EXCLUSIVE Mama June shrugs off calls for her to be axed from reality TV after stealing daughter Alana's money
Mama June Shannon has shrugged off calls for her to stop profiting from reality television after she stole over $30,000 from daughter Alana ' Honey Boo Boo ' Thompson - insisting she now simply ignores all the negative comments.
The matriarch, 45, sparked outrage last year when she admitted she had spent thousands of dollars of Alana's money on living expenses, including manicures and household bills.
Joining DailyMail.com in the studio for an exclusive interview last week, June was asked for her response to those who don't want to see her on their television screens again following the scandal.
Along with her daughter, Alana, 19, she was also pressed on whether she still keeps an eye on the comments from social media users.
'I used to fight like everybody when I first started this adventure years ago, because I wanted to go after everybody that was talking bad, but now I'm just like, okay, it makes my views go up, argue in the comments if you want to,' she said, referring to being trolled.
June, who has a history of substance abuse and was charged with felony possession of drugs in 2019, said that much of the only abuse she is subjected to is due to her past addiction and Alana's money.
'The biggest thing I get is the money, the drugs, or "why is she talking so loud?" I'm like, if you've been around, if y'all want me to get real loud, I'll get real, real loud,' she continued.
Nowadays, June isn't engaging with the trolls.
'I just say, watch the show, thank you for commenting, thank you for putting us on the algorithm, thank ya'll for your concerns,' she added.
'I just answer it and go about my business.'
June argued that she will always be subjected to criticism no matter what she does, and she has reckoned with this.
'If I move a certain way or I say a certain thing… like I know tonight when I go live on start talking after the show airs, they're going to talk about that,' she said.
'They're going to talk about that a year from now. It's just like they keep flogging that horse and you're just like, that's already been dealt with.'
In April 2024, June admitted she spent $30,000 of daughter Alana's money on 'life expenses.'
Alana was so distraught by the news that at the time she stated she was considering legal action against her mother, who had attempted to talk her way out of the confrontation.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com at the time, June said that she had only spent Alana's Dancing with the Stars paycheck and did not steal her entire life's savings.
'I did not spend 12 years of money. It was only from one show [Dancing with the Stars],' she said.
'Alana has money in a Coogan account [a special blocked trust fund account for child stars] that she is choosing not to touch – and it is in the six figures. It's like is over $200,000.'
Alana's total fee for Dancing with the Stars amounted to $60,000, but after Californian taxes, June claimed all that remained was $35,000.
'It is really only $30,000,' she continued. 'That's not a lot of money. We paid the bills with that, it went on whatever her needs were, whether it was getting her nails done or her lashes done or whatever it was.
'We also stayed out in California back in 2018 when she was on Dancing with the Stars and that did cost.
'Unfortunately, I didn't have a ton of money myself. I used that money to reinvest in her and support us through that time because we stayed out in California for almost a month after she got off Dancing with the Stars.
'So that's the only money in question. It's not hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was only the money from the one show, and I put the recommended amount of money, which was 20 percent into her savings.
'And, you know, this may sound rude, but legally I don't have to pay or give any money back.'
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The Guardian
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