MTV fires ‘Teen Mom’ star after he compares gay people to ‘fleas’
David Eason has been axed with immediate effect
An MTV reality TV star has been fired after posting a series of homophobic tweets during a Twitter rant.
David Eason was axed from MTV’s Teen Mom 2, a reality series following a group of teenage mothers, after he compared LGBT people to fleas.
According to People, his tirade began over a discussion on gun control in the wake of the Parkland school shooting in Florida last week.
Eason tweeted a news story about a proposed bill to allow people to carry concealed weapons in schools in South Carolina and wrote: “It only makes sense to protect our kids the proper way… the only way we know how.”
A follower confronted Eason about his views and suggested that education and “intentional parenting” were better ways to protect children. The user also told Eason to stop “glorifying assault rifles” and to teach his children “how to solve problems without calling people names”.
The comments led Eason to lash out at the user and LGBT parents. He wrote: “And just what makes you think you have the right to tell me how to be a parent? Because you think you know me? Lmao why don’t you go tell the homo and transgender parents to start teaching their kids better morals? Oh I forgot that’s supposed to be normal.”
Another user asked Eason if he was going to teach his children to “hate gay and transgender people.” Eason replied: “No, I’m going to teach them not to associate with them or be that way” before he added: “If you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas.”
Soon after Eason made the comments, Teen Mom 2 fans protested against his involvement in the show which led MTV to fire the star.
In a statement issued to People yesterday (February 20), MTV said: “David Eason’s personal comments do not reflect the views of MTV. With six weeks left of production on Teen Mom 2, effective immediately, we are ending our relationship with him.”
Eason’s Twitter account has since been suspended, but screenshots of the alleged tweets are still circulating on social media.
Meanwhile, Eason’s wife Jenelle Evans issued a statement to TMZ defending him.
She claimed Eason didn’t understand “how offensive people would get or how Twitter works”. Evans also insisted that he “doesn’t hate people from the LGBT community” as they had gay friends and had attended parties with LGBT people where Eason “didn’t act in any type of way.”
She added: “We are sorry for the comments that were made.”