A family crisis sized feud erupted on social media Monday when Mama June Shannon & Co. exchanged words, accusations and insults with Michael Cardwell’s wife, London Smith, regarding the ongoing conflict involving Kaitlyn and Kylee– the daughters of June’s eldest child, Anna Cardwell, who died in 2023 at the age of 29.
As fans of Mama June: Family Crisis know, following Anna’s death, Kylee was sent to live with her father, Michael, while June was awarded custody of Kaitlyn in September 2024 following a custody battle with Michael– whom both Kaitlyn and Anna once considered as Kaitlyn’s father, despite the two not being biologically related.
As The Ashley reported last week, during a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, 13-year-old Kaitlyn revealed that she has not seen her younger sister Kylee in more than a year and claimed that Michael had “blocked” her from contacting him. While June (and others in the family) backed Kaitlyn claims in the interview, June took to TikTok this week to double down on her granddaughters comments, insisting that Kaitlyn was expressing “her own thoughts [and] her own feelings,” and reiterating her family’s claims that Michael and London are to blame for Kaitlyn and Kylee being kept apart.
In her profanity laced rant, June stated that it isn’t the responsibility of Michael’s mom, Tonya Cardwell, to make sure that Anna’s daughters remain in contact with each other, as she has custody of Kaitlyn and Michael has custody of Kylee. June also pointed out to followers that she was the only one in her family who checked on Michael at Anna’s funeral, arguing that she has been willing to put her differences aside for the sake of her granddaughters and accusing Michael and London, who moved from Georgia to Alabama after tying the knot in September 2024, of not doing the same. (Last year, June blamed Michael and London’s relocation for putting a further strain between the families.)
“I’m not obligated to any-f**king-body but these children, which is Kylee and Kaitlyn,” June said. “They’re my blood!”
On Monday, June’s daughter Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon fired off a pair of lengthy rants to Facebook (in which she tagged London and others), claiming that, despite efforts to communicate with London and Michael, no one in her family has been able to see Kylee in almost two years. Pumpkin insisted that she and her family have “tried everything,” only to be “pushed out” by the couple. She also claimed that after Anna died, Michael and his now-wife promised Anna’s family that they would never keep Kylee from them or from Kaitlyn– a promise Pumpkin claims the pair ultimately broke.
“ … from that day forward they continued to slowly cut off communication, barely responding to text or anything,” Pumpkin wrote. “Every time they come to [Georgia] they expect Kaitlyn to be able to visit with them but never Kylee to visit with us. It’s on their terms and conditions. So that’s cool keep lying to social media but we know the truth. Grow up and stop putting children into grown up problems and allow us to see our niece who we can’t see.”
Pumpkin also backed Kaitlyn (and June’s) claim that Michael “blocked” Kaitlyn, while claiming that London will text Kaitlyn on Michael’s behalf “once a month if that.”
“ANNA DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS!!” Pumpkin added. “SHE WANTED THE GIRLS TOGETHER ALWAYS!!!”
June later commented on her daughter’s post with a screenshot of an alleged exchange between herself and Michael, while continuing to accuse both him and London of trying to control the situation involving Kaitlyn and Kylee. June maintained that Michael is the reason Kylee does not see her mom’s family and in another comment, she confirmed that she can obtain Grandparents’ Rights for Kylee in the state of Georgia, however, Michael would have to be in agreement, which June said he is not.
June went on to accuse Michael and London of controlling Anna’s life and of still controlling Anna’s husband, Eldridge Toney– who continues to be involved in his stepdaughters’ lives– by requiring that Eldridge’s visits with Kylee to be supervised.
June’s youngest daughter, Alana Thompson, also weighed in on the family drama, taking to the comment section of Pumpkin’s post to encourage all parties to “put their differences aside and stop letting personal feelings get in the way of family.”
“ … Life is too short for all this, and after everything that’s already happened, you would think people could put things aside for the sake of kids,” she wrote. “We all know how much Anna loved her girls and how important family was to her. Anyone who really knew her knows she would never want them kept apart because adults can’t get over their problems. The girls deserve to have each other, and they deserve to grow up knowing their family without all this extra drama.
“At the end of the day this isn’t about who’s right or wrong, it’s about doing what’s best for the kids,” she continued. “And honestly, that should come before pride, before feelings, and before anything else.”
June’s mom, Sandra Hale– who raised Anna– responded to Pumpkin’s post as well, revealing that she hasn’t seen Kaitlyn in two years, as Pumpkin and June “have made no attempt to get us together.” Meanwhile, Michael’s mom, Tonya, popped in to explain that she tried to be the go-between for the two families after Michael and London moved, but said Kaitlyn and Kylee’s visits ultimately ended in September 2024 due to June no longer responding to her.
“As every time I get Kylee I let June Shannon, Sandra Hale and Eldridge Toney know so that they can try to see her while she’s here in Georgia,” Tonya added.
Like June, Pumpkin went on to drop some screenshot receipts of her own, along with a second post slamming London and Michael for not keeping an open line of communication between their families. She also called out the couple (again) for blocking Kaitlyn from contacting Michael and for allowing London to reach out to Kaitlyn on Michael’s behalf. In a follow-up comment, Pumpkin questioned why the two won’t allow Kylee to spend the night at her house.
London took to the comments of Pumpkin’s post alleging that June and her family have not tried to talk to Kylee in two years and have only asked to see Kylee on two occasions. In another comment, London insisted that Michael did not block Kaitlyn, but rather stopped texting the teen “when June started replying” for her.
“ … trust me Kaitlyn has MADE IT VERY CLEAR she has turned into one of y’all and now hates the only man she’s ever called father,” London wrote. “I think that took like 3 weeks for that to happen once she was in y’all’s care. So so sad.”
In other comments on Pumpkin’s post, London accused Mama June & Co. of being “drama based and full of hate and lies,” and claimed that Anna didn’t want either of her daughters in June’s custody after she died.
“Anna sat on my porch and told us she didn’t want her kids with June she wanted Kylee with us and Kaitlyn to be with Eldridge and we continue to do week on week off [visits],” London commented. “She just didn’t have time to get it in writing.”
While London commented on Pumpkin’s post and demanded that the mom of four “grow up,” she also argued that Pumpkin and the rest of the family are able to contact Kylee, yet they continue to justify the fact that they do not speak to the 10 year-old.
After calling London “a fool” in her reply, Pumpkin warned London to be ready for the day that Kylee learns the truth about the situation, to which London said she “can’t wait” for Kylee to be old enough to “know everything,” as she’s currently “too young to be getting into this drama.”
New episodes of ‘Mama June: Family Crisis’ air Fridays on WeTV.
(Photos: WeTV; Instagram; Facebook)
4 Responses
So Michael isn’t refusing to let them see Kylee, he’s just refusing to let her spend the night with them (no sane person would let their kid around these people unsupervised) and he hasn’t blocked Kaitlyn, he just isn’t playing into June’s drama.
The whole Shannon family is trash and they’ve brainwashed that poor child against the family that would have provided her a normal and stable life.
For reals.
“ANNA DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS!!” Pumpkin added. “SHE WANTED THE GIRLS TOGETHER ALWAYS!!!”
Yeah, she did. So why did June fight Michael who Anna and Kaitlyn considered her father for custody? Money. Plain and simple. June didn’t give a damn about Anna until Anna having cancer and dying would be good TV for June. None of them have ever treated Anna right. Kaitlyn is being influenced by the toxic family that she is now stuck with. I’ve said it before and I will say it again Anna NEVER signed custody papers to June. There was a reason for that. Let’s not forget that June’s ex boyfriend raped Anna repeatedly as a child and served 9 years for the violent sexual assaults of her. And June (who brought Alana in her great wisdom) picked up Anna’s rapist from prison the very day he was released. She stole $136,000 from Anna. She is not a suitable parent for anyone so they can get off of their righteous high horse. I wouldn’t want my daughter anywhere near them.
Right? She expressed her wishes verbally, on camera they stay with her partner…
She just didn’t put it in writing and file it.
She didn’t want her mother to have her kids… and I’m flabbergasted the court let June have unsupervised visitation, let alone everything else. That’s horrifying.
It upsets me to this day. Never trust your wishes just will be respected by your family, put things in order.
Because the court may just decide a woman who victimized her children in all kinds of various criminal ways, morally bankrupt ways, failed to protect them, and a serious drug addict who sold her house and children’s toys, used her child’s accounts to go off on a raging bender across a plethora of motels… recently enough, and has a history of dating pedophiles…estrangement, and child abandonment is going to be the guardian of your kids.