In another CBS 21 exclusive, ‘Breaking Amish’ is one of TLC’s most popular reality shows, but the outrage against it is reaching a fevered pitch.
So much, in fact that CBS 21 has learned that TLC may be trying to silence family members who are speaking out saying the show is fake.
The show ‘Breaking Amish’ is coming under a lot of pressure by people who say it’s fake, and that includes the ex-wife of a cast member. When TLC found out CBS 21 was trying to set up an on-camera interview with her, she said TLC offered her “whatever she wanted” to stay quiet.
Now, she won’t return calls or emails. But, before she cut off contact with us, we spoke to her by phone. Here is what she had to say.
“This show is fake,” stated Naomi Stutzman, who is Jeremiah Raber’s ex-wife.
Those certain words coming from a person who says she would know. Naomi Stutzman is the ex-wife of Jeremiah Raber, a cast member on TLC’s new hit reality show ‘Breaking Amish’.
The network claims Raber and four others are leaving their Amish and Mennonite homes for the first time and traveling to New York City.
Jeremiah is the only cast member not from PA. You can see on his ex-wife’s Facebook page she still lives in Ohio.
By phone, Stutzman told CBS-21 she and Jeremiah were married for six years and have three children and that her ex-husband hasn’t been Amish since he was 18. He’s now in his 30s.
Stutzman also said he owes her $20,000 in child support and TLC has paid part of it, which suggests the network knew about his past.
“The kids and I suffered for years at the hands of this man,” Stutzman told us. “We went through multiple things.”
Stutzman also commented on how the show handles the topic of Amish being shunned and how Jeremiah claims he’s never driven a car.
“It's so untrue. Jeremiah's mom and dad bought him two cars to help him out when he left the Amish. He was never shunned. He was spoiled rotten,” Stutzman explained to us over the phone. “Whenever we needed money for rent he'd go crying to his mom and she would pay our rent. I was Amish and left. I was not shunned. It's different in different communities. The Amish community is upset with him because the stuff is not true in real life.”
She continued, “My family is livid because they took him in and cared for him, now he is doing this? I'm not surprised at him. What surprised me was TLC. My kids and I watch TLC. They are supposed to be a family channel. For them to do this is appalling.”
We did reach out to TLC about Stutzman saying she was offered a buyout and we were given this statement. “This accusation is absurd. TLC has never and will never offer or provide any payment for something like this.”
