Jill Duggar Wishes Dad Jim Bob Duggar Happy Father’s Day Amid Family Drama
Jill Duggar has a complicated relationship with her family. But that didn’t stop her from wishing her dad, Jim Bob Duggar, a happy Father’s Day.
Jill took to Instagram on June 19 to celebrate her husband, Derick Dillard, with whom she shares three children.
“I love watching you father our boys! They don’t even know how blessed they are yet! Thanks for being my bff, my greatest advocate, and support through thick and thin,” the ex-Counting On star wrote.
The one-time reality TV personality also took a moment to acknowledge Derick’s late dad Rick as well as her own father.
“Also happy Father’s Day to my dad @duggarfam love you so much and hope you had a lovely day!” she wrote. She also shared a photo of her dad holding her when she was a little girl.
Jill spoke out about her dad’s need for ‘control’ in ‘Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets’
Jill’s message to Jim Bob comes just weeks after the premiere of Prime Video’s explosive series Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets. In the four-episode documentary, Jill speaks out about her time on Counting On and 19 Kids and Counting. She also opens up about her upbringing in a family that followed the ultra-conservative teachings of Bill Gothard’s Institute in Basic Life Principles, as well as her strained relationship with her parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar.
In conversations with producers, Jill and Derick said they were tricked into signing a contract for the family’s TLC reality show the day before their wedding. She also revealed that she was pressured into sitting down for an infamous interview with Megyn Kelly, where she downplayed her brother Josh Duggar’s sexual abuse. Thanks to Gothard’s philosophy, which saw fathers as the ultimate source of authority within a family, Jill felt she could not say no to her parents’ demands.
“It’s the whole umbrellas of authority thing. That was ingrained in me,” she said in Shiny Happy People. “IBLP and the teachings draw in people like my dad who want this control,” she added. “It can foster this cult-like environment. I absolutely think that people would be drawn to that.”
Jill also said her and Derick’s conflicts with her dad have led to a fractured relationship with the entire Duggar family.
“My dad does control a lot of things in the family,” she shared. “Family relationships were already kinda rocky … Everything within the family dynamic has shifted, and not for the better.”
Jill has promised to reveal more secrets about her family and her time on TLC in her upcoming memoir. Counting the Cost hits store shelves in September 2023.
Jill’s brother James Duggar calls Jim Bob ‘the best dad’
Jill’s Father’s Day Instagram post came one day after her younger brother James Duggar shared an Instagram post defending Jim Bob.
“Happy Father’s Day to the man who has always been my biggest supporter … I am grateful to call you my dad, and I’m proud to be your child,” he wrote. “Regardless of what anyone may say, [you’re] the best dad in the world!”
Meanwhile, Jill’s parents have criticized Shiny Happy People. They called it an example of “the media and those with ill intentions hurting people we love.”
“This ‘documentary’ paints so much and so many in a derogatory and sensationalized way,” they said in a statement shared on their website.
They went on to hint that they resented Jill for airing the family’s dirty laundry in public.
“We have always believed that the best chance to repair damaged relationships, or to reconcile differences, is through love in a private setting,” the statement continued. “We love every member of our family and will continue to do all we can to have a good relationship with each one.”
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