Teen Mom star Leah Messer is concerned for youngest daughter Addie as she notices the 11-year-old is "struggling" amid her mom's legal troubles with dad Jeremy Calvert. In a PopCulture.com exclusive sneak peek of Thursday's all-new episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, Leah opens up to sister Victoria Messer about how she's seen Addie get caught in the crossfire of her parents' situation.
In November, police responded to the restaurant at which Leah was employed after Calvert was allegedly harassing her at work. Soon after, Leah filed for a protective order against Addie's father, to whom she was married from 2012 to 2015.
Checking in on her sister in the midst of the difficult time with her ex, Victoria asks if the court has instituted any changes to the custody situation for Addie and her dad. "We're doing all pass-offs between me and Jeremy's mom ... every other weekend," Leah explains. "And she goes to Jeremy's when he's in town, which he's not really ever in town 'cause he moved to Pennsylvania."
Leah Messer on 'Teen Mom: The Next Chapter'
- MTV)She admits, "Ever since the situation with Jeremy happened, Addie has been struggling," explaining that "at first she was angry" and blaming her mom "and then she was sad." Victoria wonders, "Who knows what she's endured or heard [while] not around you." Leah agrees, "I probably would've never went out of my way to make sure she's seen her grandparents if I'd known that stuff was being said ... that I'm being called a c-t, a b-h."
Leah also has noticed Addie asking to go with older sisters Aliannah and Aleeah, both 14, as they spend time at dad Corey Simms' house. "When they leave, she becomes an only child and she gets bored. But there's more to it," Leah reasons. "I think she sees Ali and Aleeah go there consistently."
The mother of three continues, "[Corey is] very present. We'll go to events and Corey's there." Meanwhile, "the last time Jeremy was at an event for Addie [was] third grade," Leah tells her sister. "She's in fifth grade now. You know how that feels to a kid?"
Victoria reasons that Addie must be feeling "a lot of different emotions" and questioning if her dad actually loves her. "It's all these things going on in her little mind that she doesn't even know how to process," she sympathizes. Leah agrees, revealing that she thinks seeing a counselor would help Addie learn some "healthy coping mechanisms" during this tough time. Victoria concurs, "The stuff that Addie is going through, Addie needs to go through it. She needs to face the sadness and the anger in order to get in a good place."