NEED TO KNOW
- Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson reveals that she’s never received any of the money she earned as a child star on TLC’s Toddlers & Tiaras and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
- Thompson says that she’s contemplated suing her mother Mama June Shannon for taking most of her earnings, but admits she isn’t sure the law would be on her side
- Thompson is hopeful she’ll be able to earn back some of what she’s lost through future projects and shares how she’s paying for her college tuition
Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson will never know exactly how much of her childhood earnings she’s lost.
The reality star, 19, became an early rising star for her quippy one-liners and rambunctious persona on TLC’s Toddlers & Tiaras. Her undeniable chemistry with the network cameras eventually led to her own spin-off series, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. She says she hasn’t seen a single cent from either show.
“I never had gotten all the money. I have never, ever received the Here Comes Honey Boo Boo money. I’ve never seen it. Never ever even heard of it, if I’m being completely honest. I don’t know what happened to it,” Alana tells PEOPLE.
Last season on Mama June: Family Crisis, viewers saw Alana and her mother Mama June Shannon go head-to-head after Mama June confessed to taking funds out of Alana’s Coogan account, a trust where parents of child stars are legally required to deposit a percentage of their earnings.
The teen claims Mama June, who sold their home and other belongings at the height of her addiction, took $35,000 of her earnings for appearing on Dancing With the Stars in 2019.
“I let my mama drag me through a lot of s—, but I think my breaking point was when she stole my money,” Alana says.
Only recently did Mama June return it, but “there was no ‘I’m sorry,’” says Alana, who adds only $10,000 was saved in her Coogan account.
After Thompson and her sister Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird asked Shannon about her earnings to pay for her college education, they discovered that their mother intentionally deposited the bare minimum she was legally required to and her account only had a balance of $10,000 after countless years on television.
Says Mama June: “I can’t really talk about [the money]. That’s part of this season,” referencing Family Crisis, which returns May 30.
In response to other disparaging claims about her in the Lifetime biopic, “I don’t remember who that person was,” she says, “because I’ve worked so much on myself.”
To this day, Thompson admits she doesn’t know exactly how much she’s earned over the years.
“It was just so long ago,” she adds. “At that time, Mama always just stressed to us like, ‘Oh, I’m setting you up for your future. You have Coogan accounts.’ And it’s like, ‘Where are the Coogan accounts now?'”
“I thought about suing her at one point, but I just know that I wouldn’t probably get anything out of the end of the bargain because by law, she did what was right,” Thompson reveals. “By law, she at least put 20 percent in my account. And the other 80, she said that she used to take care of me. So the law, I feel like wouldn’t see really a problem with what she did, I guess.”
Despite her missing funds, the television personality hasn’t let anything stop her from pursing higher education. She’s currently a nursing student at Regis University in Colorado. She’s also reclaiming her own story in Lifetime’s I Was Honey Boo Boo.
Thompson narrates the film as she look back at her days of child stardom. Per the official logline, the movie offers a glimpse into what went on behind the scenes, revealing how her on-stage persona “concealed the harsh reality of constant criticism and family struggles, particularly with her mother, Mama June.”
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Thompson tells PEOPLE that the Lifetime movie has “helped a lot” with paying her college tuition.
“I’m hoping that there’s more work coming for me in the future, but with this movie plus filming on the [Mama June: Family Crisis] show, I’ve just kind of been saving and making sure that I don’t get to the end of my pot,” she says.
She reveals that her sister Pumpkin set up a second Coogan account in Los Angeles when she received custody of her in June 2022. Her earnings from the We TV reality show have been funneled into the account.
“I’ve yet to even go and get that, if I’m being honest, because I’m in the mindset of — if I don’t actually need it, I might as well just let it save up,” Alana says. “And when I do actually need it, it’ll be there for me.”
Mama June: Family Crisis returns May 30 on We TV.
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