As previously and very sadly reported, Anna Cardwell died this week at the very young age of 29.
The daughter of June Shannon and sister of former child beauty pageant contestant Alana Thompson was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in March and succumbed a few months later while surrounded by loved ones.
“With the breaking heart, we are announcing that @annamarie35 is no longer with us,” June wrote on Instagram December 10, alongside a photo of herself, Anna and their family members on the set of June’s reality show.
Not much was made of this photo choice at the time.
But now it maybe makes a lot more sense.
And now it’s led to some backlash against Shannon.
According to TMZ, Cardwell’s final days were filmed by WEtv cameras and will be featured on the upcoming season of Mama June: Road to Redemption, the reality show Shannon has anchored in the wake of the substance abuse problems that cost her a relationship with her kids for well over a year.
To many, it’s been sort of weird that Shannon landed this show for, basically, abandoning her daughters and doing a lot of drugs.
And now it’s even weirder that she’ll make a storyline out of Cardwell’s tragic death.
“The [film] crew was by her side just hours before she passed away — Anna was in hospice for a little over 3 weeks toward the end, and she was open to documenting everything,” TMZ reports.
Was Cardwell really in a proper state of mind to agree to this sort of thing?
Should June have put her ailing daughter in the position to do so in the first place?
Prior to her passing, Anna did document her cancer battle on her TikTok and other social media accounts.
But those were her accounts; and she didn’t profit off of them, she presumably just wanted to keep interested followers apprised of her status.
“Anna was very open about her health issues, and wanted it to be included on [the show] so people could better understand the struggles she went through, and those of cancer patients, in general,” TMZ has written.
“She also wanted fans to know everything she faced, since she was always candid with them.”
Anna left behind two young daughters.
Her oldest daughter, Kaitlyn, will be being cared for by June, while the younger daughter, Kylee, is now living with her father, Michael Cardwell, who is Anna’s ex-husband.
(Anna was married to Eldridge Toney at the time of her death, but Eldridge is not the father of either of the girls.)
Shannon is apparently aware of what some critics have been saying about her online because she clapped back a couple days ago.
“Let me answer some of y’all stupid ass people I can’t tell you how many times I broke down even before Anna passed away,” Shannon said.
“During this process, there’s something as simple as riding down the road and somebody saying something that will tear me up…
“My mental emotional sh-t is all out of whack.
“For the people who are all about negativity, don’t give them any of your energy and those people will rot in hell because they can’t say how they would act.
“One of the hardest things I’ve ever had a face of my whole entire life.”