It’s over. After years or debate about whether or not it was trash television, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo has been officially canceled, though it has nothing to do with the quality issues argument. Instead, the final blow came via Mama June’s new alleged boyfriend, who was convicted of molesting a child.
The controversy first hit the Internet yesterday and it exploded quickly. Rumors began swirling that Mama June was involved with a 53-year-old former boyfriend who was just released from prison named Mark McDaniel. Back in 2004, he was convicted of molesting an 8-year-old relative of Mama June’s. He went to prison for ten years and was released back in March, at which point he and the reality star allegedly started seeing each other in secret.
She publicly denied the allegations yesterday, saying they were not dating, but obviously, TLC didn’t buy all or a portion of her story because according to TMZ, the network officially dropped the axe this morning. At this point, the episodes they’ve already filmed apparently won’t even make it to broadcast either, which is a pretty clear sign of how serious these allegations are being taken.
There are a lot of problems with dating someone who has been convicted of molesting a child, but there are quite a few that are particularly worrisome here. First of all, Mama June has an army of children who aren’t fully grown and still live with her, which should set off alarm bells. Second of all, she still has contact with the relative who this man was convicted of molesting, which is as good as telling the poor girl her voice doesn’t matter.
There’s certainly a chance TLC will reverse course and decide to put Here Comes Honey Boo Boo back on the air. It doesn’t bring in the ratings it once did, but it’s still a popular show with a devoted fanbase. As for right now, however, we have to assume this is the end for the Thompson family, which is weirdly kind of a shame. Honey Boo Boo never deserved any of the extremes it got. It didn’t deserve any of the crazy, 3 million place ratings numbers it did, nor did it ever deserve to be singled out as the single worst thing on American television. In fact, there are more than a few television programs you could point to right now that are way worse.
Here’s to hoping Mama June takes a long look in the mirror and decides to make wise personal life choices moving forward, if, in fact, there is a measure of truth to this rumor.
