What to Know
When Joseph Duggar was arrested on charges related to child molestation and scheduled to be extradited from Arkansas to Florida, where the crime is alleged to have taken place in 2020, people waited to hear what cousin Amy Duggar thought about everything. As the so-called ‘rebel’ of the 19 Kids and Counting reality TV family, Amy was always a bit more worldly than her extended family and now, she has shared a statement about Joseph’s arrest.
But when Amy shared a video on Instagram, fans and critics of the Duggar family weren’t totally pleased with what she said and how she said it. For some, Amy’s statement took on a double meaning as she also mentioned her book, Holy Disruptor: Shattering the Shiny Facade by Getting Louder with the Truth, during it. For Amy, though, it’s about how her book also speaks about advocacy for children. Even if the timing is so very off in this instance.
Amy Duggar’s response video also features a mention of her book.
In Amy’s video on Instagram, she reads off her statement about her cousin Joseph. She posted the video following her release of the statement to the press, but, she says, she wants to share it with her followers in case they didn’t hear or read it yet.
“In light of the recent allegations involving my cousin, Joseph Duggar, I am sickened, heartbroken and deeply angry,” Amy says. “My first thoughts are with the victim, a child who deserved to be safe, protected and surrounded by people she could trust. The courage it took for her to come forward, especially after years of carrying something so heavy, cannot be overstated. That bravery deserves to be honored above all else.”
Later in the statement, Amy adds, “My boundaries are in place for a reason, and I have used my voice to expose the darkness and advocate for the protection of children, a journey I wrote about in Holy Disruptor: Shattering the Shiny Facade by Getting Louder with the Truth as a way to help others recognize harmful patterns, speak the truth and find their voice in toxic systems.” And that’s the past that people weren’t wild about.
According to an excerpt from Amy’s book that someone posted on Reddit, she referenced her book in her statement because of allegations she made in the book about Jim Bob Duggar’s late father’s potential thoughts toward the children of the family.
Amy wrote that she wasn’t allowed to be alone with her grandfather, wear a bathing suit in front of him, or even perform cheer routines near him, and that’s just a small piece of what she allegedly reveals in that book she openly promoted during her statement.
Critics don’t totally trust Amy Duggar’s comments.
After Amy shared her statement on Instagram, those who continuously snark on the Duggar family and live to troll them discussed Amy’s statement and the mention of her book in a Reddit thread. Since Amy’s statement on Instagram is the same one she shared publicly elsewhere, it means she also mentioned her book to news outlets.
“The idea that she name dropped her book full title in this statement to People is also sickening but not surprising,” someone commented in the Reddit thread.
Someone else pointed out, “The idea that she’s worked hard to break cycles in her extended family is ridiculous. They never cared about her opinion on things.”
“Didn’t Amy say Joe was the cousin (apart from Jill) who she still talks to?” Another user added. “And she was the closest to Josh [Duggar] prior scandal. She’s not a great judge of character.”
She posted a video of herself sobbing in her Instagram Stories.
Another possible strike against Amy, who some of the harsher critics have often dubbed “Famy” on social media because of her perceived enjoyment when getting attention or in the spotlight, is an Instagram Stories video she posted. Because Instagram Stories have expiration dates, the video is no longer up, but it showed Amy sobbing and questioning what is happening, with Joseph’s arrest and then his wife Kendra Duggar’s arrest directly following.
According to The Hill, Kendra was arrested for child endangerment and four counts of false imprisonment, though further details were not immediately released about those charges. And as far as Amy’s reactions to everything, apparently, they keep on coming.
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