‘Mama June’ Shannon has admitted she spent $35,000 of her daughter Alana ‘Honey Boo Boo’ Thompson’s money on “living expenses” including manicures and household bills – while continuing to ignore criticism for not contributing to her study fund.
The television personality, 44, has come under fire in recent episodes of Mama June: Family Crisis for not helping her youngest child finance her nursing degree, and in tonight’s finale she is confronted with the fact that she is Alana’s spent income from dancing. With The Stars: Juniors.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com ahead of the episode, June revealed how she managed to burn through all the money Alana received for taking part in the ABC competition show in 2018, in which she came eighth.
She also gloated that she doesn’t legally have to pay back the staggering amount – even going so far as to claim that 18-year-old Alana has more than six figures in a savings account that she doesn’t want to put into herself .
‘Mama June’ Shannon has admitted to spending $35,000 of her daughter Alana ‘Honey Boo Boo’ Thompson’s money
Alana discovered that one of her savings accounts had been significantly drained, despite having worked in entertainment for over a decade
June started by insisting she had only spent Alana’s Dancing With The Stars salary and not stolen her entire savings, saying: ‘I haven’t spent twelve years of money. It was only from one show [Dancing With The Stars].
“Alana has money in a Coogan account [a special blocked trust fund account for child stars] that she chooses not to touch – and that is reflected in the six figures. It seems like over $200,000.
“On next Friday’s episode, hopefully people will see that… they’ll see that it wasn’t six figures spent. She has no money. She’s not broke.’
Alana’s total compensation for Dancing With The Stars was $60,000, but after California taxes, June claimed all that was left was $35,000.
“It’s actually only $30,000,” she continued. ‘That’s not a lot of money. That paid the bills, it went through whatever she needed, whether it was getting her nails done or her eyelashes done or whatever it was.
‘We also stayed in California in 2018 when she was on Dancing With The Stars and that was quite expensive.
‘Unfortunately I didn’t have much money myself. I used that money to reinvest in her and support us during that time because we stayed in California for almost a month after she left Dancing With The Stars.
‘So that’s the only money that matters. It’s not hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was just the money from that one show, and I put the recommended amount, which was 20%, into her savings.
Alana earned $60,000 after competing on Dancing With The Stars: Juniors in 2018 and placing eighth
June revealed that this amount was $35,000 after taxes, and she spent it all
“And you know, this may sound rude, but legally I don’t have to pay or give any money back.”
June claimed she managed to reach a settlement with Alana over the missing funds – and avoided the involvement of lawyers.
“We chose to go a different route just to squash everything and move on as a family,” she said.
As for her relationship with Alana, June said that although they are on speaking terms, they are still working on their issues.
“We’re still working on things,” she said. ‘Just like any family, you experience something sometimes and you like to find out.’
June’s insight comes when she is rudely rejected after she and her husband Justin surprise Alana in Colorado in scenes airing Friday.
In the upcoming episode, Alana says, “I thought I made it very clear to Mom not to visit me in Colorado because I’m still mad at her for stealing my money.
“I feel like mommy is just trying to make up for her mistake right now, but she’s so annoying because I didn’t want her here.”
Speaking to DailyMail.com, June revealed that she is not legally required to pay her daughter back
June said she and Alana found a way to overcome the theft without court intervention
June gave an update on their relationship and said they are still working through their issues
In previous episodes of Mama June: Family Crisis, Mama June was confronted by Alana about her missing money.
The matriarch defended the depleted money, telling her daughter, “I can’t help it if there isn’t more money.
‘Taxes were automatically abolished, 50%.’
June had previously refused to contribute to Alana’s college fund, instead focusing her assets on herself.
“I’m still in the process of rebuilding my life, so I chose to give her some tough love and say, ‘No, I’m not going to pay for college,'” she explained.
“I want her to see the bigger picture.”
Alana expressed her dismay at the situation, saying, “Not even with a dollar.
‘Maybe she thinks she’ll pay for that [her husband] Justin’s chains or something are more important than giving it to me for college.
“She’s stingy when it comes to money.”