Finally answering the question of where TLC’s standards lie when it comes to monetizing repugnant behavior, the network has canceled Here Comes Honey Boo Boo in the wake of reports that its family matriarch, “Mama June” Thompson, is dating a convicted child molester. “Supporting the health and welfare of these remarkable children is our only priority. TLC is faithfully committed to the children’s ongoing comfort and well-being,” reads a statement from the concerned channel that spent several years nurturing those same remarkable children with “Go Go Juice,” butter, and entitlement, and documenting a 6-year-old’s every sneeze and fart for posterity—much like a pediatrician would keep careful medical records.
Still, while TMZ says TLC had filmed an entire season’s worth of new episodes that will not air now, leaving them solely to the realm of the imagination, its sources also say that the network isn’t abandoning the family entirely and plans to pay for “tutors and counselors” for the kids. It’s hoped that this will at least partially offset the damage wrought by their starring on a TLC show.
Meanwhile, Thompson has strenuously denied the initial report that she’d reconnected with Mark McDaniel, who just completed a 10-year prison sentence for molesting her 8-year-old relative. Thompson’s other daughter, Pumpkin, also insisted to Radar that the two hadn’t seen each other in 10 years. And finally, McDaniel’s son insisted to E! News that, not only were the photos showing McDaniel and Mama June together “Photoshopped,” his original conviction for child molestation was all based on a “false accusation.”
Nevertheless, TLC—finally catching up with most of the world—has decided it would just rather not know about any of this anymore.