Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have responded to the new Amazon Prime docuseries, Shiny Happy People, claiming the show paints them in a “derogatory and sensationalized way.”
The docuseries explores the dark side of the Duggar family and their affiliated religious organization, the Institute in Basic Life Principles. The docuseries speaks with Duggar family members and former members of IBLP, highlighting the abuse and mistreatment they often experienced.
However, the Duggar parents believe their family and beliefs have been misrepresented in the documentary.
“The recent ‘documentary’ that talks about our family is sad because in it we see the media and those with ill intentions hurting people we love,” the Duggars wrote on their website. “Like other families, ours too has experienced the joys and heartbreaks of life, just in a very public format. This ‘documentary’ paints so much and so many in a derogatory and sensationalized way because sadly that’s the direction of entertainment these days.
“We have always believed that the best chance to repair damaged relationships, or to reconcile differences, is through love in a private setting,” they continued. “We love every member of our family and will continue to do all we can to have a good relationship with each one. Through both the triumphs and the trials we have clung to our faith all the more and discovered that through the love and grace of Jesus, we find strength, comfort and purpose.”
Jill Duggar Dillard was interviewed extensively for the docuseries along with her husband Derrick. The couple shared how they were often kept in the dark about deals their father had made in regards to the show and how, despite expressing a desire to no longer be filmed, they were forced to be part of the series.
Jinger Duggar Vuolo spoke with RELEVANT earlier this year about stepping away from the IBLP and disentangling her faith from what she learned from a young age.
“We followed a teacher who taught things that were totally opposite of the Bible, and I would say it was cult-like in nature,” Vuolo said. “He would teach a lot of things that were very binding. He was very comfortable placing burdens upon people that he said were Bible but they were actually things the Bible was silent about. So I lived under a lot of fear and superstition. His teachings were full of manipulation. So for the past several years, I’ve been on a journey of disentangling truth from error, finding freedom in Jesus and realizing what the Bible actually says.”
The Duggar family initially rose to fame on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting. The show followed the mega-family’s lives and gave them a platform to share their sometimes controversial beliefs, which included prohibiting the use of birth control, family supervised courtship before marriage and modest clothing for females.
The show was canceled in 2015, when it was revealed that eldest son Josh Duggar’s had molested several of his sisters as a teenager. Later, in 2022, he was convicted of receipt and possession of child pornography.
