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Teen Mom OG star Maci Bookout was accused of exploiting her oldest son Bentley, as first noted by The Ashley’s Reality Roundup. Viewers of the show argued on Twitter that she’s showing too much of Bentley’s personal relationship with his estranged father, Ryan Edwards. This season has explored the new boundaries Bentley set with his father. The 12-year-old revealed he wanted distance between them until they could work through some of their issues in therapy.
In a thread on the Teen Mom subreddit, some viewers argued that Maci could show other things instead of making Bentley’s life her main storyline. She has a clothing line with her husband Taylor McKinney, called TTM or Things That Matter. She also has two more children: Jayde Carter and Maverick. In past seasons, she’s showed her charity work to bring awareness to PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome.
“Poor kid looks miserable. He clearly disliked filming and Maci herself said it on earlier OG seasons,” one commenter wrote. “She could talk about TTM and Covid or make up other crap about her life. Not film a preteen kid, clearly uncomfortable, that is going through a lot and clearly at an age where filming is going to have a big impact on his life, compared to the younger kids.”
Another person slammed Maci for letting MTV record the conversation she had with Bentley’s therapist, where the counselor said her son felt “neglected” by Ryan. “A therapist ‘just for him’ that Maci plays on speakerphone for the whole world to hear,” they said.
One netizen accused Maci of putting on a facade for reality TV. “Maci knows all the ‘right’ things to say & do (therapy for Bentley) to not make herself look like a total piece of s*** mom for exploiting her son,” they wrote. “She’ll do everything but keep him off of TV. Poor kid.”
Bentley Told His Grandparents Why He Didn’t Want to Go To Ryan’s House
There were two parties being held for Jagger: One of Mackenzie and Ryan’s house and the other and Jen and Larry’s house. Bentley said he wanted to go to the party at Jen and Larry’s, but told them he had to back out after his grandmother “mixed up” the dates.
“Hey. I don’t want to go to the birthday party on Friday, but I’ll be at the birthday party on Sunday,” Bentley said in a phone call, as noted by Too Fab. “It’s at Daddy and Mack’s house and since I haven’t seen them in a while, I don’t want to make a big jump and be at their house.”
In a separate conversation with his mother and Taylor, Bentley again explained he wasn’t ready. “I haven’t seen them in forever and that would just be a big jump from not seeing them and then going straight to his house,” he said.
Bentley Had ‘No Interaction’ With Ryan at the Birthday Party
At the end of last week’s episode, MTV gave a sneak peek where Taylor asked Bentley how Jagger’s birthday party went. It was the first time he had seen his father in weeks, and things didn’t exactly go well.
“There was no interaction… with me and Dad,” the 12-year-old told his stepfather.
Bentley had previously told his mother he was apprehensive about the party and only wanted to go if it was going to be held at his paternal grandparents’ house. Even though things are strained with Ryan, Bentley still has a bond with Jen and Larry Edwards.
Jen has also worked as the communicator between Maci and Ryan since Maci took out a restraining order on her ex in 2018 after she accused him of threatening her. The two-year order has since been lifted, but things between Maci and Ryan remain strained.
To find out what happens next, don’t miss Teen Mom OG when it airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern time on MTV.
READ NEXT: Bentley Breaks Silence on Situation With Dad Ryan Edwards
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