everyone at the network freaking out because they will be liable if something major happens,” a second source said.
Jade has now removed her tweet that told Ashley to “run up or shut up,” possibly at the behest of producers.
“I stay distant cause y’all cry. Kinda like how you tweeting now but production is calling me telling me that you are feeling ‘threatened,’” Ashley wrote in reply.
“I won’t be running up, I’ll be calling the police you thug.”
The latest dust-up between Jade and Ashley began earlier this week when Jones tweeted an allegation that producers had cut important content from her storyline that would have made her actions in the latest episode more understandable.
“This storyline with Cheyenne was non-existent until she decided to call Bar with Zach and talk a bunch of s–t while they were down in Florida in front of all the other girls,” she wrote.
“This upset me because if Zach had an issue he should have called in the privacy of his home, not for an audience in Florida … this is my reason for being so upset in tonight’s episode,” Jones continued.
“So when you see tonight’s episode and think damn Ashley’s energy is off, it’s because that first phone call didn’t make it into the cut and that first phone call was what pissed me off.”
It’s unclear at this time what sort of actions MTV will take to minimize the risk of violence at the reunion.
In the past, Ashley has been separated from the rest of the cast to ensure that there would be no fighting, and it seems likely that producers will take that route again.
We’ll have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.