TLC Insiders Say Duggar Scandals Were ‘Covered Up’ While Other Shows Exposed Family Drama
TLC’s most controversial family is back in the spotlight. On March 18, Joseph Duggar – the seventh of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s 19 children – was arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl while on a family vacation in Florida.
Two days later, Joseph was hit with additional charges of false imprisonment and child endangerment in Arkansas, crimes for which his wife, Kendra Duggar, was also charged.
The charges against Joseph comes nearly five years after his older brother Josh Duggar was arrested for possessing child sexual abuse material. Josh was found guilty in December 2021 and is currently serving 12 years in federal prison.
TLC stuck with the Duggar family because they were a ‘cash machine,’ insider claims
The latest arrests represent a further downfall for the Duggars, who became famous thanks to their reality show, 19 Kids and Counting, which painted a rosy picture of the ultra-conservative Christian family’s life. But the reality behind-the-scenes was darker that what viewers saw on TV.
Serious cracks in the Duggar facade emerged in 2015, when Josh admitted to sexually abusing multiple girls, including several of his sisters, when he was a teen, as well as to having an account on the cheating website Ashley Madison. That led to the cancellation of 19 Kids and Counting. But the Duggars were soon back on TV in Counting On, which lasted until Josh’s 2021 arrest.
Now, insiders are saying that TLC should have known to cut ties after the first reports about Josh’s behavior surfaced. But they didn’t want to give up what was then the network’s marquee show.
“They didn’t walk away because it was making too much money,” a source told gossip columnist Rob Shuter, who pens the Naughty But Nice Substack. “The franchise was a cash machine.”
TLC had been looking the other way for a long time, the insider alleged. Josh was first investigated for molesting his siblings in 2006, though the issue was hushed up as the Duggars embarked on their TV career in 2008.
“This wasn’t a surprise inside the industry,” they said. “There were red flags for years.”
Olivia Plath says TLC leaned into ‘Welcome to Plathville’ drama because of issues with the Duggars
Other insiders have said that while TLC tried to cover up the Duggar family secrets, they leaned into the drama with other families who had shows on the network. Olivia Plath of Welcome to Plathville says TLC originally saw the Plaths as a replacement for the Duggars.
The Duggars were already “phasing out” when Welcome to Plathville premiered in 2019, Olivia said during a 2025 appearance on the Positively Uncensored podcast.
“There was an opening now for a large fundamental family where all the kids are smiling and playing instruments and singing and it just looks so polished and great. And it devolved so far from [that],” she said.
“I think when the network first started the show they were thinking it would be this happy family, another Duggar [family], whatever,” Olivia continued.
That changed once Josh was arrested.
“When everything happened with the oldest Duggar son, when all that came out and TLC’s reputation was suffering for knowing and covering that up, I think that’s why with Plathville they fully leaned into all of that,” she said. “[TLC] kind of highlighted that drama instead of covering it up. But they still covered up the beliefs underneath everything.”
“TLC really covers up a lot and repackages it as entertainment,” Olivia said.
How to get help: If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 for free and confidential support.
For more news and exclusive interviews, follow Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s Instagram.
