Mama June Shannon has been ‘straight sober’ for three years
Mama June Shannon sets the record straight about her sobriety journey after being accused of recently using drugs.
“I have been sober since January 27, 2020. I don’t do drugs, I don’t smoke cigarettes and I don’t even drink,” said 44-year-old Shannon TMZ on Friday, December 29, with social media allegations denying the contrary.
A day earlier, Shannon answered questions from TikTok followers during a livestream on Thursday, December 28. After she bent down and rubbed her nose off-screen, social media users accused her of drug use. Shannon denounced the accusations and noted that she was cooking during the TikTok Live.
Shannon further told TMZ that she has to undergo weekly drug tests in order to film her reality TV show Mama June: from not to hot, which she has never failed to do. “That doesn’t keep me clean, I keep myself clean,” she emphasized to the outlet.
Shannon previously struggled with addiction and was arrested in Alabama for drug possession in March 2019. Shannon and then boyfriend Gen. Doak, who was also booked at the time, was charged the following September but failed to show up for their court hearing. The incident inspired the pair to enter rehab in January 2020. (Shannon and Doak, 48, eventually split in September 2021. She has moved on Justin Stroudwhom she married in March 2022.)
Mama June Shannon
Noel Vasquez/Getty Images“I don’t have much. I’m trying to rebuild myself financially. I went to rehab with $1.75 to my name,” Shannon shared exclusively We weekly in March 2021, noting that she had been sober for 14 months. “I can pay my rent. I can pay my light bill and do that and have only a little bit of money saved. 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 repairing my relationship with the kids [are what] I’m going back in.”
Shannon is a mother of four children. She welcomed daughters Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell, who died earlier this month at the age of 29 Jessica Shannon27, with ex David Dunn, Lauryn ‘Pumpkin’ Efird23, with ex Michael Anthony Ford And Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson18, with e.g Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson.
Mama June and her three youngest daughters announced on December 10 that Anna had passed away after battling stage IV cancer.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce this [Anna] is no longer with us,” Mama June wrote in an Instagram statement at the time. “She passed away peacefully at my home last night at 11:12 p.m. She fought really hard for 10 months. She died with her family around her as if she wouldn’t and we will update you all with more information as we get it today. We love you all and continue to pray and think for our family as they go through this difficult time.”
In addition to her mother and siblings, Anna is also survived by daughters Kaitlyn, 11, and Kylee, 8.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please reach out National Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Hotline (SAMHSA). at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).