From one legal trouble reality TV star to another, Mama June Shannon is speaking out about Todd and Julie Chrisley being pardoned by President Trump.
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The Here Comes Honey Boo Boo star shared her thoughts about the situation to PEOPLE.
“I’ve told many people that the Chrisleys, they can be good people,” Shannon said. “And they’re funny people, and I love them all. And I love grandma [Faye]. But now that they are getting totally pardoned, just like myself, I didn’t go to jail. I just had to be good for a year.”
Mama June Shannon also said she hoped that Todd and Julie Chrisley “learned something” from their “little slap on the wrist.”
“This slap on the wrist may not be a slap on the wrist next time,” she pointed out.
Todd and Julie Chrisley were convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion. The couple was serving a combined 19-year prison sentence for their crimes.
Last week, President Trump announced he was planning to pardon Todd and Julie. “It’s a terrible thing, but it’s a great thing, because your parents are going to be free and clean, and I hope we can do it by tomorrow. Is that OK? We’ll try getting it done tomorrow,” he told the couple’s children, Savannah, and son, Chase, in a phone call.
“Thank you so much, Mr. President,” replied Savannah.
Savannah has been advocating for their release since they went to prison in early 2023. During the 2024 presidential election, Savannah supported Trump. She reached out to him following his inauguration to ask for her parents’ pardon.
President Trump also said, “They were given pretty harsh treatment based on what I’m hearing,” he pointed out. “Pretty harsh treatment. Congratulate your parents, and I hear they’re terrific people. This should not have happened.”
Mama June Shannon Has Had Her Fair Share of Legal Woes Over the Years
Mama June Shannon was arrested in March 2019 for possession of a controlled substance. She was allegedly discovered with crack cocaine and a crack pipe on her.
Her now ex-boyfriend, Eugene Edward “Geno” Doak, was arrested at the same time. He faced charges of third-degree domestic violence, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Following the arrest, the former couple was hit with felony charges. The grand jury in Alabama indicted Shannon for “unlawfully posses a controlled substance, to-wit: Cocaine” and “unlawfully posses with intent to use to inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into the human body, drug paraphernalia to-wit: a pipe.”
Although Shannon was sentenced to 100 hours of community service, she lost custody of her youngest daughter, Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson. Alana lived with Shannon’s other daughter, Lauryn “Pumpkin” Efird, following the legal incident.
Alana recently opened up about her mother’s drug and legal woes. “I noticed something was off about her,” Alana recalled when her mother struggled with drugs. “She started locking her doors, which really made me think, ‘Oh, what is she doing?’”
After moving in with Lauryn, Alana said she focused on school. She graduated from high school in 2023 and is currently pursuing a degree in nursing at Regis University in Colorado.
“I just always told myself, you know, that you want to do something better with your life,” she added. “And bigger with your life than just being on TV.”