Mama June Shannon has stayed (surprisingly) quiet regarding her recent court battle against Michael Cardwell for custody of Anna Cardwell‘s eldest daughter Kaitlyn, but the WEtv star– as well as Michael’s fiancé London Smith— recently took to social media to discuss the case, and seemingly reveal the outcome.
Although the case is still listed as “active” on the county court’s website, no new information has been released since July, when the custody hearing began. London finally opened up about the case, revealing that Michael was not awarded custody of Kaitlyn.
As The Ashley previously reported, Michael–who is Kaitlyn’s former stepdad— immediately filed for custody of Kaitlyn after her mom Anna’s death in December. Michael stated that he has been in Kaitlyn’s life since she was a baby, and is already raising her half-sister Kylee, whom Michael shared with Anna. Shortly after Michael filed for custody, June also filed. Kaitlyn has been staying with June since Anna’s death.
London– who is set to marry Michael later this month– took to Facebook to dispel several rumors circulating— including one stating that she and Michael were not allowing Kylee to see Kaitlyn. (June’s daughter Alana Thompson had previously proclaimed this on social media back in July.)
Interestingly, June herself jumped into the post’s comment section to give her thoughts.
London denied that she and Michael are keeping Kylee and Kaitlyn apart.
“I’ve been talked bad about for not speaking about the allegation being made that me and Michael aren’t allowing Michael’s youngest to see Kaitlyn…everyone that thinks that is dead wrong,” London wrote.
She then basically revealed that Michael was not successful in his fight to get custody of Kaitlyn.
“Our family just went through a life changing event,” London wrote. “My fiancé lost a child he calls his and raised for 11 years. My fiancés mother and father lost a granddaughter that they have loved and made memories with for 11 years.
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“We have not responded to anything for the simple fact of trying to stay out of all the drama and we have never believed it’s any of the media’s business what we do or what we say,” she wrote, adding that several other rumors floating around social media are also false. (One such rumor stated that Anna’s widower, Elridge Toney, had been working with Michael and London to get Kaitlyn to see them without June knowing. London denied the rumor, which had been posted to Reddit and TikTok.)
She then revealed that Kaitlyn and Kylee are able to communicate with each other now, unlike a few months ago when London reported that the sisters weren’t able to speak much.
“The sisters also call and FaceTime each other all the time now, not that it’s any of y’all business lol, but there you go,” she wrote.
June then popped into the comment section to confirm that Kaitlyn and Kylee do, indeed, have access to each other now.
“I’m glad that now Kylee is able to talk to both side of the family just like Kaitlyn has been able too,” June wrote.
London confirmed in the comment section that she and Michael are trying to work with June and her family so that the girls can have a relationship. However, Michael’s mother wrote in the comment section that her family’s life “has been completely turned upside down” by the loss of Kaitlyn, whom they consider to be family.
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(While Michael is not the biological father of Kaitlyn, he has been in her life since she was eight months old. Following his divorce from Anna in 2017, Michael would still take both girls— not just Kylee– during his custodial visits.)
It is unknown at this time if Michael was given any sort of visitation with Kaitlyn.
(Photos: Instagram; WEtv)
14 Responses
Sorry To Say But June Should Step Up And Be Be The Grandmother To Those Two Precious Girls And Let The Father That Raised Her Be Her Dad And Let those girl Be Together.. I Know From Shows I Have Seen with Anna in them She Didn’t Say anything about Custody Because she automatically Figured That the Girls Would Go to Thei Dad And Yes She Considered Him Dad… So June Do the Right Tbing And Let Those Babies Be Together And Have A Loving Family..
I wouldn’t award June Shannon custody of a dead dog. Kaitlyn might be safe and taken care of now because Justin seems like a half-decent guy (in comparison to June’s other soulmates), but I feel like he’s eventually going to have enough of June and decide a job at McDonald’s is better than being her kept man, and then what? June can’t drive, she doesn’t do a single thing around the house, she blows money like it’s burning a hole in her pocket, and she has a decades-long record of putting herself, drugs, and scummy men before her children. This poor child is doomed.
I will say that this entire situation lit a fire under my and my husband’s asses to go ahead and get the Step-Parent Adoption process started on my oldest three kids a few months ago in case something ever happens to me. I bet Michael has a lot of regret now about not adopting her when he was married to Anna. It may not have seemed necessary at the time because nobody could have foreseen this, but life happens and it would have saved him, Kaitlyn, Kylee, and his family a ton of heartache.
I cannot get over a mother knowing she will not be with her children much longer not having EVERYTHING to do with the custody & raising of her children down in writing long before actually passing. I know she was very ill for quite a while but how irresponsible of her. I guess when you’re raised by June your mothering skills may be..skewed
Wow. Very judgey of you. You sound like a good candidate for “mother of the year”. Sad enough to be so judgey – but towards a dead woman? Smh
It’s called telling the TRUTH dead or alive, facts are facts sonya the clown.
It wouldn’t have matter if she had it written down or not. Her daughter isn’t a property. Both, stepdad and grandmother would have still filed for custody and her “will” wouldn’t have made any difference in this situation. Yes, she could have expressed her preference in writing but the judge would not go by it.
I wish that the Shannon family had stayed on Anna more about custody of Kaitlyn. I understand that they (and Anna herself) didn’t want to accept the diagnosis and how quickly things were progressing, but this ALL could have been avoided.
Regardless of the relationship of Anna and Michael, he was the only father that she ever knew. If June would have put KAITLYN’S needs ahead of her own, she would have let Michael raise the girls together. She could have negotiatied a visitation schedule so she could see both girls.
I think that June only wants Kaitlyn to attempt to atone for not raising Anna and abandoning Alana. That comes under the heading of *too little, too late.*
She wants that SS benefit Kaitlyn is getting.
Anna was incredible irresponsible about this. And I don’t mean once she had her diagnosis but way before that. Michael raised Kaitlyn but has no rights over her because he isn’t her biological father and never adopted her. Once she was sick, she should have made arrangements for the worst case scenario that was eventually what happened.
Sadly these Shannon women are all the same, they just can’t think about the future and the wellbeing of their kids.
I was afraid of this. The courts are a joke at this point. June didn’t raise her own kids, steals, lies and honestly doesn’t look real sober. She treated Anna horribly and didn’t even have a relationship with her. Until June found out that Anna had cancer and she knew she could exploit it for ratings and get another season out of it. She called Anna a liar about the fact that she was repeatedly raped by June’s ex. He served I believe 8 years for raping Anna. And guess who was there to hang out with after prison. June. And she put Alana in jeopardy as well. There are pictures of the three of them in bed.
I don’t give a shit whether Michael is blood related or not. He has been her father. He has been consistent. June doesn’t give a shit about Katelyn. But she sees her as the new cash cow. She will blow through Katelyn’s social security. She will blow through any earnings that she would have through the show. So whoever the Judge is..🖕🏼
Unfortunately to courts & judges a blood trumps all, no matter the situation. Even in cases it is clear it shouldn’t especially when there is someone willing, able & more capable of the responsibility