This is Part Two of my exclusive phone interview with James Duffy, the former boss of Teen Mom 2’s Jenelle Evans. You can read Part One Here.
Many fans of Teen Mom 2 have questions about the production and salary part of it, such as how much the Teen Mom’s are paid and how often it is filmed and how filming works and if it’s real, all of which James Duffy was happy to answer.
Is Teen Mom 2 real? According to James Duffy, who says a lot of the scenes are re-enacted and calls the show “a perverted version” of the truth about the lives of the Teen Moms.
“For example, the way Jenelle and I met. [The show] put an ad on Craigslist that said ‘I’m looking for a personal assistant,’ and I didn’t even know they did this…[Jenelle’s producer] Kristin calls me and tells me I need to be available,” he says, continuing that they had to film a scene of them and act as if they were meeting for the first time. In reality, however, James says that is not how he met her. “We met on MySpace,” he says.
How often do they film? “The way it works is that Jenelle and Kristin have a relationship, they talk to each other constantly,” says James. “Jenelle tells her things that are going on in her life…For example, [Jenelle says] ‘Amber’s moving out,’ [and Kristin says} ‘Oh, really, I’m going to come film this,’” he continues. “[Kristin] only wants to be there for the drama, they can’t be on her 24/7, because it’s not economical.”
So Jenelle has control over what parts of her life she wants to be shown? “Jenelle lets them know what she wants them to know,” he says.
How much does she get paid? “For 16 and Pregnant, she [made] $75,000. For Teen Mom, she’s making $85,000 a year,” he says. “Barbara got $65,000 and Kieffer got $600,” he adds with a chuckle.
Stay tuned for Part Three of this exclusive interview with James Duffy, where much more is revealed.
