The chiefs of the Duggar clan have challenged the “media” for their “bad intentions” with an upcoming documentary they say is “derogatory and sensational.”
Jim Bob, 57, and Michelle Duggar, 56, released a statement Thursday ahead of the premiere of Amazon Prime’s “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets,” claiming reveal the truth beneath the healthy Americana surface of reality TV‘s favorite mega family.’
The family’s fourth-oldest child, Jill, tells how her father kept his children from getting paid for appearing on the family’s lucrative TLC reality show, 19 Kids and Counting, and will reveal how extremely long her hair is. father to hide from Josh Duggar’s molestation of his own sisters.
But the reality TV family’s parents now say the documentary will hurt those they love as they insist they care for each of their children.
Jim Bob, 57, and Michelle Duggar, 56, (pictured) denounced ‘the media’ for their ‘bad intentions’ with an upcoming documentary they say is ‘derogatory and sensational’
In a statement on Thursday, the couple claimed an Amazon Prime docuseries about their lives will hurt those they love
In their rackposted on the family’s website, Jim Bob and Michelle said the documentary is “sad because we see the media and people with bad intentions hurting people we love.
“Like other families, ours has experienced the joys and heartbreaks of life, only in a very public form,” the couple began.
“This ‘documentary’ paints so much and so much in a derogatory and sensational way, because unfortunately that’s the direction of entertainment these days,” they continued.
“We have always believed that the best chance to mend damaged relationships or to reconcile differences is through love in a private setting. We love every member of our family and will continue to do everything we can to have a good relationship with everyone.
“Through both the triumphs and the trials, we have held on to our faith all the more, discovering that through the love and grace of Jesus we find strength, comfort, and purpose,” the celebrity couple concluded.
Their statement came hours before the release of “Shiny Happy People” on Amazon Prime, and shortly after 32-year-old Jill announced she was also writing a tell-all book about “the secrets, manipulation and harassment” she experienced. behind the scenes of the popular reality show.
Amazon Prime’s ‘Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets’ claims to ‘expose the truth behind the healthy Americana surface of reality TV’s favorite megafamily’
In a trailer for the new show, the couple’s fourth oldest child, Jill, said, “There’s going to be a story told. And I’d rather be the one to tell.’ She can be seen in the trailer with her husband Derick Dillard
The docuseries, which will be released Friday, features several members of the Duggar, including Jill and husband Derick Dillard, as well as Amy and wife Dillon King.
A trailer for the new show featured Jill saying, “There’s going to be a story told. And I’d rather be the one to tell.’
Her sister, Jessa, 30, who was one of the few surviving older siblings known to maintain a good relationship with her parents, can also be seen in the trailer, looking dejected.
“World domination was the goal,” an unidentified man told the camera in the teaser, discussing IBLP.
Another added, “The IBLP teachings are not Christianity. They are something completely different.
“The most important characteristic of Bill Gothard’s teaching is authority. Children obey their parents and wives obey their husbands. Everyone obeys Bill Gothard.”
“He made every father a cult leader and every house an island,” said another.
It also looks like the docuseries will delve into Josh Duggar’s child pornography allegations. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2019.
Years prior to his arrest, an explosive police report emerged on the internet stating that the father of seven, 35, had admitted to molesting underage women, including four of his siblings – and that his own parents knew about it and did not press charges the abuse.
‘How deep do we go? Because that’s a rabbit hole. Damn it,” a man said in the teaser, after an old snippet from reporters about Josh’s scandal flashed across the screen.
Jill’s younger sister Jessa, 30, who was one of the few remaining older siblings known to maintain a good relationship with her parents, can also be seen in the trailer, looking dejected
It also looks like the docuseries will delve into Josh Duggar’s child pornography allegations. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2019
Plus, executive producers Olivia Crist and Julia Willoughby Nason have vowed to dig in deeper into the Duggars’ controversial church—radical organization The Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), founded by shunned pastor Bill Gothard in the 1960s.
Church rules dictated who the Duggar children could date and how they should dress.
Jim Bob and Michelle also made regular appearances on their reality show reading their children’s text messages, telling them what to watch on TV and what music they could listen to, and even saying who they could be friends with.
But in an interview with PeopleCrist and Nason said the Church went even further, describing it as a “pandemic of abuse.”
“The far-reaching quality of this ideology was extremely shocking to me, especially how it is so ingrained in our contemporary culture with the political interests of our human rights at play here,” Nason said.
“That’s shocking to me. And what I also find shocking is listening to the stories of the survivors.
“I feel like being a woman in this culture, whether I come from a place with a high control system like IBLP or from not that place, just inherently being a woman, I could identify with the themes of abuse and trauma that went through the lifelines of these people.’
Crist, too, argued that IBLP culture is incredibly ubiquitous, saying that “certainly many more” could have been discussed.
The Duggars were thrust into the spotlight with the show 19 Kids and Counting, which documented the day-to-day lives of the family of 21 (previously pictured together) as members of The Institute in Basic Life Principle
Jim Bob and Michelle made regular appearances on their reality show reading their kids’ text messages, telling them what to watch on TV and what music to listen to, and even saying who they could be friends with
Apparently, Jill took on that mantle, announcing Thursday that she and her husband, Derick Dillard, are releasing a memoir detailing the “secrecy and lies” they knew during the family’s long reign as reality TV’s greatest dynasty. .
Jill has also revealed she is releasing a memoir about “the secrets, manipulation and intimidation” that go on behind the scenes of 19 Kids and Counting
The book Counting the Cost features Dillard, 34, as a co-author, chronicling the couple’s “painful journey” while filming the hit reality TV show.
Jill shared an image of the front cover and wrote on Instagram, “Derick and I would like to announce that we have written a book, Counting the Cost, chronicling our painful journey as part of the reality show filming Duggar family.
As the cover image indicates, the book is meant to represent a story that has been difficult, yet hopeful.
She went on to acknowledge that while viewers of their show have witnessed the very public scandals the family has become embroiled in in recent years, no one could have imagined how deep it went for more than 15 years.
“The challenges we’ve faced, including disrespect for boundaries, greed, manipulation, and betrayal, aren’t much different from what many people in our audience have faced,” she continued.
“But more than 15 years of reality television, backed by secrecy and lies, amounts to pouring gasoline on the fire of our struggle,” she wrote.
The mother-of-three ended her post by thanking God, time and therapy for helping her “heal.”
“Thanks to time, tears, truth and therapy, God has begun to heal our wounds to scars. While we would never have chosen this path, and it has cost us dearly, we want to use our voice to show others that there is hope beyond the pain,” she concluded.