Gregory Pace/Shutterstock; Inset: Courtesy of Barbara Evans/Instagram
‘Teen Mom 2’ Alum Jenelle Evans Says Mom Barbara ‘Blocked’ Her Amid Custody Dispute Over Jace
Telling her side of the story. Teen Mom 2 alum Jenelle Evans revealed her mother, Barbara Evans, allegedly “blocked” her after they got into a dispute over custody of Jenelle’s oldest son, Jace.
“I’m pretty mad right now, I’m pretty pissed off. I’m not gonna lie to y’all. Jace was living with me the past week and now circumstances have changed. Why have they changed? Because my mom can’t put down her pride,” Jenelle, 29, said in a YouTube video posted on Saturday, January 23.
In the first half of the video, which was filmed on Tuesday, January 19, Jenelle explained that Jace, 11, had been staying with her at the home she shares with husband David Eason, son Kaiser (whom she shares with ex Nathan Griffith), daughter Ensley (whom she shares with David), and David’s daughter from a previous relationship, Maryssa. The former MTV star explained the reason why Jace was living with her and not Barbara is because he had a “behavior” problem.
“It was really bad, and we’re not going into detail about that because it’s no one’s business but Jace’s,” the mom of three said. “But you know, my mom couldn’t handle it and his behavior was horrible. The things he was doing was horrible and that’s all we’re saying about that.”
Jenelle claimed Barbara, 65, had been calling her for help with Jace and asked Jenelle to pick him up on several occasions. Jenelle told her mother that if she had to pick up Jace one more time because of his behavior, then she would keep him at her home. According to Jenelle, Barbara allegedly agreed.
She said she had picked Jace up for the last time about a week or two ago. Jenelle claimed that things were fine until she revealed Jace was living with her full-time via TikTok, which is when Barbara allegedly changed her mind.
Jenelle explained she and Barbara legally share 50/50 custody of Jace. But once Jenelle’s TikTok went viral, Barbara told TMZ she has “full custody” of Jace, which Jenelle insisted is not true. “Now she’s trying to make me look like a dumbass. Now she’s taking it all back,” Jenelle said.
After their custody dispute played out in the media, Jenelle said her mother insisted on picking up Jace after school the following Tuesday and that Jenelle could get Jace back that Wednesday. Jenelle insisted that she didn’t want to do the “back and forth” with Jace anymore and wanted Jace to live with her full-time, permanently.
“Either we can fight it out in court or we can handle this civilly like grown adults that we are,” Jenelle allegedly told her mom.
After school on Tuesday, Jenelle attempted to make plans with her mom so she could pick up Jace. Barbara allegedly told Jenelle that her lawyer told her she could be found in contempt of court if she lets Jace go back with Jenelle full-time before they legally update their custody arrangement. Jenelle also claimed Barbara didn’t want Jace to live with Jenelle full-time because she didn’t want their Medicaid “canceled,” insisting Jace was only having behavioral issues because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’m sick and tired of everyone making me look like the idiot when I’m the only one telling the complete truth,” she claimed. She also alleged Barbara said if Jace acts up again, she would send him away to a Christian school or a boarding school.
“What hurts the most is that this is my own mother doing this to me. Back and forth, back and forth. This is why I don’t fight for Jace because when I think I can civilly get along with her and then when I get close enough and actually get him, she takes him away from me again. And legally, he lives with her on the weekdays and I get him every other weekend. But if we were to go to court right now, it would be a s—tshow and she knows it,” Jenelle added.
She said she wanted to prevent a situation where she and her mother would be “throwing dirt in each other’s face” and forcing Jace to testify on the stand in court. Jenelle said the only reason why she was venting via YouTube is because David, 32, suggested it would be good for her to film how she’s feeling in the moment.
“She’s worried, I guess? That’s what I think in my head. Her pride is too much to put down and it has been for years. Our relationship is ruined,” Jenelle mused to the camera. “Guess it’s just time to get lawyers involved and cut my mom off again.”
Jenelle filmed herself the next day on Wednesday, January 20, and she was still upset. She hasn’t spoken to her mom since she threatened to go to court, but Barbara allegedly had been texting her, trying to convince her to “stop this craziness.” Jenelle then broke down in tears.
Later in the video, Jenelle shared a recap of the text message conversation she had with her mom that day where Barbara allegedly tried to coax Jenelle out of taking their custody battle to court. “This is when you have to cut your toxic parent off. First, they text you the next day trying to make amends,” Jenelle said. She claimed when she told her mother she would cut off their relationship, Barbara tried to convince Jenelle not to file paperwork in court because she would allow her to see Jace whenever she wanted without making adjustments to their custody agreement.
“These issues go deeper than any of you know,” Jenelle alleged. ‘They’re both toxic to each other, Jace and my mom. No matter how much they wanna say they’re not, they are.”
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