Following the release of her new book, Counting the Cost, Jill Duggar Dillard sat down for an interview with Mary Elizabeth Williams, who is from a publication called Salon. Williams introduces a number of issues discussed in the book, including Jill's faith, her views on counseling, and her family's reality TV show, and asks Jill to expound. You can watch the interview on YouTube or read the transcript on the Salon website.
It's too bad we will never hear the other side of the story from the parents' perspectives. I think they are very strong people to have the self control not to say anything.
ReplyDeleteWe already heard their side in statements. They suddenly want privacy now.
DeleteI agree! After reading the article, all I could think of was what made her resent her family so much, that she felt the need to blatantly attack them.
DeleteWe heard their side of the story for years with their TV show, as well as the Megan Kelley interview that JimBob engineered and had Josh sit for right off camera.
DeleteMuch like Prince Harry and Meghan, these two are relying on the fact they KNOW we’ll never hear the other side. It makes it unfair. JB and Michelle won’t say anything disparaging about their children or in-laws. It’s a strong value they have in their faith and their family. Thus, Jill can trash them til the cows come home without a rebuttal. She’s counting on this. But is she really “counting the cost” with this choice?
DeleteJim Bob and Michelle are not keeping quiet because they are strong!
DeleteYou have it backwards. You and everyone have been hearing the parents’ “side” for nearly 2 decades.
DeleteI think the silence from JimBob and Michelle is very telling of their side of the story.
DeleteThey spent 17 years on national TV presenting their side of the story. They're free to write books if they have anything else they want to say.
DeleteI think Jill interviews well. I hope her book becomes a best seller.
DeleteI think the Duggar kids got so use to living in excess like the huge beautiful home, huge food pantry with endless food, expensive family vacations all over the world, huge birthday parties, Christmas celebrations with countless gifts, designer wedding dresses along with huge weddings etc. and I think some of the adult married ones still want all that and will do anything to get it. I think those books and paid articles and paid interviews are all for the money and the lifestyle they grew accustomed to. These girls (Jinger and Jill) had totally changed their lifestyle as soon as they got married so Jim Bob clearly wasn't controlling them. The girls were constantly on social media showing how they now dress and live so how could they act like they were afraid of God and their father. They also could have said everything they are saying in these books online at any time for free but they didn't because there was not any money in that, but there was money in writing books about their family because they knew there were lots of people who didn't like the family so they would buy it. This is greed and dishonor and they ought to be ashamed of themselves.
DeleteHarry and Meghan's whine fest got them characters on South Park.. Maybe the same will happen for Jill and Derrick. It won't be flattering
DeleteHow do you know they're not saying anything? I think they're saying plenty, but only to friends and family members. They know they can't win over public opinion any more. That ship has sailed.
Delete10:19 Jill called out her parents for what they really are and Harry did the same except theres two different issues. One is Jill spoke up and the other is about racism.
DeleteIt is wrong for a parent to try to control an adult child's life, especially when that adult child is married with a family of their own. As much as the parents might not like it, they are an adult and free to live as they please. Jim Bob has a lot to be thankful for in that neither Jill nor any of his children have departed from the Christian faith. As adults, however, they are free to make their own determinations as to what the Bible says. IBLP did not always stick to the Biblical narrative. (It went over and above it in some ways, and misinterpreted it in other ways.) The grown children are free and independent, and get to live their lives as they see fit.
ReplyDeleteWell Jill's not acting very Christian by what she's doing now!
Delete4:16 Jill is telling the truth and she isn't doing anything wrong.
DeleteJill's book is on the NYT best seller list- good for her! I hope she makes millions.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Jill!! Keep telling your story and it will help others.
ReplyDeleteJILL MADE THE NEW YORK BEST SELLER'S LIST, AND I AM SOOOOOOOOII VERY PROUD OF HER!!!!!! WHAT A ACHIEVEMENT!!!! I AM SOOOOOOOO HAPPY HER VOICE IS OUT THERE!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, and she made it without the dagger beside the listing, like Jinger had. That means Jill actually sold that many individual books, and didn't have bulk orders (probably still stacked in a warehouse somewhere) like Jinger did. This is more the kind of book people wanted to read.
DeleteGoody.. relationship with parents- destroyed, relationship with God- questionable I'm sure...but she's making the dough right?
DeleteYes, I agree with you they do have such self control and everything they do and say is to the glory of God and thinking of their teenage girls they are still raising. It kinda reminds me of King Charles not responding to his rebellious son.
ReplyDeleteKing Charles is probably sick of his son's whining too! We all are actually lol
DeleteCharles is not even suppose to be on the throne because he and is wife are divorced people. His great uncle had to give up the throne because the woman he married was divorced.
DeleteKing Charles -- yikes.
DeleteWow ..it’s so hard to listen to Jill, I couldn’t finish the interview. She has somewhere along the way become so much a narcissist with everything being about her and her feelings ,and all her catch phrases. The truth is she wants to be in a small family and doesn’t want her large family anymore. I wish she would stop rehashing the same things over and over. I can’t believe how humble her parents continue to be and they are still willing to discuss things privately. I would have given up on my daughter long ago and yes her inheritance would be a dollar! She is robbing herself of family relationships..as the nieces and nephews grow things will come out and since she put everything in writing I suppose the parents of these children will continue to support their adored grandparents and Jill will be the loser..but she doesn’t care.
ReplyDeleteShe won't need an inheritance with the money she'll be raking in with a bestseller!
DeleteYes she is.. it's very sad
DeleteShe is a adult she can do/say what she wants now. Maybe she doesn't care about the outcome with family . Loves the Lord her husband and kids what more does she need?
DeleteShe's had outside influence. Not sure if it was Derrick or his friends or family but someone has talked to her
Delete@6:55 You're wrong about her parents wanting to discuss things privately. That's what they might have said in a public statement, but when Jill tried to discuss things privately with them, it was a total fiasco and got her nowhere. Her parents won't ever budge with their thinking (I believe you brought up narcissism?). Jill is wise to go her separate way. There are some people (parents) you just can't deal with. They won't ever change their thinking, even though they lose family over it. Jill didn't rob herself. She gained her voice, her backbone, and her self-respect. She can clearly see now who in the family is against her, and she can avoid having to interact with them for her, Derick's, and her boys' sakes. She can protect them like she herself was not protected growing up. She's free to live life on her own terms now. Free indeed.
DeleteIf you think the parents prefer privacy, how do you explain their decades on TV and parading their daughters on a primetime news interview to publicly defend their son? It’s tough to explain isn’t it?
Delete9:05- they didn't defend their son..
DeleteThe show and IBLP really messed these girls up. Just not having the show, I think Jill and Jinger and the others would have had a lot less harder time of it. The more I hear of IBLP, the more I wish Gothard had never been able to preach and build his organization. I think his organization has brought a lot of reproach on Christ. I never was a part of it, I barely knew Gothard existed, but I too grew up in skirts and dresses and under parental authority and courtship versus dating and yet I still hold to these things more or less, but the difference between my upbringing and Jill's is I never dealt with Gothard's extremism (not to mention the show). Yeah I wore skirts and dresses for modesty's sake (although now i think the dress vs. pants thing is about gender distinction not modesty) but I never feared offending God because the wind caught my skirt. Yeah I'm under my dad's authority as long as I live under his roof, but he doesn't, you know, monitor my buying habits or wardrobe, and he would never force me to do anything and if he wanted me to do something he'd talk to me about it first. I'm not gonna date, but nor do i plan on courting really either under the understanding of its meaning according to Gothard/Duggars. I think if a guy and girl hit it off in a normal day to day life setting and suddenly "Oh i love this girl/guy" hey let's sit down and talk, seriously. :) (I'm not big on surprise proposals personally. Just come right out with it.) My dad has many times said once he gives me away I'm my husband's responsibility. He's hands off unless he thinks I'm gonna drive off a cliff. :) hahaha! I left alot of the Fundamentalism that I grew up with, but to look at me people wouldn't know it until they talked to me. Unlike some, like Jill and Jinger, I maintain skirts and dresses only and i won't listen to Rock n' Roll. Jesus' burden and yoke truly is easy and light. I've found it so. Truly I have.
ReplyDeleteWhat can they say? Jim Bob knows very well that he has been called out for improperly handling his childrens' compensation for their work on the show. How about all those years of house cleaning, babysitting, laundry, cooking that the daughters provided?
ReplyDeleteIn Jim Bob's defense, he paid for their weddings, their travel, helped set them up in their first homes. Didn't pay for education though, and that's a biggie. But whatever those kids didn't get in a paycheck, they'll get as inheritance.
DeleteJim Bob did NOT pay for the televised weddings or honeymoons! Or their televised travel, or their televised shopping trips, or their televised parties, or the completion of their current house, or a lot of the furnishings and pantry stock within. Anything televised was paid for by TLC. This has been public knowledge for years and Jill confirmed it. He tried to use the inheritance and the threat of cutting that off as leverage against Jill. Read the book.
DeleteI thought the show paid for the weddings and travel.
Delete11:19 TLC paid for the weddings, travel, etc. Jimbob may have set some of the kids up in their first homes, but he was using money from the show that the kids earned to do it.
DeleteAnon 11:19.What makes you think Jim Bob paid for the wedding and honeymoon? TLC paid so they could show the wedding and honeymoon on national TV. Do you think they actually wanted to have a TV crew along with them on the honeymoon?
Delete11:19 no TLC paid for the majority of that. Cheating spouses give their wives flowers and fancy dinners when they are doing them wrong too.
DeleteYes. Who ever heard of parents charging their children for rent and food? Jim Bob justified taking the kids earnings for that. What a guy.
DeleteLOL 12:50! Yes, kids you created then treated as tenants in your house from the day they were born. What a concept! LOL
DeleteI thought the kids had their own personal money when they were growing up. As for me, My dad pays me a generous allowance for all I do: cleaning, cooking, gardening, laundry, canning etc so I can pursue all my favorite hobbies: buying books, sewing, quilting, knitting/crocheting, garage saleing and thrift store shopping. Isn't he sweet?
DeleteHer father told her the contract she was signing was about how she going to get paid. I think Jill is lying about a lot of things knowing that her parent's not going to say anything.
ReplyDeleteJill is married to a lawyer. He knows better than to let lies to go print, and she does too. Jill is not the one who lied her whole life. Someone else lied to her, and to us...
DeleteShe didn't get paid, that's the point.
DeleteShe probably is. I wouldn't put it past her
DeleteYou heard him say that? When and where?
DeleteNot the way it happened, 11:50. She was going through the kitchen the day before her wedding and her father said here - sign this - your siblings have signed. Nobody ever sat down with her, explained exactly what the contract was, or spelled out the terms to her. She certainly didn't have a chance to run it past Derick. Her parents knew they caught her at a vulnerable time, when her thoughts were on the looming wedding. They probably also knew that if they didn't have her sign it that day while she was still single, then they'd have to have Derick's name on it and his signature, too. He might not have been so quick to sign or as agreeable to the terms. I don't think Jill is lying about anything. She has no reason to make stuff up. The truth is telling enough.
Delete@11:50 Jill only saw the page she was supposed to sign, the one with the signatures on it. There was no discussion of pay on that day,. only her father telling her to "sign here." Remember, she was getting married the next day and everyone was in a hurry. She never saw the entire contract until 4 and 1/2 years later, when Michelle dropped it off at midnight.
DeleteListen are read the article above. She said it.
DeleteMichelle dropping off a contract at midnight makes absolutely no sense
DeleteThank you. One of my problems with her book is that we really don't know how much of it is really true. Her parents will never get into a public argument with her.
DeleteJill's story has been consistent, and I believe her. Why wouldn't you?
DeleteBook tours can be interesting I'm sure. You get to meet so many people from all walks of life.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is so interesting. I took Jill‘s book to do this. It will be interesting again when Jana or Johanna get married. (I don’t think there will be court-ship or engagement news. I think that there will be only be marriage announcements.)
ReplyDeleteI think it took Josh's arrest and trial to make this blog interesting. Very hard to white-wash things now that the conviction was made and the books are out.
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