Teen Mom Amber Portwood has taken a lot of heat for a recent episode that featured her punching and kicking her ex-fiance and her baby’s daddy Gary Shirley. After the episode aired September 28 local police in Indiana began an investigation into domestic abuse charges against Amber and viewers expressed outrage in forums and by commenting on blogs like ours.
MTV has just posted an apology video from Amber in which she addresses the attack on Gary and talks about what steps she is taking in an attempt to address her rage issues. (if you remember, she also violently attacked Gary in Season 1, pushing him against the wall an choking him.)
Here is the apology video from Amber followed by a transcript of the entire clip:
Hi I’m Amber from Teen Mom. Recently you guys seen a major fight between me and Gary. Mostly it was me hitting him and being verbal towards him.
I’m very, very apologetic and sorry about it, obviously to Gary mostly.
When I watch the fight it’s really painful. I don’t ever want to do that to Gary again and I haven’t since, thank God. It’s been a couple months and we’re doing good now at least, and Leah is amazing.
She wasn’t present for it, but also the verbal confrontation between us too that day was terrible. I had a big meltdown in front of everybody and I took it out on Gary, the number one person I loved.
I don’t know why I did it. I don’t know if it was because I didn’t want him to leave. I don’t know if it was because of Leah. I don’t what it was that really triggered the hitting in my head but I think at the time it was the only way that I knew how to get anger and stress out instead of holding inside because God knows I can’t hold it inside any longer.
But now I’ve gotten help to the point where I do know how to deal with it instead of holding it inside, or releasing it in a physical or verbal manner.
I’m not saying I’m 100% cured or 100% better at it, I’m just saying that it’s never escalated to that point again.
I am doing my own therapy, me and Gary together are doing couple’s counseling, and I’m also going to a psychiatrist. So, I’m just getting a little bit extra help.
It’s not any different for a man to hit a woman and for a girl to hit a man. I feel like they’re both equal. We’re all human – maybe some stronger than others – but either way you’re hurting a person.
I don’t think it’s OK for me as a girl to hit him. I never thought that way. Even though Leah wasn’t present for what happened, that’s what my whole point is from saying this is that it still can damage a child in some sort of way, and right now me and Gary are working on everything just to make sure that it will never happen again.
If I’m going to take anything from this experience of what’s going on right now because of the fight I’m just gonna say I hope out of anything it helps everybody who was going through the same thing as me, or near the same thing, and take my example from the show to know that it’s not OK to put your hands on people. It’s not OK to be abusive., not even on the street with someone you don’t even know.
It’s just – you never know what can happen and that’s the number one thing I want people to understand is that you’re not in control of everything but you’re in control of yourself at least.
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So what do you think? Do you believe that Amber has her anger under control and that she and Gary can provide a healthy environment for Leah?
