‘Counting On’: Why Do People Hate the Duggar Family?
Counting On is one of the most popular shows on TLC, and Season 11 will premiere on July 7, 2020. Despite the show’s popularity, the Duggar family has been heavily criticized for a number of issues over the years. Here is why some people do not like the Duggar family and do not watch their TV show on TLC.
People do not support the Duggar family after Josh Duggar’s molestation controversy
17 Kids and Counting first premiered on TLC in 2008, with parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their children as the focus. The title of the show changed to 18 Kids and Counting and finally 19 Kids and Counting, as Jim Bob and Michelle had two more children during the show’s run. The show focused on the Duggar family’s lifestyle. All the children’s names start with “J,” they are homeschooled, devout to their faith, and practice chaperoned courtship.
In 2015, a leaked police report from 2006 revealed that Josh Duggar, the family’s eldest son, molested five girls. Four of the girls in question were Josh Duggar’s own sisters, and the case was never fully investigated. After the police report leaked, 19 Kids and Counting lost advertisers and TLC canceled the show. Counting On, a spin-off that focuses on the older Duggar children and their families, premiered a few months later.
Still, the family has not fully escaped the scandal.
“He molested his prepubescent sisters (and at least one other), his family tried to cover it up, but did report PART of it—not the full details—to the police. The policeman they reported it to did nothing. (And that policeman currently in jail for 50+ years for his own child pornography charges.) Years later, the scandal comes out and the Arkansas police destroy the police report,” a Reddit user criticized in 2019.
The Duggar family has made controversial comments
Over the years, members of the Duggar family have made many controversial comments regarding the LGBTQ community and women’s rights.
In a 2014 interview with Today, Michelle Duggar said that women should submit to their husbands, saying “Anyone can fix him lunch, but only one person can meet that physical need of love that he has, and you always need to be available when he calls.”
In August 2014, Michelle Duggar recorded a robocall opposing an anti-discrimination bill that would allow transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice. In the call, she equated being transgender with being a “child predator.”
“The Fayetteville City Council is voting on an ordinance this Tuesday night that would allow men – yes I said men – to use women’s and girls’ restrooms, locker rooms, showers, sleeping areas and other areas that are designated for females only,” she said. “I don’t believe the citizens of Fayetteville would want males with past child predator convictions that claim they are female to have a legal right to enter private areas that are reserved for women and girls.”
Some feel the family members are hypocrites
A few months after his molestation scandal, it was revealed that Josh Duggar cheated on his wife, Anna.
“I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife,” Josh Duggar wrote in a statement.
This, in addition to the family’s comments about the LGBTQ community have led many to call the family “hypocrites” as viewers think the Duggars publicly condemn others for things they are guilty of.
“They cared more about breeding and social status than they did about the safety, security, and care of their kids. They abused their kids and encourage their kids to become abusers. They encourage other people to become abusers,” a Reddit user wrote about Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar.
