It’s been a crazy whirlwind of a week in Duggar family news. First and foremost, Amy Duggar King went viral this week for straight up calling out Jim Bob and Michelle on TikTok. Elsewhere, their semi-estranged daughter Jill announced her own tell-all memoir will be coming after her sister Jinger wrote the successful Becoming Free Indeed. It’s all happening amidst the release of the documentary Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, available to anyone with an Amazon Prime subscription. So, let’s break it down.
@amyrking ♬ original sound - Amy Rachelle King
Amy King Went Off On Jim Bob And Michelle
It’s no real secret that Cousin Amy King has not been a fan of certain members of the family for a while now. Despite appearing on TV with the clan before, the mom has been open in recent years about what she feels her cousins have gone through. Now, on TikTok she created a video talking about protecting her own child from certain members of the family but also calling out Jim Bob and Michelle for protecting ”predator” Josh Duggar. She said:
So it all kind of boils down to this. If you’re not going to protect your beautiful daughters from a predator that was living inside your home. And you knew about it and you’re going to sweep it under the rug, and your mentality is kind of just like to brush it off, to hide it, to lie. Not only do I not respect you anymore, but I also don’t want to get you a right to know my child. Because I will protect my child at all costs.
She also brought up Jim Bob’s reaction on the stand when he was asked about the molestation of his daughters by his son, information that came to light only when In Touch published a report having obtained information via the Freedom of Information Act. That report noted Josh had touched some girls inappropriately, including some of his sisters, when he was a teenager.
The bombshell news marked the end of 19 Kids and Counting, but King noted Jim Bob later couldn’t seem to “recall” details about the incident when asked about them on the stand. The prosecution had argued during Josh’s case about obtaining child abuse materials that the molestation report helped explain motive and why the materials were downloaded intentionally. To Amy, Jim Bob’s part in that case stood out.
It’s just really sad, that’s all it is. It all boils down to that. Forget all the other stuff. Just focus on the fact the abuse was hidden, and then he was put on stand and he said, ‘Oh judge, I don’t recall.’ You don’t recall your daughter’s abuse? You don’t recall that?
This doesn’t mark the first time Amy Duggar King has targeted the family matriarch and patriarch in recent weeks. She wasn’t happy with the statement the Duggar parents released about Shiny Happy People, either. And she also claimed she sent an olive branch to Josh’s wife Anna during the tenure of the brouhaha surrounding her allegedly living off the Duggars’ charity, saying she and husband Dillon had offered Anna and the kids a place to stay.
Anna reportedly never responded back. But the Duggar news has continued in many directions, as Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets gets viewed. Meanwhile, one of the doc's stars, Jill Duggar Dillard, is planning to open up on her own terms.
Jill Took A Note From Jinger And Is Writing Her Own Book
In her own post on Instagram, Jill shared a first look at the book she is planning to publish. Like Becoming Free Indeed, her book will have a catchy title: Counting the Cost. It’s a nod to 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On, two shows that had consumed her life until recently and two shows Dillard had little say in.
In fact, the way the money situation has been described as one in which Jim Bob would control the family’s TV earnings and then parcel it out to the family instead of them earning their own money. She and Derick also took ire with the fact they weren’t allowed to decide when big Duggar announcements – like weddings and baby reveals – could be made.
Now that she’s publishing her own book, she’ll be able to determine what information she wants to share and how she wants to share it, giving her more control over her story, but also her revenue and livelihood. It’s the same move her sister Jinger Duggar Vuolo made in recent months, after she published her own book touching on her feelings about her famous family and her time on reality television, as well as her thoughts on her brother Josh after his incarceration.
It’s been a big few months for Duggar news, and it doesn’t seem as if it will be slowing down anytime soon. Counting The Cost will hit shelves later this year on September 12, 2023.
