MTV is cutting ties with yet another one of its stars amid the ongoing call for racial justice in America. The network announced on Tuesday that it would no longer have Taylor Selfridge on Teen Mom OG and that her special with her boyfriend, Cory Wharton, would not be airing on the network.
“MTV pulled Teen Mom OG At Home: Cory & Taylor’s Baby Special from its Tuesday schedule and is ending our relationship with Taylor Selfridge in light of her past racist statements on social media,” an MTV spokesperson told People magazine. “MTV strongly condemns systemic racism and stands with those raising their voices against injustice.”
Taylor addressed MTV’s decision on her Instagram Story. “As you guys know already our special didn’t air tonight,” she wrote on Tuesday night. “I made the decision last week to not film the next season of Teen Mom OG with Cory for the benefit of myself and my daughter. I don’t believe the reality TV lifestyle benefits me any further at this point in my life. With current events being what they are and reality TV being selective in who they apply rules to or what is considered acceptable behavior, I do not have any further respect.”
She continued, “Once again, I apologize for anyone I have hurt or offended in the past. I have addressed my mistakes many times on the network and I would like to move on and continue to be the best version of myself. My past does not define who I am today and I hope you guys can see the change. Please respect my decision to provide a normal, healthy life for my family.”
Cory is the ex-boyfriend of Cheyenne Floyd, who is also a main star on Teen Mom OG. The two are parents to daughter Ryder Wharton. Though Cheyenne hasn’t spoken publicly about the network’s decision to let Taylor go, she did confront her ex’s new girlfriend about her past racist tweets in an August 2019 episode of Teen Mom OG.
“I don’t think that at the time, because I was younger, I don’t think I was thinking that it was anything negative. I thought, ‘Oh well, this is funny or something like that.’ But it’s not. I’m 25 now, this happened a long time ago,” Taylor said when she was confronted about her tweets by Cheyenne. “I don’t feel like that at all. That’s my biggest mistake. I just had to grow up, honestly. And I had to experience other places. I was in one place for so long.”
Cheyenne Floyd, Cory Warton and Taylor Selfridge on ‘Teen Mom OG.”Teen Mom OG’
Taylor added, “I’m not [racist] but it’s hard to say that I’m not to anybody because of things that they’ve seen.”
In the tweets from 2012, Taylor used the N-word, talked about being afraid of the black people at her work, and made many other disparaging comments about black women.
Cheyenne, also a former contestant on MTV’s The Challenge, did tweet about the network’s decision to fire Dee Nguyen following “offensive comments” about the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Wish y’all had this same energy when I did the challenge,” Cheyenne replied to MTV’s tweet about the matter.
As a result of Dee Nguyen’s offensive comments on the Black Lives Matter movement, we have severed ties with her. Out of respect for our Challengers, we’ll air our season as planned. We strongly condemn systemic racism and stand with those raising their voices against injustice.
Cory and Taylor are still together and share daughter Mila Mae Wharton, who was born in April. This isn’t the first time MTV has fired a Teen Mom star for their past tweets. In 2018, the network ousted Jenelle Evans’ now-husband, David Eason, from Teen Mom 2 due to his homophobic tweets.
