On Thursday, news broke that “Mama June” Shannon, the unexpected matriarch of TLC’s runaway reality hit Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, was in a relationship with a new man. Such news was unexpected, given Shannon’s recent split from common law husband Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson, father of the series’ star, Alanna “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, a former child beauty pageant contestant from Georgia who first found fame on the previous TLC reality show Toddlers & Tiaras. (The split came about after Shannon discovered Thompson searching for women on online dating site plentyoffish.com – ironically, the previous season had focused on Thompson and Shannon’s impending commitment ceremony.)
However, this latest development in Mama June’s romantic life is giving TLC and the show’s legions of fans pause for concern. Shannon’s new beau is a convicted sex offender, a prior boyfriend of Shannon’s who was jailed for 10 years after molesting her eight-year-old relative.
While TLC issued a statement on Thursday that the network is “very concerned about this new information and are reassessing the future of the series”, on Friday the network announced that it is cancelling the show. Not only will they not film any additional seasons, but they are also opting to not air the most recent, which wrapped in August. The network said: “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.” TMZ reports that the network will also be providing tutors and counseling to Mama June’s four daughters.
While TLC’s response seems appropriate, it’s surprising it took them even this long – a show in which a convicted paedophile is introduced to a cast of mainly minors could never have stayed on the air. What’s more troubling is that away from the cameras, the Mama June’s children will now presumably have to interact with a sex offender on a frequent basis – one who has previously assaulted a member of their own family.
Viewers are rightly horrified about the child endangerment issue, but also at the lurid twist their favourite show has taken. Does it really take something as extreme as letting a child molester into a family’s home to make viewers feel that the all-access pass to their favourite celebrities’ lives should come with some qualifications? On the other hand, should those who have decided to subject their families to the heavy exposure of reality TV take offence when their public becomes no-longer adoring and feels entitled to judge their personal decisions?
The Palin family found themselves facing this very question this week. While no politician’s child should have to endure the same harsh scrutiny as their parents, the rules change when the politician embraces a reality TV career. After resigning from the governorship, Palin first went on to helm the program Sarah Palin’s Alaska, (which also aired on TLC) with her family in tow. After it was cancelled in 2011, unable to resist the spotlight, she has since launched the Sarah Palin Channel, a continual platform to promote not just her political agenda, but herself. (Daughter Bristol had her own short-lived reality show, Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp, that aired for a short time on Lifetime.)
Which is why the family’s outrage about the released police tapes of oldest daughter Bristol’s expletive-laced rantings following a “drunken brawl” at a family friend’s birthday party last month feel misplaced. Taking to the Christian blog Patheos on Wednesday, Bristol Palin set out to discuss the injustice of her family’s private lives being made public. “I have mostly stayed out of the public eye for the past few years,” she writes, asking rhetorically about that those they allegedly fought with “Why would anyone do this? Well, here’s a hint. The guy was on social media during this incident, tweeting, ‘About to get famous’.” Irony was notably absent from Palin’s blogpost, which then goes on to say that the media coverage is a result of public hatred of conservative women.
And yet perhaps the salivating public isn’t motivated by politics (indeed, the Palin family is no longer involved in political life) but because once invested in a “reality” narrative it is impossible to detach ourselves from the latest plotlines of our favourite players. When a person elects to trade privacy for fame and expose their entire family on reality television, as both Mama June Shannon and Hockey Mom Palin chose to do, they are also forfeiting the right to seek privacy only when the circumstances are less than flattering. The life of a reality star seems somehow inherently different than that of other entertainment professionals like actors or musicians: those who play at “reality” beg the public to invest themselves in every nuance of their private lives. The onus then remains with the audience when reality bites.
