UPDATE: After TLC announced on Friday, May 22, that the network is pulling upcoming episodes of the show, Mama June was still not satisfied. “I feel cheated still,” she told ET. “They kept filming the show, but as soon as rumors started they cancelled [Here Comes Honey Boo Boo] quick… If they are not completely cancelled, I will be pissed and I do have grounds for going after them, for canceling us and wrongfully firing us and not them.”
The original story continues below…
Mama June Shannon railed against TLC and the Duggar family on Thursday, May 21, after the network continued to air 19 Kids and Counting amidst allegations that Josh Duggar had molested five girls — including, possibly, some of his sisters — back in 2002.
Shannon, whose popular reality show was canceled last October in the wake of a report that she was dating a convicted child molester, told TMZ late Thursday night that she wanted to sue TLC for keeping 19 Kids and Counting on air. She was especially peeved after TLC promptly canceled her show after it was revealed that she was once again romantically entwined with her ex, Mark McDaniel, who repeatedly molested Shannon’s oldest daughter Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell when she was 8 years old.
Shannon told TMZ that she wanted to sue TLC for its “blatantly unfair and inconsistent treatment.” The mother of four to Anna, 20, Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, 9, Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon, 14, and Jessica “Chubbs” Shannon, 18, said McDaniel never appeared on her show, but Josh was one of the breakout stars of the Duggar family’s reality series.
The former Here Comes Honey Boo Boo matriarch also took to Twitter to express her outrage.
But I wasn’t dating one and no they r going to not cancel them it’s f****ed up @TLC
— Mama June (@MamaJune_BooBoo) May 22, 2015
Exactly
— Mama June (@MamaJune_BooBoo) May 22, 2015
@hellojonello exactly
— Mama June (@MamaJune_BooBoo) May 22, 2015
Josh, 27, released a statement on Thursday via Facebook addressing reports of the alleged molestations from when he was 14 years old. “Twelve years ago, as a young teenager, I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends,” he said. “I would do anything to go back to those teen years and take different actions. I sought forgiveness from those I had wronged and asked Christ to forgive me and come into my life. In my life today, I am so very thankful for God’s grace, mercy and redemption.”
Like their son, both Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar were equally repentant and forthcoming. “Back 12 years ago our family went through one of the most difficult times of our lives. When Josh was a young teenager, he made some very bad mistakes and we were shocked. We had tried to teach him right from wrong. That dark and difficult time caused us to seek God like never before,” they said. “We pray that as people watch our lives they see that we are not a perfect family. We have challenges and struggles everyday. It is one of the reasons we treasure our faith so much because God’s kindness and goodness and forgiveness are extended to us — even though we are so undeserving. We hope somehow the story of our journey — the good times and the difficult times — cause you to see the kindness of God and learn that He can bring you through anything.”
Shannon, however, was not convinced. “I read that the Duggar family said, this happening with their son brought them closer to God and each other,” she sniped to TMZ on Thursday. “So they’re saying it’s ok to have family touch time? Hell no.”
Her tone against TLC was very different from her sentiments last fall when she discussed Honey Boo Boo‘s cancellation with Dr. Phil.
“I have nothing bad to say about TLC,” Shannon told the psychiatric expert last November. “They have been good to me. They still are very good to me. You know the rumor is that I was not going get paid with the show, but I did get paid through whatever was owed to me through the show. My kids got paid in their trust funds. Sugar Bear got paid. Everybody got paid that was owed from the show. They’re still taking care of the girls today with tutoring. Which I’m very, very grateful for. They’re taking care of some other things for the girls, I’m very, very grateful for. And I’m grateful for the experience.”
