Photo: @duggarfam / Instagram
The family secrets just keep getting worse and worse.
By Megan Quinn — Written on Jun 07, 2023
The recent Prime Video docuseries, “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” which premiered on June 2 has many people talking about the Duggar family, one of the most well-known reality TV families with a disturbing backstory.
The Duggar bunch, who made their grand appearance on our television in 2008, were a Fundamentalist Christian family of 17 kids — eventually adding two more children to the clan. Their reality TV show “19 Kids & Counting” aired on TLC until 2015.
They were depicted as a wholesome, loving family who regularly practiced the religion IBLP or the Institute in Basic Life Principles. Beliefs and ideals of the IBLP enforce modest dressing, the idea of men being the superior figure in their families, and forbid drinking alcohol, birth control, abortion, and same-sex couples.
The Duggar family was run under tight reigns under the control of patriarch Jim Bob Duggar and his wife Michelle. According to crew members who worked on the set of “19 Kids & Counting,” the Duggars were particularly sheltered from the rest of the outside world and often held false perceptions of places and groups of people who religiously differed from them, with Michelle Duggar even fearing gay people as “problematic.”
One former crew member of “19 Kids & Counting” revealed how Michelle reacted after she discovered that one of the other crew members on the set was gay, and it is appalling, but not unexpected. After all, we are talking about the Duggars here.
Michelle Duggar allegedly had a crew member of '19 Kids & Counting' fired after learning that he was gay.
In 2015, shortly after allegations emerged that the eldest child in the Duggar family, Josh Duggar, had molested five of his sisters and a babysitter while they were minors, more and more people started coming forward with disturbing stories regarding the family.
A crew member who formerly worked on the set of their hit reality series reported their story to Gawker, recalling an incident where Michelle Duggar had a crew member fired after learning about his sexual orientation.
The anonymous crew member claims that the Duggar family “had very limited exposure to what they called the ‘outside world’” and mainly got their news from local papers and church gossip. “We were constantly reminded that we were not to upset them or taint their version of the world,” the crew member recalled. “It was very much like being told to not tell your little sister about Santa Claus.”
Photo: Instagram
While preparing for a trip to New York City for an appearance on the Today Show, Michelle allegedly approached crew members and inquired about the Big Apple, asking them if it was “scary for kids.” While the question reminded the crew members of just how little the Duggars really knew about the rest of the world apart from their religious bubble, her follow-up question was even more shocking.
“Well, I hear the city is overrun by ..... gays... has that been causing a lot of problems?” Michelle reportedly asked.
Another crew member allegedly laughed and addressed a gay crew member who Gawker names "Jimmy" — his real identity was kept a secret by the publication. “[The crew member] then proceed to yell over his shoulder ‘Hey, Jimmy, you giving the city lots of problems?’”
Initially, Michelle was confused by the joke but soon realized she was in the presence of a gay man. “She pulled the producer over to the corner and started yelling at him and demanding to know if what was just said was a joke, and that she wanted to see Jimmy,” the crew member claimed. “We could see the producer trying to calm her down and offering to have a talk with Jimmy.”
When Jimmy approached, Michelle allegedly asked him point blank if he was gay. According to the crew member, Jimmy “stuck a pose like a model in a pinup photo, and responds ‘Well, darling, depends on who’s asking!’”
Later that day, the rest of the crew learned that Jimmy had been removed from the set and transferred to a different production. They were told that he had been fired “due to causing conflicts with the talent.”
However, they were wise enough to speculate the true reason. “He was fired 100% because he was gay and for no other reason. The conflict was because he was gay,” the crew member says. They add that Jimmy thankfully handled the situation well and “took it all in stride.”
“The reason he never came forward or made a stink was because he was paid a bonus and moved to a more desirable production,” the crew member alleges. “As long as the Duggars are comfortable and safe from the scary city gays, all went according to plan.”
Ironically, one of the most dangerous people who posed the biggest threat to Michelle’s children was one of her own. Josh Duggar not only sexually abused his younger sisters, but was later arrested over a decade later after he was discovered receiving and possessing child pornography.
The content, which a Homeland Security officer called “the worst of the worst” and involved minor children aged 18 months to 12, was described by a judge as “horrific and sick.” Josh is currently serving 12 years in federal prison for his crimes.
While it is no secret that much of the world points out the hypocrisy in the Duggars’ beliefs, some of the Duggar daughters, are beginning to speak out about their upbringings.
Jinger Duggar-Vuolo, the sixth born out of her 18 siblings, recently came forward exposing the dangerous teachings of the IBLP she was strictly raised in. “The teaching I grew up under was harmful, it was damaging and there are lasting effects,” she told People Magazine, via USA Today.
Photo: Instagram
“Fear was a huge part of my childhood. I thought I had to wear only skirts and dresses to please God. Music with drums, places I went or the wrong friendships could all bring harm.” She recounts more of her realization journey in her memoir, “Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith From Fear.”
Jill Duggar-Dillard, the fourth eldest of the Duggar clan, has also chosen to distance herself from the hypocritical IBLP. She and her husband, Derrick Dillard, appear in the recent docuseries, slamming the dangerous practices of the religious group.
"If you were in ATI or IBPL, unfortunately, a lot of times you have to go through h—l, because it's not until then that you would risk everything to get out of those situations,” Jill recalls in the series.
“Eventually you start making your own decisions—like the nose ring that I got—and it's piece by piece, little by little by little, 'til...do what you need to, like, survive."
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.