As reality shows go, the Teen Mom franchise pays its stars quite well.
The moms who are still involved with the show are earning salaries in the mid-six figure range, and their fame provides them with numerous opportunities to supplement their incomes.
For the most part, these additional revenue streams consist of sponsored content deals, which allow the moms to earn money simply by posting on Instagram.
Of course, it’s important to be discerning about what sort of companies one does business with.
And that’s a lesson that Maci Bookout keeps learning the hard way.
When it comes to sponsored content, Maci will post pretty much anything that anyone pays her to post.
This is gotten in her trouble in the past, such as when Maci posted misleading links to misleading articles about murdered YouTuber Gabby Petito.
But most of Maci’s problematic clickbait has to do with her Teen Mom castmates.
It seems impossible that she would be hard up for cash, especially since her husband, Taylor McKinney, is also earning big bucks for his work on the show.
Of course, Teen Mom ratings have been slumping for years, and the franchise is entering what could be its final year.
So perhaps Maci is stacking cash while she can, and posting scandalous clickbait is part of her retirement plan.
Whatever the case, she keeps crossing the line and flat-out lying to her fans.
And Maci’s latest desperate cash-grab is so shameful that it’s forcing us to defend Jenelle Evans!
Earlier this week, Maci posted a link reading, “#BreakingNews Jenelle’s daughter Ensley MISSING!!!”
For obvious reasons, her followers flocked to the article to find out the details of what sounded like a terrifying situation.
And they learned that Ensley isn’t missing at all; she just hadn’t appeared on Jenelle’s Instagram page for a few days.
Understandably, Jenelle was rather displeased with the news that one of her former colleagues was cashing in on a fake tragedy involving her youngest child.
“Hey Maci… Fake news: Ensley is NOT missing,” Jenelle wrote on Facebook.
It’s a surprisingly even-keeled response from Jenelle, who’s hair-trigger temper has become the stuff of legend.
Maybe she figures this is an opportunity to demonstrate to her former Teen Mom bosses that she’s grown and matured and would no longer be a total nightmare to work with her if they were ever to re-hire her.
It’s obvious to the rest of the world that Jenelle’s television career is over and done with, but she still seems to be holding out hope.
Whatever the case, going forward, Maci should probably be far more selective about what sort of content she posts on her page.
A lot of stars use the excuse that they sign on with a social media management firm, and this third party posts items to their page without securing personal approval first.
But ultimately, we’re all responsible for the things that appear on our pages.
And Maci might want to start exercising greater control over the BS rumors that she cosigns on her page.
Jenelle Evans Blasts Maci Bookout: Stop Lying! My Daughter Is Not Missing! was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip .