MTV Former "Teen Mom" star Mackenzie Standifer filed for divorce from her husband, Ryan Edwards, according to documents obtained by Us Weekly.
“Teen Mom” fans offered their support to Mackenzie Standifer after it was confirmed she was leaving her husband of six years, Ryan Edwards. The mother-of-three filed for divorce on February 27, according to documents obtained by Us Weekly and The Ashley’s Reality Roundup the following day.
The discussion about the divorce filing went down on Reddit, where hundreds of fans flooded Standifer with comments. “Hell yeah! She could go all the way! Congratulations on step one, Mack!” an original poster wrote on the “Teen Mom” forum after the news broke. By March 1, it was the most popular thread on the subreddit, garnering more than 1,100 upvotes and more than 475 comments.
“I’m so glad she’s getting away from his toxic a** hopefully she gets primary custody,” one person wrote.
“A friendly reminder that Mack was a young dumb-a** when she and Ryan got together, and it takes an average of 7 attempts before finally leaving a toxic partner for good,” a second person penned. “She’s learning a very big painful lesson right now and I will only wish nothing but the best for her and her children.”
“Good for her! I hope she follows through with it and doesn’t get lured back in by Ryan’s lovebombing (which I’m pretty sure he’s going to try at some point if he hasn’t already),” a third said.
Standifer, 26, and Edwards, 35, have been married since 2017. They welcomed two children together, 4-year-old Jagger and 3-year-old Stella. Standifer has a child from another relationship, Hudson, whom she welcomed with her first husband, Zachary Stephens.
Edwards also has a child from another relationship, 14-year-old Bentley, whom he welcomed with “Teen Mom” star Maci Bookout in 2008. Edwards and Bookout appeared on the first season of “16 and Pregnant,” where they were briefly engaged, but Bookout ended their relationship after her fiance failed to meet her expectations. They both went on to appear on “Teen Mom,” but Edwards — along with Standifer — was fired by MTV in 2021.
Standifer Was Granted Temporary Custody, Us Weekly Reports
A Tennessee court granted Standifer a restraining order against Edwards and temporary custody of their two children, Us Weekly reported, citing court documents.
There are two active warrants for Edwards’ arrest as of February 23, according to The Sun, who confirmed with a Tennessee court. Police accused Edwards of stalking and violating an order of protection, per The Sun.
Edwards was first arrested on February 10. He was charged with harassment, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a controlled substance, after police discovered he had an active warrant issued by the Chattanooga police, per a press release shared by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
Standifer filed a protection order against Edwards on February 9, according to The Sun, who obtained court documents.
The former “Teen Mom” star described an incident on January 15 in a petition for the courts.
“Arguing, Ryan punched holes in the walls and doors. [He] held me up by my neck to the wall. Threw me down in hallway and said if he could not have me no one could,” she said in the petition, according to The Sun. “Opened pocket knife, put to my back like he was going to kill me. This was in front of children. I tried to leave, he smashed my phone, took my car keys.”
She talked about another incident from January 24.
“[He] came into bedroom where I was laying down. Pretending like he’s going to punch my face. Breaks bed with me in it. Getting in my face yelling,” she said in the same petition, according to the publication. “I went to get kids and leave. He wouldn’t let me leave. Threw me down in living room. Threw menthol nicotine in my eyes.”
Standifer And Bookout Famously Feuded
Standifer hinted that Bookout got her and Edwards fired from “Teen Mom” in 2021.
“Nothing happened, literally, nothing. We just got a call yesterday from [producers] Morgan [J. Freeman] and Larry [Musnik] at MTV,” Standifer told YouTuber Katie Joy on her channel, Without a Crystal Ball. “Maci’s agent went above their heads and went to Viacom and said that they wanted to focus on all of Maci’s abilities and whatever she does and that we took up the time on the show that she could be using to show all that.”
The firing happened after Bookout and her husband, Taylor McKinney, got into an argument with Edwards’ parents — Jen and Larry — about Edwards not being involved in Bentley’s life.
“It’s just more of an angry, I’m gonna show you who’s boss-type of deal,” Standifer told WOACB. “The truth in the matter is, she calls the shots here. This is her show. It is what it is. It’s fine.”
At the “Teen Mom” reunion in July 2017, Standifer read an open letter to Bookout, where she accused the MTV star of humiliating her husband.
“Maci, you told me to my face, merely days after I had informed you about Ryan seeking help, that you had known about his problem since November,” Standifer said, per People. “That was 186 days; 400,464 hours; and 267,840 minutes that he could’ve died, and still, you said nothing.”
“You let everyone know that you feared for his life, while concurrently exploiting Ryan and his addiction on the show,” she added. “You preach about hating complacency and enabling… But, because you turned your head to the problem, that makes you the enabler, not everyone else that it’s blamed on.”
Edwards was filmed nodding off while driving to his wedding to Standifer, with his then-fiancee having to grab the wheel so they didn’t veer off the road. Since 2017, Edwards has gone to rehab multiple times to battle his addiction to heroin.
In 2018, he was arrested on heroin-related charges, per Page Six.