MTV "Teen Mom" star Catelynn Lowell posted a vulnerable post about "toxic" family members leading up to Thanksgiving.
“Teen Mom” star Catelynn Lowell posted a vulnerable post about “toxic” family members leading up to Thanksgiving. Fans on Reddit appreciated the post, with people saying they could relate.
Lowell reposted a TikTok that was created by a social media user named “Life With Jess,” also known as Jess Cox. The clip shows Cox eating a plate of food by herself.
“Everybody talks about cutting toxic family off, but no one actually talks about the grief that comes with having to stand firm on that decision knowing it’s not what you want, but what is needed for your wellbeing and everyone around you,” says the text in the video.
“The grief is a different kind,” she wrote as the caption.
The post resonated with Lowell, who reshared the video on Instagram. “It’s hard AF.. the s*** is NOT easy and the grief is so damn real 😩😩😩,” Lowell wrote.
A number of people on Instagram agreed with Lowell’s post and said they also had to deal with the guilt of removing harmful family members from their lives.
“I feel this. It’s so much harder than people realize. Props to the people who are able to do it,” one person wrote.
“I feel this in my soul this year….” another said.
It’s not the first time Lowell talked about toxic family members. Days before her Thanksgiving post, she shared another TikTok, but this one was created by a social media user named Sarah Nan.
The text in the video reads, “But she’s your sister. Can’t you just put everything aside for the holidays?”
“Toxic is toxic,” Nan said in the caption. “This is the new normal. We aren’t going to push people’s boundaries because of the holidays or you won’t see me for the next.”
Lowell added her own explanation for sharing the video. “Family or not… toxic is toxic and not welcome here 🤷♀️,” she wrote.
Who Did Lowell Cut Off?
Some people wondered which family member Lowell was talking about. Her mother, April Brockmiller, her father-in-law, Butch Baltierra, and her sister-in-law, Amber Baltierra, have struggled with substance abuse.
The last time Lowell’s husband, Tyler Baltierra, talked about his father, he said Butch Baltierra didn’t want to be mentioned in the media. According to The Ashley’s Reality Roundup, Butch Baltierra spent some time before bars in June after he was found guilty in March of OUI (Operating Under the Influence). The incident took place in 2020, per The Ashley.
In May, Baltierra had said his father was in a “toxic” relationship with a new woman.
“He’s with this chick who has got lots of money, so he’s kind of got this endless enabler, really. They’re in a toxic—they ain’t in a good situation,” the “Teen Mom” star said on Instagram live, The Ashley reported. “I’ve gotten to a point where I’ve just accepted him. He’s an addict. Relapse is part of it.”
Lowell Confronted Her Mom About Her Drinking Habits
Lowell had a sitdown with her mother, as depicted on an October 4 episode of “Teen Mom: The Next Chapter,” after she heard that Brockmiller was “buzzed” while giving her 3-year-old daughter a bath. Lowell relies on her mother to babysit sometimes, but she doesn’t want her children around her mother when she’s intoxicated.
“I’m in this moment in my life where I know it’s kind of hard to trust her not to drink with my kids around, really,” Lowell confessed. “I want to protect them from things that I experienced with my mom when I was growing up.”
In a confessional with MTV cameras, Lowell said she would have to cut her mother off if she continued to drink with her children around.
“The only worry that I have is sticking to my boundaries,” she said. “I know eventually, it’s going to happen where I show up there and she’s buzzed or she starts to drink and I’m just gonna have to put my foot down and leave but she hasn’t done that yet.”
Lowell had an off-camera conversation where Brockmiller admitted to drinking more but promised to cut back.