MTV "Teen Mom" star Ryan Edwards shared his first selfie in years.
Embattled “Teen Mom” star Ryan Edwards posted his first selfie to Instagram in years on February 19, just over a week after he was arrested. The last time Edwards shared a picture of himself on social media was in 2019.
Edwards was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a controlled substance, and harassment after police learned he had an active warrant issued by the Chattanooga police, per a press release shared by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities also determined that Edwards — a metal fabricator from Chattanooga, Tennessee — violated an order of protection that was taken out against him by his wife, Mackenzie Standifer, on February 8, the press release said.
Edwards, 35, didn’t add a caption to his Instagram post, which was a photo of himself standing in front of a bathroom mirror. He had a fresh haircut and wore a plaid button-down shirt and blue jeans. He didn’t smile in the photo, where he gazed into the lens on his phone.
However, Edwards’ appearance in the photo isn’t what got people on social media talking. Hundreds of fans on Reddit and Instagram talked about the items surrounding Edwards’ untidy sink. Some objects identified by fans were three empty plastic bottles, sunglasses, cologne, an uncapped container of pomade, and chewing tobacco. One fan described the photo as “a grimy highlights seek and find.”
Edwards also changed his Instagram bio to “Just hurt.” Before, — according to a screenshot posted by Teen Mom Chatter — it said, “You ever had your trash can smell so bad it makes you sick yea that was my life for the last 7 years. I well anything or nothing is better then u.”
But the two elements that concerned fans the most were a white substance on the counter and a metal device, which some people said was a gun clip.
Some people argued about whether the white residue was drugs or toothpaste. “Not drugs,” read one popular comment. “That would be an expensive amount of cocaine and I can guarantee nobody that uses cocaine on a limited budget would treat it that haphazardly.”
Others were bothered by the state of the bathroom. “Who the hell would post this? Like damn, at least crop your gross stuff out,” they said.
A number of fans were alarmed by the metal device on the sink, saying things like: “A GUN CLIP WHY???”
There were a few followers who suspected Edwards might be on a dating app amid his estrangement from his wife of nearly six years, Mackenzie Standifer. “Yep this is the desperate selfie of a man who has just been broken up with, needs attention from a new woman which is why they are taking said selfie for their dating profile,” reads a top message.
Edwards is best known as the ex-boyfriend of “Teen Mom” star Maci Bookout, with whom he shares a 14-year-old son, Bentley. Edwards went on to marry Standifer in 2017 and they have two children together: 4-year-old Jagger and 3-year-old Stella.
Bookout obtained a 2-year restraining order against Edwards in 2018, E! News reported.
In court documents cited by E! News, Bookout claimed Edwards “left voicemail messages threatening to show up at my house and take my son” and claimed her ex “made threats to show up and hurt me if I don’t answer my phone.”
Standifer Posted a Cryptic Message After Her Husband’s Arrest
Standifer, 26, shared a vague post via Instagram Stories on February 16, nearly a week after her husband was arrested.
“Just because I carry it well, doesn’t mean it’s not heavy,” the quote read, according to a screenshot posted by Teen Mom Chatter. “I need to call and seek His name every day.”
“People don’t know everything. Others don’t even have an idea what I’m going through, but God knows,” the message continued, per Teen Mom Chatter. “He knows every detail and I believe He will carry me through. These struggles are heavy, but there’s victory in the Lord.”
Before Edwards was arrested, three 911 calls were made — one by Standifer, one by her father, Bob Standifer, and another by one of her co-workers, who was not named — according to recordings obtained by The Sun.
“County has been to my house several times in the past month for a domestic I’ve had going on with my soon-to-be ex-husband,” Standifer said in an emergency call on February 8, per The Sun. “Today I had to file a report with the city because of a phone call where he threatened to kill me that I have recorded.”
Standifer said she was “not safe” at her home when the dispatcher asked if she was at her house, according to The Sun.
A friend called 911 on January 15 to have the police do a welfare check after they were alarmed by text they received from Standifer, The Sun wrote.
“In the message, she said her husband smashed her phone and put a knife to her back. I was calling to see if I could get a welfare check on her,” the friend told the dispatcher, according to The Sun. “When I was on the phone with her, I could hear him shouting at her in the background and then she hung up really quickly and said she had to go.”
Standifer’s father called 911 on January 24 after his daughter called him to come to get her, that she was “upset” and things at home were “escalating,” according to The Sun.
“I don’t know what’s going on. If he’s not letting her get out of the house or what. I thought I might walk into something I don’t need to walk into as far as where he’s not letting her get out, and me and him get into an altercation,” Bob Standifer said, per The Sun. “I don’t want to be on the wrong side of the law so I figured I would let you all know.”
Bob Standifer told the dispatcher Edwards had a “fair amount” of weapons in the home, including “assault rifles, two 45 pistols, army-issued pistols,” according to The Sun.
When asked if Edwards had substance abuse issues, Bob Standifer said, as reported by The Sun: “I know he’s done rehab before. Two years ago. I don’t know if that’s the case now. That’s something he went through a few years ago.” In a police affidavit cited by The Sun, police said Edwards was likely in possession of cocaine and heroin at the time of his February 10 arrest.
Edwards’ problem with heroin dates back to 2017 when MTV filmed him nodding off while driving to his wedding with Standifer. He went into rehab in 2018, the same year he was arrested on heroin-related charges, as noted by Page Six.
Bob Standifer wasn’t aware of any domestic violence in the home. “I don’t think he’s ever gotten physical in the past. I know he’s put a hole in the wall once. But I don’t think he’s gotten physical towards her,” he said, according to The Sun.
Edwards threatened Standifer’s life over the phone, police said in an arrest affidavit, cited by The Sun.
“Yeah I hear you, but you… look… I guess you didn’t hear me. What’s about to happen to you is gonna be ugly,” Edwards said after Standifer told her husband she didn’t want to be with him anymore, according to the arrest affidavit cited by The Sun.
Edwards Wrote Disparaging Comments About Standifer on Social Media
Edwards wrote an Instagram post on January 29 and another one on February 9, where he belittled Standifer and accused her of cheating on him.
“Take wife down off this. I’m not proud of being married to someone that stays out in bars and goes home with other guys,” Edwards wrote in a since-deleted post, according to a screenshot on Reddit. “Tomorrow can’t get here fast enough! Don u know what happens when you lay with dogs? …wait look at who I’m talking to. And then blaming it on my addiction. Yea divorce is the right thing.”
In his second post, he shared a picture of Standifer from the nose down. She was wearing a leather jacket and nothing else.
“If you guys have ever seen a spineless s*** this is one,” he wrote in a since-deleted caption, as shown in a screenshot via Reddit. “They take your money. Sleep with anything that looks at them. But they must have a wife to. God what a joke. It’s sad really.”
Edwards’ fidelity has its own blemishes. In 2019, Radar Online reported that he cheated on Standifer when she was pregnant with a woman he met through Tinder.
At the time, he didn’t respond to Radar Online’s request for comment.