They've been making headlines ever since they hit the air. But off-camera,
there's been plenty of drama for the Duggar family. Who lied? Who cheated?
And who did the deed before marriage? They may be wholesome, but they're still human.
Of the many public controversies the Duggar family has weathered over the years,
one of the most talked-about is the falling out between Jill and her parents,
Jim Bob and Michelle. The trouble started in 2017 when Jill abruptly quit "Counting On." She
later told People that she had learned that her dad was making up to $45,000
an episode. Meanwhile, she hadn't made a dime. In March of 2021, she and her husband
Derick revealed on their YouTube channel that she hadn't seen her parents in years.
But, by her own account, Jill seems happy with a little distance between herself and
her family. Explaining that she and Derick have been busy raising their young kids, she told fans,
"We have to prioritize our, like, mental, emotional health and all of that."
Since ditching her parents, Jill has been forging her own path. Unlike the strict religious rules
she adhered to growing up, she has been known to drink alcohol from time to time.
And she broke the family dress code by wearing pants. She even sent her oldest son,
Israel, to public school. Who knows what she'll do next!
While Jill reportedly departed the network after uncovering the pay gap between her contract and her dad's,
it turns out that tension had already been brewing behind the scenes thanks to her husband, Derick.
In 2017, Derick caused a stir after he fired off a series of transphobic tweets.
And he took particular issue with TLC promoting trans teen Jazz Jennings' new show. He wrote,
"I pity Jazz. [For] those who take advantage of him in order [to] promote their agenda,
including the parents who allow these kinds of decisions [to] be made by a child.
It's sad that [people] would use a juvenile this way. Again,
nothing against him, just unfortunate what's on tv these days."
"In the end, all these things come together and really just make me Jazz."
Derick was heavily criticized for misgendering Jazz and also accused of bullying the teen. But
he doubled down and continued on the attack. TLC responded by quickly denouncing Derick's
tweets in a statement on Twitter. The network also revealed that he had already exited "Counting On"
and would not appear in future episodes. Even so, Derick insisted that he had not been fired,
targeting Jazz on Twitter again in 2018. But Jazz didn't let him get her down. She told Us
Weekly she considered Derick, quote, "irrelevant" and suggested he was just tweeting for publicity.
Her hit TLC series, "I Am Jazz," was renewed for Season 7 in 2021.
Josh Duggar has been at the center of legal and social controversy for years. The first time viewers really took note of him was in 2015 when
news broke that he was active on Ashley Madison. For those who may be wondering, the site connects
married people with singles or even other spouses looking to have affairs. According to Gawker, the
site had been hacked and the names of users were released. And, of course, Josh was on the list.
After the news broke, the Duggars shared a statement
from Josh on their family website. It read, in part:
"As I am learning the hard way, we have the freedom to choose our actions,
but we do not get to choose our consequences.
I deeply regret all the hurt I have caused so many by being such a bad example."
"He was tossing me around like a rag doll."
In 2016, Josh scored a win when adult film star Danica Dillon dropped her lawsuit accusing him
of assaulting her, according to People. And through all of this, his wife, Anna,
has stuck closely by his side. As recently as July 2021, when he was facing yet another round
of allegations, a source told Fox News the couple was still committed to making it work.
"Just do the next right thing, have the next right response, for the next fifteen minutes."
Jill and Derick have more than earned their reputation as the most rebellious of the Duggar couples. And one scandal we'll
never forget involved their allegedly "sketchy" charity, Dillard Family Ministries. After dozens
of allegations, the nonprofit was ultimately shut down in February 2018, according to Radar.
The drama began three years earlier when the couple was accused of misusing charitable funds.
They had asked fans for donations from $15 to $100 to support their missionary efforts,
without offering specifics on what they would be doing. Eventually, they revealed that they were
living in El Salvador, but they made multiple lengthy trips back to Arkansas. According to
Entertainment Tonight, this convinced critics that they actually weren't doing any real charity work.
"It's a lot different than back home in Arkansas."
In a 2017 post on The Duggar Family website, the couple announced they were shutting down their
ministry. But In Touch noted that Derick later launched another fundraiser to ask for $6,500
for vague North American missionary duties. He made $125 before the page was shut down.
As of 2021, Jill and Derick haven't tried to elicit any more money from fans.
In 2015, it was revealed that Jim Bob and Michelle had essentially stood in the way of their daughter Jill following her
passion. Two years prior, Jill was training to become a midwife. She explained on the show,
"[The training] is hands-on apprenticeship style. So we are really getting in there and
getting to experience what midwifery and doula roles look like, hands-on."
"It's fun just to get my hands on her belly and, um, listen to the baby's heartbeat."
As part of the program, Jill was required to assist in births.
And that's where the trouble began. Jill's sister-in-law, Susanna Keller — who is Anna
Duggar's sister — had asked Jill to be present when she gave birth in 2013. But when Jim Bob and
Michelle discovered Susanna was still single at the time, an insider alleged to Radar,
"They thought Jill shouldn't be exposed to an unmarried mother in that condition."
But the scenario isn't a total surprise. After all,
Susanna was close with the rest of the family and even appeared on an episode of
"17 Kids and Counting." But when she chose to explore a less religion-oriented life,
a source told OK! that the Duggars banned Susanna from appearing on their show.
One of the weirdest Duggar family moments happened when they allegedly staged a fake food drive.
During filming for "19 Kids and Counting" in 2015, the family tweeted that they had
organized a food drive that would take place at a community center in Springdale, Arkansas.
But when the Duggars and producers realized that no needy people had actually shown up — and that
the crowd was, instead, just rabid fans of the show — production stepped in. A
witness told Radar that they saw producers ask one family to pretend to need food,
for the cameras. The family was even given acting instructions and releases to sign.
They were also filmed listening to Jim Bob talk about how he was often hungry as a child.
The source also claimed that the Duggars even loaded food into the family's car.
But once the cameras stopped rolling, they took it right back. While the
Duggars haven't confirmed or denied anything, in a 2017 video for TLC,
Josiah Duggar admitted that his family had done some acting on their show.
Jed Duggar dipped his toe into the political arena during the 2020 election cycle,
running as a Republican candidate in the Arkansas state representative race.
"With your prayer, support and help, I look forward to serving you as a strong,
conservative voice in Little Rock."
His political awakening was likely inspired by his dad, who was once an Arkansas state senator. But,
ultimately, Jed was defeated by incumbent Democrat Megan Godfrey
in what the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette described as a historically red district.
He may not have won, but Jed still made waves for his questionable campaign financing.
A month before the election, The Sun broke the news that Jed had reportedly received
"$8,400 from a single donor" for his campaign. That's roughly three times
the amount any one donor is legally allowed to give to a political campaign in Arkansas.
But perhaps the most embarrassing part was that the single donor was evidently more
supportive of Jed's candidacy than his own family. Only a few of the Duggar clan gave
the political hopeful any kind of donation, with Jim Bob chipping in just 300 bucks.
When Austin Forsyth married into the Duggar family, he wasn't immediately welcomed by all.
Soon after his wedding to Joy-Anna, a source told Radar that some of
the Duggars had reservations about the relationship, adding,
"He was immature, arrogant, and lacked experience."
"I was a fool not to have had my eyes open and lookin' at her."
If the Duggars were indeed concerned that Austin was in way over his head
when it came to big commitments, they may have been proven right
when his allegedly shady business dealings made headlines in the news.
These days, Austin makes his income from flipping houses. But he found himself in
the midst of a renovation scandal in 2019. According to court docs obtained by The Sun,
the owners of a $140,000 home — which they purchased from Austin — sued him for not
properly permitting the septic system. When they moved in, they immediately noticed the
smell of human sewage, and their dog reportedly got sick from sampling some water on the property.
Austin maintained that he didn't need a permit for the job, and would not be
paying the $20,000 required for a new one. Both parties eventually settled outside of court.
As fundamentalist baptists, the Duggars expect their children to follow all kinds of rules — including abstaining
from intimacy, as well as certain types of physical contact before marriage. In the
family's book "Growing Up Duggar," Jinger and her sisters compared premarital intimacy to:
"Playing in the street [and getting] hit by one of the many semi-trucks that drive past our house."
They also cautioned young women to protect their "purity." On the "Behind the Scenes" podcast,
Jinger's husband, Jeremy Vuolo, opened up about the topic of "purity" from a married man's
point of view. Explaining that he likes to keep Jinger informed about his various temptations,
he said it helps keep those thoughts in check. He shared,
"Very early on, from the moment we were married, I wanted Jinger to be in with
me [in] the battle for purity. It builds her trust. Because she begins to think,
'If he's struggling, he's gonna let me know, and I can fight with him."
So, how exactly does Jinger help out with this task? Well, in addition to being a shoulder to
lean on, the couple has an arrangement in which Jeremy — who is active on social media — doesn't
keep the apps for Instagram or Twitter available on his phone. If he wants to post anything, he
has to use his wife's phone, thereby limiting what he calls, quote, "the temptation of the internet."
If we've learned anything about the Duggar family, it's that intimacy before marriage is
a serious no. That's why the rather rushed wedding between Joy-Anna and Austin raised a few eyebrows.
"It was just like all these emotions going through me, like, my whole life is changing."
The 2017 ceremony was originally scheduled for October,
according to The Knot, but was bumped up to May at the last minute. Of course,
it's entirely possible that the couple were just desperate to get down the aisle
and didn't want to waste more time and money planning the wedding. But given the fact that
they announced they were expecting their first child a mere three months after the big day,
skeptical fans thought it was because of a different reason. And some guessed they had
to rush the wedding to keep people from finding out they didn't adhere to the Duggar family rule.
So was there any truth to the rumors? As far we can confirm,
no. Austin's brother-in-law backed the newlyweds, explaining to Radar,
"I've heard those rumors, but they're not true. People are too nosy."
Joy-Anna eventually put the rumors to rest for good by revealing that her due
date was in February. As for Austin, he seemed relieved that the wedding date got moved up,
regardless of the reason why. He said in a video for the network,
"I think the moment I said 'I do' was just a huge burden off my shoulders.
Finally being married to her was just a tremendous weight lifted off."
Looks like those first kisses in front of hundreds of your closest
friends and family are indeed pretty stressful!
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