Amy Duggar hasn’t been afraid to share her ideas about aunt Michelle and uncle Jim Bob Duggar — and now she’s opening up about her relationship with cousin Jana Duggar.
“I actually hope to the nice Lord above that she is blissful and thriving and dealing by way of no matter she’s skilled, however I’ve no contact along with her,” Amy, 36, revealed in a Self-importance Truthful interview printed on Wednesday, June 28, noting that Jana, 33, nonetheless lives on her mother and father’ property in Arkansas.
“Anybody that lives at house with anybody within the IBLP, you’re underneath their management, so I don’t know if she’s essentially allowed to [contact me],” Amy added, referring to the Institute in Fundamental Life Rules, the fundamentalist Christian motion to which Jim Bob, 57, and Michelle, 56, subscribe.
Jana is the eldest daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle, who rose to fame on the TLC sequence 19 Youngsters and Counting. The household’s spinoff present, Counting On, was canceled after the couple’s eldest son, Josh, was arrested on youngster pornography fees in early 2021. Josh, 35, was discovered responsible on two counts of receiving and possessing youngster pornography in December of that 12 months and later sentenced to greater than 12 years in jail.
Amy and a few of her family have since denounced their upbringing, most just lately in Prime Video’s Shiny Comfortable Folks. Jana didn’t take part, however Amy and cousin Jill Duggar spoke out towards IBLP within the docuseries, whereas Jinger Duggar opened up about her expertise within the January memoir Changing into Free Certainly: My Story of Disentangling Religion From Worry.
“[My upbringing] was constructed on worry, manipulation, management and superstition, so all these issues mixed in how laborious it’s for teenagers to go away or adults to go away — anybody, actually,” Jinger, 29, completely informed Us Weekly forward of her guide’s launch. “When you hear the teachings, you’re not presupposed to depart from these.”
Amy, for her half, stated that the household’s therapy of Josh after his arrest was the “final straw” for her. “I can’t think about defending a predator,” she informed Self-importance Truthful. “I believe that’s the lowest of low, [and] there’s no going again.”
After Shiny Comfortable Folks‘s launch, Jim Bob and Michelle slammed the sequence, calling it “unhappy” in an announcement shared by way of their web site. “Like different households, ours too has skilled the fun and heartbreaks of life, simply in a really public format,” the pair wrote earlier this month. “This ‘documentary’ paints a lot and so many in a derogatory and sensationalized approach as a result of sadly that’s the path of leisure lately.”
They continued: “Now we have at all times believed that the very best likelihood to restore broken relationships, or to reconcile variations, is thru love in a personal setting. We love each member of our household and can proceed to do all we will to have relationship with each.”
Amy, nevertheless, was not impressed by their response. In a TikTok video shared days later, she slammed Jim Bob for allegedly defending Josh after he was accused in 2015 of molesting a number of underage women whereas he was a young person. His sisters Jill and Jessa had been later recognized as two of the victims.
“In case you’re not going to guard these stunning daughters from a predator that was dwelling inside your property and also you knew about it, and also you’re gonna sweep it underneath the rug and your mentality is kinda simply to brush it off and to cover it and to lie, not solely do I not respect you anymore, however I additionally don’t wish to provide you with a proper to get to know my youngster,” Amy stated in her add. “As a result of I’ll defend my youngster in any respect prices.”
Years after the 2015 scandal, Jim Bob claimed that he couldn’t recall the main points of Josh’s alleged admission that he’d touched the victims. “We had been shocked this had occurred however we had been grateful he got here on his personal and informed us,” he stated in November 2021 whereas testifying on behalf of Josh in his youngster pornography trial.
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