MTV Larry Edwards, the father of "Teen Mom OG" star Ryan Edwards (pictured), revealed a sad update about Ryan's son Bentley.
Larry Edwards, the father of Teen Mom OG star Ryan Edwards, revealed a sad update about Ryan’s son, Bentley. Ryan and his family claimed they have not been able to see the 12-year-old, though they didn’t give a reason.
Larry opened up during an October 27 interview with The Sun, where he explained that Ryan didn’t want to fight for custody because he is working on maintaining his sobriety and doesn’t want to do anything that could potentially harm that — such as a stressful court battle.
Things between Teen Mom OG star Maci, 29, and Ryan, 32, have been tense. “Their relationship hasn’t been going well. It’s not any better. Something came up that she wanted and needed. Ryan wasn’t going to comply with everything she wants and needs, and we’ve been shut down,” Larry told The Sun. “Bentley right now, we can’t even see him, they’re not even allowed to see him. It is what it is.”
At the time of the interview, Larry said he and his wife Jen hadn’t been able to see their grandson for two weeks despite reaching out to Maci to schedule visits.
Larry said Ryan is doing “wonderful with his sobriety,” but they fear a custody battle could cause a relapse. “Ryan doesn’t want to deal with it. He doesn’t want to put himself back in a situation,” the Edwards patriarch revealed about his son. “He’s got a family. He needs to take care of himself. Then he needs to take care of them.”
Ryan has one child with ex-girlfriend Maci and two children with his current wife Mackenzie Standifer — 2-year-old Jagger and 11-month-old Stella. Mackenzie also has a son, Hudson, from a previous relationship.
Heavy reached out to Maci about Larry’s comments but didn’t immediately hear back.
She previously said she wished someone in Ryan’s inner circle would tell Ryan it was OK to reach out for support with his sobriety if he needed it, according to In Touch Weekly.
“He was 100 percent not sober,” she said after seeing him at Bentley’s birthday party in April 2019. “I just feel like the cycle’s starting all over again. I just wish that someone [who’s] close to him would say, ‘Do you need more help?’ And tell him, ‘It’s okay if you do.’” At the time, Ryan had just got out of jail.
The Edwards Family Is Willing To Let Maci Make The Decisions
The Edwards family said they don’t want to battle with Maci to see the 12-year-old. “We’re not going to fight it. We’re not going to change it,” Larry told The Sun. “It’s just the way it is. I’m sorry for it.”
“If that’s going to be a situation where he gets upset and things are said … Ryan is not participating because he’s not going to let her pull his triggers,” he continued. “He’s pretty much, whatever she wants to do is fine.”
In 2018, the last time Ryan posted on social media, he talked about how important it was for him to remain sober. “I will never stop speaking out against this horrible disease! It consumes your life and turns you into someone even you don’t know. I’m asking you to never give up,” he wrote at the time. “Each day is a struggle.”
Maci & Ryan Have A Tumultuous History Together
Maci has struggled to maintain a good parenting relationship with Ryan, who battled a heroin addiction since 2017. Around that time, Maci filed for a restraining order against him after she claimed he showed up to one of Bentley’s baseball games and threatened her while he was under the influence of drugs. According to The Sun, the order was dropped in May 2020.
Ryan’s been arrested several times and spent multiple stints in rehab. In January 2019, he was arrested and charged with theft and heroin possession. Ryan went to jail for 90 days and released in April 2019.
In an Instagram story on December 4, Mackenzie talked about living a life free of addiction. She’s regularly clapped back at people who criticized her for staying with Ryan, saying no one is perfect.
“Don’t we all have problems? Or are you one of the rare few that don’t have any,” she said last month.
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