LOVE DURING LOCKUP Justin’s friend trashes Emily after his passing?

Love During Lockup Season 5 features inmate Justin, who passed away in prison in July of 2025 at the age of 35. Justin was dating 27-year-old Emily while filming for the show.

As viewers can see in the Love During Lockup Season 5 preview trailer, Emily does not get along with at least two of Justin’s close friends. Emily and the two friends get into a heated altercation at a restaurant in one of the featured scenes:

JUSTIN’S FRIENDS DO NOT LIKE EMILY

The blonde woman on Emily’s left in the restaurant scene is a very close friend of Justin’s. She is the person who wrote his obituary and appears to be in possession of his urn.

This friend of Justin’s has been making startling claims on social media over the past few weeks. She doesn’t mention Emily by name, but she references the person’s involvement with the show multiple times.

“I can literally say I don’t have much hate in me… but I truly hate you,” Justin’s friend wrote on social media just days before the Love During Lockup trailer dropped. “I hope this show brings you all the hate you deserve.. because we lost a beautiful soul out of your hate.. & I hope you’re proud 👏”

It appears this friend is not the only person who feels this way.

“Literally meaning of bottom trash scum sk*nk,” one commenter replied, “to be able to go one living your life after all this sh*t knowing it’s from the head games she did to this man to get him to that point. Karma will get her eventually.. not soon enough but 😮‍💨”

“Amen girl!” the original poster responded. “This show is goin to bring her so much hate hope everyone sees how evil she really is. Playing with someones head to get views is crazy work.”

Prior to the trailer release, Emily shared a Facebook post asking for help accessing a prison tablet. “Who can unlock jail tablets to get into it & bypass the password!?” she asked in early October. “This is really important before the TV show comes out. Somebody help me,” she added.

As Starcasm shared in our previous post about Justin’s passing, Emily’s social media is almost completely devoid of references to him. However, Emily did respond to a Facebook commenter who appeared to be referencing Justin’s close friend.

“Sad part is I see a certain person who is tryna come after you for someone’s death or something,” the commenter wrote.

“I’m aware,” Emily responded. “It’s truly heartbreaking because we all grieve differently, but I couldn’t imagine pointing fingers and blaming someone else for a tragedy we are all going through.”

Meanwhile, Justin’s friend continues to share frustrated posts. In one post she asks if there are any podcasts that would want her and another friend to appear and “expose the truth behind everything before the Love After Lockup season comes out?”

I’m sure she will have someone take her up on her offer before the new season premieres in January.

Below are some screen caps of recent Facebook posts made by Justin’s friend, including one that appears to include a screen cap of a post by someone resembling Emily.

The new season of Love During Lockup premieres in January of 2026.

Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com