Alana ‘Honey Boo Boo’ Thompson Opens up About Mama June’s Drug Abuse

Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson is opening up about mom June Shannon’s history of substance abuse ahead of her 16th birthday, admitting it’s been “very, very hard on her family.” The Here Comes Honey Boo Boo alum spoke candidly about Mama June’s battle with cocaine addiction in a new profile for Teen Vogue, after the Mama June: From Not to Hot star previously admitted to spending $600,000 in six months on drugs.

Thompson said of her family’s experience with addiction over the past few years, “A lot of folks in this world do not realize how many people are actually really affected by drug and alcohol [use]… It’s very, very hard. It’s something I’d wish on nobody, for real.” She continued, “When my mama got real bad with her [drug use], I didn’t know where I was going to end up. I’m proud of myself for how far I’ve come.”

For now, Thompson and Shannon are working on getting “back on track” with their relationship, and the former TLC star said she’s proud of her mom for working on herself. Growing up in the spotlight has been no easy task for the former child pageant star. “I guess people still expect me to be little Honey Boo Boo and I’m not anymore,” she explained. “Just because I’m from the South, people expect me to be all ‘country bumpkin’, out riding four-wheelers all the time, but that’s not really how it is… But I do not care. As long as I like myself, I’m good.”

The teen also reflected on the body positivity movement and Gen Z, saying she felt like her generation was “probably making it worse.” She explained, “Everybody’s all about body positivity, body positivity, until they see a body they don’t like… I don’t understand why people think this way. Just because I got a little bit of extra meat on my bones, you want to hate me? I’ll never get body shaming.”

She added of her own view of herself, “Like, I know I’m beautiful, and I know I got a banging body, so… I don’t care.” Going to public school as a celebrity has been difficult, and Thompson said she honestly does not have “many friends. At all.” Saying her only friend is her boyfriend, the WEtv star explained, “Because I feel like folks are so much like, ‘Oh my God, I’m friends with Honey Boo Boo.’ I don’t trust nobody really, so I don’t have friends.”