WEtv (2)
Mama June Reflects on ‘Dysfunctional’ Family Dynamic After Daughter Anna’s Death
June “Mama June” Shannon knows that her family has a unique dynamic, and she reflected on her relationships with daughters Jessica “Chubbs” Shannon, Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird and Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson following daughter Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell’s death.
“We are dysfunctional,” Lauryn, 24, told People in an interview published on Thursday, July 4. “But we were saying earlier too though, it is always kind of just been us. So regardless of all the hardships and the arguing and all that stuff, we are all we have left.”
Despite acknowledging their ups and downs over the years, June, 44, insisted that she and her family are “always” there for each other.
“Their fathers haven’t been involved and stuff like that,” she told the outlet. “So if today, [my husband] Justin [Stroud] left me, Josh [Efird] left Pumpkin, Dralin [Carswell] left [Alana], Shyann [McCant] left [Jessica], we would all have to move in the same house with the babies and we would just do life.”
June continued, “This is Justin’s favorite saying, ‘I’ve never seen a family like this.’ We can argue sitting right here and in an hour later we’re calling each other and talking like nothing ever happened.”
June and her daughters reflected on their close bond six months after Anna died at the age of 29 following her cancer battle in December 2023. Her death was documented during the June 28 episode of Mama June: Family Crisis, where June explained her eldest daughter died “peacefully” and had “won her battle” because she was “no longer suffering.”
“We were all just sitting there talking,” Alana, 18, added during the episode while reflecting on her final moments with Anna. “And she took her last breath. I really wish she could have seen me graduate but that’ll be okay because she’s watching over me.”
June, Alana, Lauryn and Jessica, 27, previously revealed how they’re honoring Anna’s memory during an exclusive interview with In Touch in June.
“I would say for me it’s a struggle. I do carry her. She’s actually with me today,” the matriarch said about Anna while showing off a tribute bracelet she got in her eldest daughter’s memory. “We have jewelry and stuff that we carry. Like, she’s always with us. We talk about her all the time.”
Lauryn then pointed out that they also make sure to remember Anna for the sake of her daughters, Kaitlyn and Kylee. June currently has custody of Kaitlyn, 11, while Kylee, 8, is living with her father, Michael Cardwell.
“We have Kaitlyn, too, so [that’s] definitely a consistent reminder in having Kaitlyn,” Lauryn said about Anna. “We wanna keep that alive, too. Cause that is her mama.”
June then shared that Kaitlyn has “actually been doing really good” and she recently started going to public school. “Her grades were a lot better than the little school that she was going to,” she said about her eldest granddaughter.
However, both Lauryn and Alana agreed that Kaitlyn is in “shock” over Anna’s passing.
“We try to sit down and, like, speak with her and everything and we’re like, ‘Life looks …. the picture looks a little bit different now that your mama’s not here,’” June explained. “I don’t think it’s honestly fair that Anna’s not raising Kylee and Kaitlyn. Like, I shouldn’t be doing it and Michael shouldn’t be doing it. It should be Anna. Period point blank. I said it. I’ve always said it to people.”
Have a tip? Send it to us! Email In Touch at contact@intouchweekly.com.
