Alana ‘Honey Boo Boo’ Thompson Reveals Mama June Never Said ‘Sorry’ for Stealing $35K ‘DWTS’ Winnings

Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson is speaking out after her mother, June “Mama June” Shannon, took $35,000 of her Dancing With the Stars earnings at the height of her cocaine addiction.

“There was no, ‘I’m sorry,’” Alana, 19, told People in an interview published on Tuesday, May 13, ahead of the premiere of her Lifetime biopic, I Was Honey Boo Boo on May 17.

Mama June, 45, was accused of stealing thousands of dollars from her daughter’s Coogan account, which was set to hold the funds Alana earned as a child actor. The now-college student revealed her mother recently returned the $35,000 she earned from her 2018 stint on Dancing With the Stars, but claimed she never saw any money from her years from her self-titled reality TV series, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

The reality TV star admitted that forgiving Mama June was “hard,” but ultimately acknowledged, “At the end of the day, she’s still my mom.”

“When she was bad in her addiction I just kept thinking about the day she’d recover,” Alana told the outlet of her mother, who has been sober for more than five years. “We’re going pretty good. Hopefully, it lasts. I just no longer have any expectations for her.”

The missing money was a major storyline on season 6 of the family’s WeTV reality TV show, Mama June: Family Crisis, after Alana and her sister Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird discovered the Toddlers and Tiaras alum only had $33,000 in her Coogan account.

“There should at least be six figures in that account!” Alana said in a confessional during a March 2024 episode. “Something’s not adding up. My money is somewhere. It needs to be found right now, ASAP. Because this is not gonna work.” The former child beauty pageant contestant believed she had at least “six figures,” as she’s appeared on reality TV since the age of 6.

Lauryn, 25, and Alana eventually confronted their mother during the series. However, June claimed she didn’t take it. “I can’t help that there’s not more money,” she responded. “Taxes were took out automatically – 50 percent.” Lauryn later slammed her and said that the taxes were nowhere near that high.

June then claimed she used some of the money to pay for Alana’s things when she was younger. “You have been taking care of your own self, paying your own bills since you were the age of 12,” June said. “And you’ve been doing a good job of it.”

The matriarch also added Alana should be “grateful” as $33,000 was “more than most 18-year-olds start off their life with.”

One month later, June told ET that her daughter earned $60,000 for appearing on DWTS Juniors, although she only ended up with roughly $35,000 after California state taxes and Georgia state taxes were taken out. The family matriarch said she deposited 20 percent into Alana’s Coogan account, along with other money from their joint appearance on The Masked Singer season 6.

“I didn’t really steal any money,” June told the outlet.

I Was Honey Boo Boo premieres Saturday, May 17, at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.