14 DAY TRIAL // Amber Portwood, star of MTV’s reality show “Teen Mom” is under investigation for domestic violence after she beat ex-fiancé Gary Shirley on camera. MTV has handed over all tapes to investigators.
The network aired footage of Portwood beating Shirley this September, which is also when authorities took notice of the case, AceShowbiz informs.
The footage showed the teen mom lashing out at her fiancé as he threatened to walk out on her and go and alert Child Services, slapping, punching and verbally abusing him.
Shirley did not retaliate, the footage also showed. In a bid to shed light on the case and determine whether Portwood is liable of a domestic abuse charge, authorities have asked to see all tapes made for the show.
That is to say, MTV was asked to hand over all footage, be it aired or unaired, a demand the network has already complied with, a source cited by the aforementioned e-zine reveals.
“Court papers were served to a lawyer representing the channel. The police asked for raw footage of any physical violence or potentially violent encounters between the young couple,” AceShowbiz writes.
“They also require any footage of Amber talking about the assault, be it aired or unaired,” the publication further notes.
MTV has been very cooperative with authorities ever since the investigation was launched, reports say, providing investigators with all the material needed.
“They normally have 30 days to respond and they already have the tapes with their attorney. They have helped us along in letting us know what was available,” a police spokesperson is quoted as saying.
“MTV sent all the material ahead of time and once the subpoena was issued they said we could have access to the records,” the rep adds.
If police establish that the couple’s child witnessed the violent episode, Portwood could face felony domestic violence charges, it is being said.
A spokesperson for MTV was not immediately available for comment on this recent development of the story.