World War III has broken out on Facebook and it’s between the ex-Amish and fans of TLC’s Breaking Amish. Almost every time a fan comments on the Breaking Amish Facebook page, one or more members of the large ex-Amish community on Facebook retorts with a vicious comment about the show or one of the cast members.
Why? It’s because Breaking Amish appears to be largely staged and scripted and its cast members left the Amish a long time ago. This would be fine if the show was promoted as such but most people have the false assumption that it is real and that these kids are leaving the Amish for the first time.
Here are some comments by ex-Amish people on the Breaking Amish Facebook page: (UPDATE: The Official Breaking Amish fanpage appears to be gone as of Sept. 12, 2012)
“This show is seriously messed up!!! It’s fake as it could ever get!! I helped Abe get out of a rut when he left the Amish got him a job even Andy worked with me a couple days and I helped Andy out with a car…”
“how cute. your show is so damn fake. they havent been amish for years. and yeah i know them and i know when you filmed its not a block from my house. FYI this is rebecca abe and their kid. Rebecca and Abe got together when Rebecca was married to Rufus who both left the amish years ago. Mystery solved, lies exposed fake freaking show. And if you are so shunned why do I see you at your parents house all the time?!”
“I agree with <person above>! I had to dvr the show. Plan on watching it tonight. But after seeing bits and pieces last week on the today show I figured it would be fake. My husband used to be amish and I knew that Abe and Rebecca had not been amish for some time and on the today show they made it sound as if they were just now leaving the amish.”
“That the truth alot of the stuff thay said was not the truth”
“jeremiah is like 32. if he was really living the amish life before this show he would have joined the amish church way back when he was 18 to 20 not 32 and divorced. these shows p**s me off because the only reason they can get away with the lies about the amish and the way they portray them is because true amish ppl wont be watching the show. my husband comes from the amish community and has a wonderful family that I consider my own. I am very protective of the Amish because they have accepted me the way I am and have helped make my life so much better. Every Amish community is diff but the one my husband comes from only shuns u if u join church and then leave. They do this because they feel when u join church u are making a commitment to God to live ur life this way and when u leave after doing this it is like breaking ur promise and lying to God”
“jolene, u dont have 2 feel sorry at all. these adults left on their own. I know some of these youth personally & the whole show is a big fib. its all about the $$$$”
“yea, very hard. but, bahaha, fake as crap..” <referring to Jeremiah separating from his “girlfriend”>
“sorry guys but I think the only thing hard for him in this scene is keeping a straight face. he does have a gf but this is def not her. his gf is english and always has been.” <referring to Jeremiah separating from his “girlfriend”>
“Well guys i hate to BREAK IT to you this is his payed movie girlfriend it is staged .I grew up neighbors to him he left the Amish back in like 04 might have been before even i know his parents and siblings.They are nice and caring people.I grew up Amish to i left when i was 18 my dad is a pastor and i can go and visit then when i please so not all Amish are like what they say they are.”
“And iva isn’t Amish either anymore she left awhile back…
And I don’t miss it myself….”
“Fake! He’s divorced with 3 kids. Hasn’t been Amish for at least 10 yrs!”
“I’ve known him since before he left and the whole thing is scripted. The HYSTERICAL part is people believing Reality TV is real!!!”
“Breaking Amish what a joke Jeremiah has not been Amish for at least 14 years I know this because he was my roommate for a year and a half he has 3 children that he don’t take care of and he claims all he left was a girlfriend. If you want to know who Jeremiah raber really is search public records for Holmes and tuscarawas county Ohio…“
“By the way he hasn’t been Amish for 20 yrs. he was English and married… You ppl are stupid for watching this crap!”
I can’t attest to the accuracy of all the comments above but the ones I’ve listed are just a small portion of the emotionally-laden comments you can find on Facebook and other sites by ex-Amish. There are few things that will cause a lot of ex-Amish to come out of the woodwork, but lying about the Amish is one of them.
UPDATE (Sept. 12, 2012): A new moderated Facebook community page has gone up where people familiar with the show or its cast are posting proof of the show’s deception. See Breaking Amish the Truth
Here’s a recap of what we do know:
Jeremiah is divorced, has 3 kids, and hasn’t been Amish for years.
I also have reason to believe that Abe and Rebecca are dating or married, have a child together, and have not been Amish for a long time. As soon as I can dig up proof of these allegations, I will post it. So far, I’ve found Facebook pages for Andy (Abe’s brother) and the two Bens (cousins of Rebecca). On those pages are pictures which indicate that these guys haven’t been Amish for some time.
Since posting about Breaking Amish, the views for my blog have jumped about 5000% so I guess these revelations are getting out to people. I see no reason to stop digging…
X Amish Atheist 
http://mugshots.com/US-Counties/Kentucky/Barren-County-KY/Abe-C-Schmucker.20500504/details/
Not necessarily creditable but looks like the same guy
Awesome find! I know the last name (Schmucker) is correct and I think it does look like Abe.
Brother Andy? http://mugshots.com/US-Counties/Kentucky/Barren-County-KY/Andrew-C-Schmucker.20500518/details/
Brother Andy again?
http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CourtSummaryReport.ashx?docketNumber=CP-33-CR-0000120-2012
http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CPReport.ashx?docketNumber=CP-33-CR-0000120-2012
http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CourtSummaryReport.ashx?docketNumber=CP-33-MD-0000209-2011
http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CPReport.ashx?docketNumber=CP-33-MD-0000209-2011
Great find for sure!! and where did he get all that hair?? was he much younger? and the same with his bro ?? Wow i’m really surprised to think that TLC is trying to bring us a bunch of lies……thanks for all the info xamish and posters..
Different haircut style. The Amish-style haircut, since they just cut a straight line with scissors, hides a receding hairline pretty well.
I think these shows and networks know they are going to be called out (how could they not know) but ultimately don’t care because no matter what, there is going to be enough people that continue to watch it where the show still turns a profit.
I think TLC was counting on playing into stereotypes about the Amish and the fact that most people know very little about them. Also, most Amish would never actually see the show and even those that heard about it secondhand would never publicly speak out against it. What they didn’t count on was that the ex-Amish community would call them out on it so vocally and that unofficial spokesmen for the Amish (like Brad Igou in Lancaster County) would take up the cause. But in general I think you’re right: as long as people are watching, TLC doesn’t care.
your crazy thats not even Abes brother its his cousin…notice it says c for chester abes fathers name starts with a L get your facts before you post crap like this…and then u have nerve to say the show is lies well so is this geez get a life
So you’re saying that Abe has a cousin Abe that looks just like him and Andy has a cousin Andrew that looks just like him, and the cousins are brothers? I don’t find that statistically probable.
no what Im saying is that abes dad is a twin….Andrew is Chesters son Abe is the other twins son making them cousins not brothers like I told you Abes dads name starts with a L not a C by the way Andrew does not have a middle name for some reason the used his dads name instead of just his initial C…..Abe does have a brother Andrew to but this is not him its their cousin
I’m a little confused. One person commented with a link to a Kentucky mugshot of Abe C. Schmucker. Then I commented with a mugshot of Andrew C. Schmucker. Both arrests happened the same time and for the same reason and these guys look like Abe and Andy from the show. Then I also found arrest records in PA for Andrew Chester Schmucker and figured this might be the same Andrew C. Schmucker but there aren’t pictures so I’m not sure. Are you saying the Andrew Chester Schmucker (from the PA arrest records) is actually a cousin or are you saying the Andrew C. Schmucker (from the KY mugshot) is a cousin, or both? What of the mugshot of Abe C. Schmucker? Why is his middle initial “C”? Are you saying he’s a cousin too?
Just watched. Looks like they all left on the same day time and place. Because the sky for everyone was overcast.. another fake show
Not even knowing any of this, or anything about the Amish life (I was born and raised in Las Vegas) it was very obvious that this show was scripted. It seemed that these people had at one time been Amish or Mennonite, but had left previous to the show. Take Rebecca saying “oh my God” on the first episode. No matter how badly you want to leave, you still would feel
It’s a sin to say that. Also, they are sucking down coffee and rockstar like nothing. Saying the word “dude”? I doubt that is a slang word they just happen to pick up in the school yard.
It was so obvious, it makes me think that television producers either don’t care, or think the American public are just that dumb….
This show is 100% scripted, BUT. . . actually, “sucking down coffee and rock star” and saying “dude” has nothing to do with being amish. Even the observant amish all shop at aldi, costco and walmart in lancaster everyday, interact with tourists and neighbors at the markets, and most of them live next door to “English”, anyway. Everyone in Lancaster knows Amish people and–it is generally considered a culture (or a smell–think BO and horse manure) rather than a religion by English people around here. A lot of “Amish” kids (read: young adults) who haven’t joined the church mix with english kids at clubs and parties (including a lot where the main event is shooting up heroin or sleeping with anyone who’s available in the barn–no english are allowed in the house at these parties, though). A lot of young people leave without ever joining the church. most amish have lots of non-amish siblings, or even cousins whose parents left before joining the church. Also, there are many, many sects with different levels of freedom. Many mennonite groups are actually similar to lutherans. The common thread is their small gene pool. The amish are all a bit inbred (there was a very small base group–I think it’s about 13 original families. Most have a “look” about them–kind of like Polygamist groups.
http://www.exploretalent.com/contestants/best-smile-contest-august-2010-42/kate-stoltzfus-kate-33724
Photo of Kate from the show
Photo is from 2010
Great find! I believe, this evidence will play a part in my next post.
well this is all fascinating, I never watch reality tv but this one seemed interesting, Ive never met any Amish or Mennonite people to be honest i was a bit disappointed at first but now im relieved to hear its all fake, since Id hate to think the way they were acting is how people would react to being in a big city for the first time…spitting on people from the hotel penthouse? i mean seriously, its just a failure of imagination to be in a skyscraper for the first time and thats the most fun thing you can think of doing…i wouldnt have done that when I was 5 years old and going to the empire state building for the first time. i’m kind of glad to see that this is not really how amish people would react to being in a big city.
Reblogged this on Two Winey Bitches: Put a cork in it. and commented:
Well kiddies, while I am (I think) smart enough to figure that most reality TV is not so much real, I wasn’t smart enough to realize that Breaking Amish was beyond fake. I mean I knew TLC was creating situations like going to Times Square still wearing their traditional garb, but I didn’t realize none of the “kids” are actually still Amish … and haven’t been for a while. That being said, here’s a blog that exposes the truth. So, no more Breaking Amish for me. Color me duped…
You could tell this show was fake from the beginning. First off Abe’s mom seems quite comfortable on camera and that def is not typical for the Amosh people. Also the attitudes if the cast members show you they have not lived Amish for quite a while. You only need half a brain cell to figure out this show is completely staged.
I remember seeing Kate on ANTM
Don’t hate us because we watch what we believe to be reality, blame/hate TLC for showing this and lying about it. They are no longer the learning channel but a channel for liars and b/s staged shows. I have no faith in TLC for Breaking Amish or Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, by the way is the worst show ever, so I may watch to see the outcome but I do not believe. I believe what you say above and I do apologize for any humiliation this channel may have put you threw. Rebecca and Abe seem like a very nice couple and I am sure the reason all of these players have done this is not for the love of God, but for there love of money and survival.
Examples like this is why they changed their name from The Learning Channel to TLC(Telling Lies Constantly).
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