Just in time for fans to tune in to Amazon Prime’s new documentary “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets,” Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are already denouncing the project.
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In a statement released June 1 to coincide with the documentary’s arrival on the streaming platform, the patriarch and matriarch of the sprawling Duggar family said, “The recent ‘documentary’ that talks about our family is sad because in it we see the media and those with ill intentions hurting people we love.”
“Like other families, ours too has experienced the joys and heartbreaks of life, just in a very public format,” the pair continued on the family’s website. “This ‘documentary’ paints so much and so many in a derogatory and sensationalized way because sadly that’s the direction of entertainment these days.”
The went on to emphasize that they believe “the best chance to repair 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 all we can to have a good relationship with each one,” they concluded their thoughts. “Through both the triumphs and the trials we have clung to our faith all the more and discovered that through the love and grace of Jesus, we find strength, comfort, and purpose.”
Producers offered the couple an opportunity to be part of the new four-part docuseries, but they declined, per InTouch Weekly. Co-director and executive producer Olivia Crist praised those family members who did agree to take part, adding the tea was “humbled and honored.”
“It’s super intimidating to come down, sit down, tell your story,” she said, referring especially to daughter Jill. “Especially with all that she’s been through and all that the other survivors in our show have been through too.”
Cousins Jill Dillard and Amy King were the two most prominent family voices opening up about their experiences as part of the deeply religious family that first opened up their lives to audiences on their “17/18/19 Kids and Counting” reality series from 2008 to 2015.
The docuseries covers a lot of ground, ranging from Jill saying she felt “obligated” to defend brother Josh amid his molestation and child pornography scandal and eventual conviction, to Amy alleging Michelle’s “baby voice” is put on.
In one of the earlier episodes, Jill — one of the sisters who was molested — was asked what she remembered about the time when he was sent to counseling. “I kind of don’t really want to talk about all that,” she said, getting emotional as her husband Derick said they both wished “nobody had ever found out about any of that.”
After the reports came out, both Jill and her sister Jessa appeared on Megyn Kelly’s “The Kelly File” and appeared to minimize the allegations against their brother. Jessa said “the extent of it was mild,” saying the behavior was “inappropriate touching on fully clothed victims, most of it while girls were sleeping.”
She also defended him against claims he was a “child molester or a pedophile or a rapist.” Jill, meanwhile, said she chose to “forgive” her brother and praised her parents for how they handled the situation.
On the Prime Video doc, however, Jill claimed the Kelly interview was the family’s attempt “to get to where TLC would be cool moving forward with this show” following the bombshell report.
“In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done the Megyn Kelly stuff. I felt like I was in a place again of like bearing the burden and the weight of just … even though you volunteer, it’s like you feel obligated to help,” she said, dabbing tears from her eyes as she spoke.
“The Megyn Kelly thing, I don’t even like to talk about it because it’s not something that I’m proud of,” she continued. “If I hadn’t felt obligated to 1, do it for the sake of the show and 2, do it for the sake of my parents, I wouldn’t have done it.”
Jill said the interview “didn’t save everything” and “wasn’t enough,” as “19 Kids & Counting” was canceled by TLC. The network, however, went on to green light another series with the family — “Counting On,” focusing on Jill and Jessa — that didn’t include Josh.
“Yes, we were taken advantage of,” Jill said of doing the new show. “The day before we got married I signed a contract.” She claims she was tricked into signing it by her father and didn’t even know what she’d signed until two years later. “We were literally running through the kitchen,” she said. “I didn’t know what it was for.”
“What we found out later that it was a commitment of your life for the next five years to the show,” added Derick, calling it “fraud.” On top of that, Jill added, “I never received any payout, no cash, no check, nothing. For 7.5 years of my adult life, I was never paid.”
After losing an attempt to not have cameras in the room when she gave birth, Jill sought compensation for the footage from TLC only for the network to tell them “they paid the family.”
“Paying the family means we don’t get anything,” Derick explained. “They said, ‘We paid your dad so take it up with him.'”
When they pushed back against filming at one point, Jim Bob allegedly sent them a copy of their signed contract, which is when Jill realized she had actually signed it, and offered to pay them the equivalent of $10/hour for filming as a “lump sum.”
“In order to receive that, you had to sign another deal with my dad, his production company, Mad Family Inc.” added Jill, “It would be like forever.”
“We were automatically like, ‘We’re done,'” she recalled. “Eventually you start making your own decisions and it’s piece by piece, little by little to do what you need to to survive.” And so, they severed ties with TLC and, effectively, the family.
These comments are in line with previous things Derick has said about Jim Bob being the only one who held a contract for the family’s various shows. “of the shows have been under his contract, and he is the only one with a contract,” he said via social media shortly after he and Jill left in 2017.
“My dad does control a lot of things in the family,” Jill said in the new docuseries. Derick said that they’re “very much on the outside with the family.”
Jill also claims the family dynamic has shifted even more — “and not for the better” — as Jim Bob and Michelle have allegedly replaced the leader of their non-denominational Christian organization, the Institute of Basic Life Principles (IBLP).
“Because [former leader] Mr. [Bill] Gothard has been taken out, from what my understanding is, Jim Bob and Michelle are now his replacement,” said former family friends Jim Holt, per InTouch Weekly, with his wife Bobye claiming Jim Bob is “trying to emulate Bill Gothard.”
Another more unusual topic that came up was Michelle’s speaking voice, which Amy isn’t so sure is totally legitimate. She claims that Michelle puts on this “baby voice” purposely to appear meek and mild.
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