Amy Duggar King Has a Message for Her Uncle and His Desire to Handle Things ‘in-House’: ‘That’s What Got You in Trouble in the First Place, Sir’
Speaking out has cost Amy Duggar King a relationship with most of her cousins and her aunt and uncle, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. Her involvement in Shiny Happy People, her social media activity, and her upcoming book seem to ensure that she won’t have a working relationship with her aunt or uncle ever again. Still, she seems mostly okay with that. In fact, Duggar King hasn’t stopped speaking out. Recently, she called out her maternal uncle for the way he wants to handle their familial strife.
Jim Bob Duggar released a statement after the release of ‘Shiny Happy People’
Following the release of “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” in 2023, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar issued a joint statement to the press. In it, they criticized the docuseries and those who appeared in it. The statement claimed the series reduced “complex” experiences into sensationalized content. They didn’t leave their criticism to just the series. The duo, who married in 1984 when they were still teenagers, also lambasted their own family and friends for participating in the project.
In the statement, the ultra-conservative Christians expressed a desire to heal their relationship with their family members. Still, they only want it on their terms. They wrote that they wished to reconcile “through love in a private setting.” In short, he wanted them to stop speaking publicly.
The statement was clearly referring to Amy Duggar King, Dillon King, Deanna Duggar, and Jill and Derick Dillard. They are the five Duggar family members who participated in the project. Deanna Duggar is Jim Bob’s only sibling. Amy Duggar King is his niece; she married Dillon King in 2015. Jill Dillard is Jim Bob and Michelle’s fourth child; she married Derick Dillard in 2014. Jill has been largely estranged from the family since 2017. Jim and Bobye Holt, long-ago family friends, also participated. They have been estranged from the Duggars since Josh Duggar molested his sisters in the early 2000s.
Amy Duggar King has harsh words for Jim Bob
Amy Duggar King has a book scheduled for release this fall. In the lead up to its release, she’s been opening up about her family. She’s recently discussed all that went on inside the walls of the Duggar family compound. She has even acknowledged Jim Bob Duggar’s statement regarding Shiny Happy People and why it bothered her so much. In a recent chat with TV Insider, Duggar King revealed where she stands with her aunt and uncle.
She revealed that she hasn’t seen them since the release of Shiny Happy People and has no plans on doing so. Duggar King said she’s trying to protect her child and protect her peace, and noted that the Duggar patriarch is still acting in an unhealthy manner. The mother of one referenced his press release, noting that his desire to do things “in-house” isn’t going to work for her or the family. She said, “In that letter that I read that he put out to the press or whatever, it said that he wishes that we could do this in-house, get everything not in the open. And it’s like, well, that’s what got you in trouble in the first place, sir.”
The trouble Duggar King is referring to is the public backlash the father of 19 faced after it was revealed his eldest child had molested several of his sisters. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s attempts to bury the problem and handle it within their church were largely criticized.
