MTV host Nessa Diab confronted “Teen Mom 2” star Jenelle Evans about social media posts criticizing Colin Kaepernick and his protest against racial injustice.
Diab, who hosts a nationally syndicated radio show, is dating Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who began protesting police brutality and racial injustice at NFL games in 2016 by first sitting and then kneeling during the national anthem.
During Monday’s reunion segment of MTV’s “Teen Mom 2,” Diab took up the issue directly with Evans. “You posted hateful comments on social media about my family, about my man Colin Kaepernick,” she said.
Evans immediately denied criticizing Kaepernick, even as one of her apparent posts appeared onscreen. The message criticized Nike for choosing Kaepernick as the face of its 30th anniversary “Just do it” campaign last year.
“Let’s choose the man that kneels at our flag,” the post read. “YOU’RE WRONG.”
“Jenelle, this is an open, healthy conversation that I would like to have with you,” Diab said during the taping. “Please understand something: My man uses his platform to protest systemic oppression in this country, specifically police brutality against black people.”
Diab continued, “Men, women and children are dying, wrongfully dying, and people who are doing this are not being held accountable. That is the issue. It has nothing to do with military men, military women.”
A visibly emotional Evans replied, “I don’t know anything about your husband, I swear to God.”
The reality star then stood up and exited the area.
“This is about my storyline, and you want to bring up your issues,” Evans added.
Later in the segment, another screenshot from Evans’ social media account appeared onscreen, apparently mocking Kaepernick for not being signed to an NFL team after the 2016 season.
A representative for Evans did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Kaepernick founded Know Your Rights Camp to teach young people how to interact with law enforcement. He announced last year that he had completed his pledge of donating $1 million of his salary to social justice organizations.
Evans joined MTV’s “16 & Pregnant” nearly a decade ago. She was fired from “Teen Mom 2” earlier this month after it was reported her husband, David Eason, killed their family dog.
MTV ended its relationship with Eason last year, citing his homophobic and transphobic social media comments. Eason was also widely criticized last year when he shared photos on Instagram of himself posing with the Confederate flag, a symbol deeply associated with racism.