Mama June Shannon is doing everything she can to maintain custody of her granddaughter.
The reality star has responded to her daughter’s ex, Michael Cardwell, and his petition for custody of her granddaughter, Kaitlyn.
Mama June was awarded temporary custody of the girl during an emergency petition in December 2023, following her daughter Anna’s death.
Fast forward to January 2024, and Michael–who has no biological relation to Kaitlyn–is asking the court to award custody to him, instead.
According to court documents obtained by The Mirror, Michael argued that he helped raise Kaitlyn, even paying for her education.
Cardwell also expressed his desire to keep Kaitlyn together with her half sister, Kylee, who is currently living with him.
Mama June won’t stand for it
But the Mama June: From Not to Hot star isn’t going down without a fight.
In her response to the initial petition, she launched abuse allegations toward Michael, insisting he wouldn’t be a fit parental figure for her granddaughter.
“During his marriage to Anna, [Michael] frequently physically abused Anna and the child and it would not be in the child’s best interests to be in Plaintiff’s care and control,” her response reads.
The gritty details…
Though she didn’t go into details about the alleged abuse, she did describe Kaitlyn’s reluctance to see Michael.
Mama June wrote that “[Michael] has been an inconsistent presence in the child’s life since at least 2017,” revealing that he sometimes went three months between visits.
While Mama June agreed that Michael did help pay for Kaitlyn’s early education, she says he only did so in lieu of paying traditional child support.
However, he’s no longer paying for her schooling, as Kaitlyn is no longer even enrolled at the school, according to her grandmother.
While Michael is trying to make a case for himself, Mama June does not believe that anyone else is seeking custody over the child.
In her response, she insisted that she and Kaitlyn were in contact and “had a stable parent-child relationship,” prior to Anna’s death.
While she did cite a “short period of disagreement” between her and Anna, she insisted she had more contact with her child than Michael.
Michael fights back against abuse allegations
Michael Cardwell’s attorney, Donald Lewis Roberts, has shut down the abuse allegations launched against his client by Mama June.
“Michael denies these allegations,” his attorney told Radar Online.
“This is the first time that any of these allegations have been made against him,” his lawyer continued. “He and Anna had a great relationship when they were married and simply separated due to differences in opinions and personalities.”
“They’ve always stuck together for their children, and we will see what proof Ms. Shannon has for these types of claims, these very serious claims, to make on somebody — if she has any proof at all,” the statement concluded.
As she fights for custody of her granddaughter, Mama June is still coping with the loss of her daughter.
Mama June Shannon took to social media at the end of the year to share some heartbreaking news with her followers.
She skyrocketed to fame alongside her daughter, Alana, in their TLC reality series, Honey Boo Boo.
While Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson is the most well-known, Mama June is a mother to three more daughters: Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell, Jessica “Chubbs” Shannon, and Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird.
Many people didn’t know about Shannon’s eldest daughter, Anna, as she had been estranged from her mother since 2003.
After living with her grandmother for several years, Anna moved back in with her mom in 2012, but their reunion didn’t last long.
The mother-daughter duo had been estranged for six years before reuniting earlier this year.
When Anna left the family home in 2003, she alleged that she had been assaulted by her mother’s then-boyfriend, registered sex offender Mark McDaniel.
In 2014, Anna said that McDaniel would “try and touch me and all that stuff” when she was just eight years old.
“A week or so after it happened, I talked to Mama and she was upset, crying and saying, ‘I don’t believe you, I don’t believe you, why would you do this to me?'” Anna revealed to PEOPLE in 2014.
Anna told Shannon what McDaniel had done to her and said: “I can’t do anything about it. You were never there to see it. You were always at work.”
Anna wanted to put their past behind them and get back on track, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen until tragedy struck earlier this year.
Earlier this year, devastating news of Anna’s cancer diagnosis brought their “fractured” family together after six years.
Sadly, In December, the longtime reality star revealed that her daughter, Anna ‘Chickadee’ Cardwell, died at the age of 29.
“With the breaking heart, we are announcing that @annamarie35 is no longer with us,” she began in her post.
Mama June continued, writing, “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 will be updating y’all with more information as we get it today,” she continued.
Her caption concluded, “We love y’all and continued prayers and thoughts for our family doing this difficult time #mamajune #prayers #cancersucks #family.”
Mama June’s post was accompanied by a family photo that included her, Anna, and other members of their family smiling while on set.
This devastating update comes after Mama June took to social media on Friday to inform her followers that her family was undergoing a “transition” amid Anna’s cancer battle.
“Some things have changed in our lives over the last few weeks, things that are totally out of our control,” she wrote at the time.
She added that “God has all the cards” and that Anna is “still with us,” but she’s asking for prayers as the family goes “through this transition.”
The 44-year-old said she felt compelled to share the update because fans had been reaching out and she didn’t have the chance to respond to everyone.
“We see all your messages, even though we’re not responding back to all of y’all,” she said. “I’m gonna sign off. This will be my last message.”
Mama June went on to say, “When that time does come, we will also — as a family — come to y’all on social media because Anna would not have it any f***ing other way.”
Anna’s passing comes after she was diagnosed with stage 4 adrenal carcinoma in January.
Over the last year, Anna kept her followers updated on her journey with videos.
Just last month, she shared a video of her celebrating her final day of radiation by trying some pickles.
Earlier this summer, ET spoke to Mama June as she opened up about her daughter’s prognosis.
“For me, it’s an emotional rollercoaster sometimes,” she admitted at the time.
“Mentally it’s always on my mind,” Mama June said before adding of Anna’s prognosis, “We know it’s terminal.”
“She’s stage 4. She’s not gonna go into remission,” she said.
“We’ve all accepted that,” Mama June continued, “So I just tell people one day at a time ’cause you never know.”
Regardless of her prognosis, Anna made the most of the time she had left.
At the time, her sisters Alana “Honey Boo Boo’ Thompson and Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird shared that, despite her diagnosis, Anna wasn’t letting it get her down.
“A lot of people thought that it was gonna make her sick and stuff like that, [but] she’s able to bounce back pretty quick,” Lauryn said.
Alana added, “It does wear her body down sometimes, but other than that, she’s pretty good.”
Anna, the oldest of Mama June’s daughters, appeared alongside her family on Toddlers & Tiaras and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.
According to reports from PEOPLE, Anna married her boyfriend, Eldridge Toney, shortly after learning of her cancer diagnosis
The couple, who started dating in 2017 following Cardwell’s divorce from ex-husband Michael Cardwellon, got married on March 4 in Wilkinson County, Georgia.
She is survived by her husband, mother, siblings and two children, Kaitlyn, 10, and Kylie, 7.