Alana Thompson wants to further her education, but her own mother is sabotaging her efforts. In a recent episode of Mama June: Family Crisis, Mama June Shannon completely refused to help her youngest daughter pay for college.
After Alana was offered a $21,000 scholarship to a college in Colorado, she knew that she wanted to attend the school. But when she and her sister, Lauryn ‘Pumpkin’ Efird, discovered that the college’s yearly tuition was $43,000, they asked their mom for help.
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Mama June claimed she couldn’t contribute any money to Alana’s college fund because she was still trying to rebuild her life. But she also doubted her daughter’s dedication and didn’t think that she was ready to go to college.
Mama June Decided to Show Alana “Tough Love”
Mama June didn’t believe that Alana would be successful if she moved to Colorado, and refused to chip in any money for her tuition or rent. In her opinion, she was showing that she cared about Alana by voicing her concerns that her daughter was just going to fail right away.
Lauryn said that Alana really only needed help paying for her first semester. Mama June mentioned that Alana had a Coogan account, but she allegedly wouldn’t be able to access any of the funds until she was 21.
According to People magazine, a Coogan account is a type of trust fund “where parents of child stars are legally required to deposit their earnings.” When Alana asked her mom if she could take money out of the account for her, Mama June said she couldn’t access the money either.
She argued that she was only looking out for Alana’s best interests by questioning her commitment to college. But at the end of the scene, Mama June promised she would call the bank to find out whether she could get permission to withdraw any of the funds in Alana’s Coogan account.
Later in the episode, Mama June told her husband, Justin, that she decided to show Alana “tough love” by refusing to help pay for college. She claimed that she shouldn’t have to invest in her daughter if Alana wasn’t willing to invest in herself.
Even though Alana was attempting to better her life by pursuing a college education, Mama June was adamant about her decision. She even said that by refusing to contribute financially, she would help Alana “see the bigger picture.”
Mama June Had Been Lying to Her Daughters
Then, Mama June confessed to Justin that she had been lying to her daughters for years. She explained that she had been telling them that they needed to be 21 before they could access the money in their trust funds.
Mama June believed that if she had told her kids the truth – that they could access their funds when they turned 18 – they would have recklessly spent all of their money. That means Alana technically could have used money from her Coogan account to pay for her first semester if her mom hadn’t lied to her.
Alana told Lauryn that it was probably more important for their mom to buy Justin some more chains instead of helping her out with college. She added that Mama June had no problem paying for gifts for the men in her life but refused to chip in financially for her own kids.
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In a 2021 interview with Access Hollywood, Mama June admitted that she had been extremely careless with money. She explained that when she was struggling with substance use, she had spent close to $1 million in just one year.
According to The U.S. Sun, Mama June was court-ordered to pay $800 a month to Lauryn for Alana’s care. But during an episode of Family Crisis that aired last year, Lauryn criticized her mom for spending $300 on shoes while failing to make regular child support payments.
Now, it seems that nothing has changed when it comes to Mama June’s emotional and financial support toward Alana. Not only did she refuse to help pay for any of her daughter’s college tuition, but she also lied to keep her from accessing her own money.
