Jill Dillard Calls Jim Bob Duggar ‘Verbally Abusive’ in Court Docs

TL;DR:

• Jill Dillard and three of her sisters sued the city of Springdale for releasing police reports outlining sexual molestation in the Duggar family home.
• Judge Timothy L. Brooks recently dismissed the lawsuit.
• In unsealed documents, Jill Dillard called her father, Jim Bob Duggar, verbally abusive.

In recent years, Jill Dillard has gotten honest about her troubled relationship with her parents. In several interviews, Jill has revealed that her relationship with her parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, remains strained. While Duggar family followers largely believed the rift occurred due to Jill and her husband, Derick Dillard, stepping away from the family’s reality TV series, Counting On, apparently there is more to the story. In a recently unsealed court document, Jill Dillard called Jim Bob Duggar verbally abusive and detailed exactly when her relationship with her father began to change.

Jill Dillard once said she was keeping her distance from the Duggars for her mental health

Jill and Derick Dillard’s distant relationship with the Duggar family has been heavily documented. Family followers noticed signs of a disturbance beginning in 2017. Signs of tension began shortly after Jill and Derick exited the family’s TLC show. Shortly after their departure, Jim Bob and Michelle stopped acknowledging the couple on social media. 

In 2019, Derick started speaking out against Jim Bob. He claimed the Duggar family patriarch hoarded earnings from the show and used his children for financial gain. Later, in 2021, Jill began to speak openly about the rift, too. In an interview with Us Weekly, Jill outlined her decision to step away and create space between herself and her supersized family. 

During a hearing for her lawsuit against the city of Springdale, Jill explained what prompted her bold decision. Jill, along with three of her sisters, filed suit against the city after public officials released police reports that outlined molestation inside the Duggar family home in the early 2000s.  

In an unsealed court document, Jill Dillard described Jim Bob Duggar as verbally abusive

Jill Dillard revealed why she stepped back from Duggar family life in recent years. In an unsealed court document from her lawsuit against the city of Springdale, Jill recalled how her father became verbally abusive and hostile toward her and her husband when they started making decisions that were in the best interest of their family.

According to official filings, Jill suggested that Jim Bob Duggar was controlling. She went on to suggest that the Duggar family home may have been repressive. Jill did not share similar concerns about her mother, Michelle Duggar.

Jill has limited interactions with her father

Derick and Jill, and their children, have limited interactions with the Duggar family. In the court filing, Jill described the level of interaction between herself and her father and noted that it is, at best, sparse. She stated that she and Jim Bob only see each other at major family events, like weddings and funerals. She went on to say their text interactions are limited to a family group chat.

Jill and Derick recently revealed that they will be moving from their Lowell, Arkansas, home in the coming weeks. . They have not shared their next location but did announce that they were moving so Derick could accept a job offer. The couple purchased the house in 2019

Derick graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Law in May 2021. He passed the bar exam in February 2022. Aside from the big move, Jill and Derick are also expanding their family. Jill is due with the couple’s third child, another boy, in July. They are parents to Israel David Dillard, 7, and Samuel Scott Dillard, 4.