Mama June Shannon is setting the record straight about her sobriety journey after being accused of recently using drugs.
“I have been straight sober since January 27, 2020. I don’t do drugs, I don’t smoke cigarettes and I don’t even drink,” Shannon, 44, told TMZ on Friday, December 29, denying social media accusations to the contrary.
One day earlier, Shannon fielded questions from TikTok followers during a livestream on Thursday, December 28. After she bent down out of frame and rubbed her nose, social media users accused her of using drugs. Shannon slammed the accusations, noting she was cooking during the TikTok Live.
Shannon further told TMZ that she is required to take weekly drug tests to film her reality TV show Mama June: From Not to Hot, which she has never failed. “That doesn’t keep me clean, I keep me clean,” she stressed to the outlet.
Shannon previously struggled with addiction and was arrested on drug possession charges in Alabama in March 2019. Shannon and then-boyfriend Geno Doak, who was also booked at the time, were indicted the following September but failed to show up for their court hearing. The incident inspired the twosome to go to rehab in January 2020. (Shannon and Doak, 48, eventually split in September 2021. She has moved on with Justin Stroud, whom she married in March 2022.)
“I don’t have a lot. I’m trying to rebuild myself financially. I went to rehab with a $1.75 to my name,” Shannon exclusively told Us Weekly in March 2021, noting that she was 14 months sober. “I’m able to pay my rent. I’m able to pay my light bill and able to do that and have just a little bit of money saved up. My goal is to live day by day. I would like to get some of this weight off of me and, you know, eventually, it will happen, but my sobriety and mending my relationships with the kids [are what] I’m getting back into.”
Shannon is a mother of four. She welcomed daughters Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell, who died at age 29 earlier this month, and Jessica Shannon, 27, with ex David Dunn, Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird, 23, with ex Michael Anthony Ford and Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, 18, with ex Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson.
Mama June and her three youngest daughters announced on December 10 that Anna had died after battling stage IV cancer.
“With the breaking heart, we are announcing that [Anna] is no longer with us,” Mama June wrote in an Instagram statement at the time. “She passed away in my home last night peacefully at 11:12 PM. She gave one hell of a fight for 10 months she passed away with her family around her like she won’t and we will be updating y’all with more information as we get it today. We love y’all and continued prayers and thoughts for our family doing this difficult time.”
In addition to her mom and siblings, Anna is survived by daughters Kaitlyn, 11, and Kylee, 8.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
