Bar Smith’s relationship with estranged wife Ashley Jones is being put under the microscope after his latest arrest.
The Teen Mom star was arrested in Nevada on Sunday, July 7, and charged with two felonies including second-degree kidnapping and coercion domestic violence with the threat of or using physical force. It’s unclear who the alleged victim was and why Smith, 27, was in Nevada.
When Teen Mom: The Next Chapter kicked off a brand-new season in May, Jones, 27, revealed that she was contemplating a divorce from Smith after two years of marriage.
“My trust was broken and it’s a strange feeling,” Jones explained in the season premiere. “With Bar, I just feel like I deserved unwavering support. This relationship is not worth it and I don’t have the energy.”
According to Jones, Smith was residing in California after being sentenced to 24 months on probation for a separate case. As a result, he was unable to travel to Nevada where Jones and their 5-year-old daughter Holly reside.
While living apart, Jones said she “started to feel something was off.” After checking phone records, she discovered Smith was allegedly having three-hour conversations with a “friend.”
“I believe — whether it was emotional or physical — it was some relationship that was going on for multiple months behind my back,” she said. “I classify that as cheating.”
In a separate conversation with her sister Chris, Jones said divorce was being “highly considered.”
“I love Bar and everybody knows that,” she said. “It’s very exhausting. I don’t know how everything is going to play out. Sometimes these things don’t play out nicely. At the end of the day, I want to be as amicable as possible.”
Jones and Smith made their reality TV debut on the MTV series Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant in March 2018. While the couple was legally married in January 2022, things took a turn one year later when Jones wrote via X that she was single.
Smith seemingly confirmed a breakup as well when he wrote via Instagram, “I have had amazing times and learned so many things from Ashley. I will forever be grateful for everything but unfortunately, we have come to unforeseen issues and people grow apart There is no specific blame being placed on either end but we had both respectfully agreed to part ways [and] continue with life unfortunately without each other I will always be there when I’m needed and so will she, but the time to separate has come.”
In a recent discussion with her daughter, Jones made it clear that she wants to remain the best mother to her child.
“No matter what’s going on between me and your dad — whether he’s here all the time or not here all the time — we still love you and you are the priority,” she said in a Teen Mom scene from May.
Teen Mom: The Next Chapter airs Thursday nights on MTV at 8 p.m. ET.
