Jill Duggar shared her story in the bombshell docuseries Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets — and more of her relatives have begun to chime in.
The 19 Kids and Counting alum sat down with her husband, Derick Dillard, to shed light on her fundamentalist Christian upbringing in the four-episode special, which hit Prime Video on June 2. Jill and her cousin Amy Duggar were among the many participants interviewed about their connection to the controversial organization the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP).
Shortly after the docuseries — which included emotional revelations from Jill about her brother Josh Duggar‘s past scandals — was released, the Arkansas native shared a screenshot of a DM she received from a viewer.
“The piece that is hard about your message is that you are claiming to be ‘harmed’ by parents who were motivated to do good and bring you up with a good life,” the user wrote, pointing out Jill’s parents — Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar — “thought they were doing the right thing” for their family.
The message continued: “If your [sic] gonna tell the truth how about the whole truth?”
Jill posted her reply via her Instagram Story. “Thanks. I’m not minimizing or comparing my trauma to other people’s trauma,” she wrote. “But one person’s difficult experience also shouldn’t be invalidated by another’s. Both are real. Both are harmful and need to be addressed.”
The Counting On alum also acknowledged that there can be “beauty amidst the trials,” asserting that she still has love for her family despite her highs and lows.
Jill previously opened up about her strained dynamic with her 18 siblings and their parents in 2020, three years after choosing to leave Counting On. “We found out we didn’t have as much control over our lives as it related to the show and stuff, as we needed,” she explained in a YouTube Q&A at the time.
She and Derick delved further into their decision in Shiny Happy People, confessing that money played a part in their exit. Jill claimed that she was “never paid” for being on either one of her family’s TLC shows — both of which were canceled amid controversy — but that Jim Bob allegedly tried to work out a deal to pay his older kids a lump sum.
“In order to receive that, you had to sign another deal with my dad [and] his production company, Mad Family Inc.,” she claimed. “It would be [for], like, forever. We were automatically like, ‘We’re done.’”
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Several of Jill’s brothers and sisters have kept quiet about her involvement the docuseries — but others have shared their two cents. Scroll down to see which Duggar family members have responded to Shiny Happy People:
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