Amber Portwood has neither a job with MTV nor children to attend to right now. Instead of filming and childrearing, she’s been filling her days with TikTok. Portwood’s return to TikTok has been filled with strange lives, emotional outbursts, and apparently fibs. During a recent TikTok appearance, Amber Portwood alleged she had enlisted in the United States Marine Corps years ago. Followers were quick to call her out on the tale. It was easy enough to call her out, too. Portwood discussed the Marine Corps in her 2022 memoir, So, You’re Crazy Too?.

Amber Portwood is being accused of ‘stolen valor’ after a rambling TikTok Live event

Amber Portwood is back on TikTok, and she’s not holding back. During a recent appearance, Portwood claimed she was prepped and ready to join the United States Marine Corps because she wanted to “fight” for people. Portwood went on a rambling tirade about her plans to join the military. She even discussed her family’s fears about it, and the reason why it never happened.

Portwood claimed she was ready to be “shipped out,” but there was “one thing” that the military couldn’t get sorted out. She didn’t elaborate on what that one thing was. Still;, she insisted it didn’t allow her to enlist. Followers in the comments section quickly called her out for lying about enlisting in the military. Some called her out for “stolen valor,” prompting Portwood to explain why she never actually enlisted. Before moving on to new topics, she said, “I was in that office, I signed— I did everything. They just couldn’t get one thing down, and that’s the only reason I couldn’t go.”

She told a much different story in her book

After Portwood’s lofty claims about the Marines, fans and followers dug in to find any reference to the military. As it turns out, the controversial reality TV star did mention a potential plan to join the Marines in her book, So, You’re Crazy Too?, but it was hardly the altruistic plan she promoted on TikTok. She never actually signed up, and she certainly wasn’t close to being “shipped out.”

The Ashley Reality Roundup Group dug through the book and found a chapter all about Portwood’s experience at a recruiter’s office. Portwood claims she attempted to sign up for the military as a way to “cure” her drug addiction and evade drug court. She alleges she went down to sign up but was turned away when a clerk informed her that her legal troubles wouldn’t allow her to proceed. She never signed up and certainly didn’t plan for a career in the military.

In her book, she wrote, “Before drug court officially began, my mom took me to the place where they did intake for the military, asked for forms to fill out to enlist in the Marines, and the woman at the front desk laughed at us.” Portwood went on to say she left the office and never followed up. The experience left her opting for drug court and, eventually, prison instead.

Teen Mom fans have followed Portwood’s complicated journey since 2009, when she welcomed her daughter, Leah Shirley, with then-fiance Gary Shirley. She appeared on Teen Mom for many seasons, save for a stint in prison. She never mentioned the military, plans to join, or an interest in a career in the armed forces.