When the Duggars first returned to television after being canceled amid the Josh Duggar sex scandals, their revamped reality show was titled Jill and Jessa: Counting On.
Viewers were promised that the show would shift its focus from the many problematic members of the family to the two young moms who also happen to be fan favorites.
Needless to say, that’s not the way things played out.
These days Jim Bob and Michelle are on camera more than ever.
Meanwhile, Jill has quit the show in response to her husband, Derick Dillard, being fired.
Of course, it doesn’t seem that the Dillards are any worse off financially these days.
The reason, they claim, is that they never actually received any compensation for the many hours of their life they devoted to filming the show.
Derick says Jim Bob stole millions from his children by exploiting a legal loophole that enabled him to pocket his kids’ TLC salaries.
At first, fans weren’t sure what to believe.
Sure Jim Bob is awful, but Derick has many douchey tendencies of his own, and the idea of Jim Bob stealing millions of dollars from his kids seemed far-fetched.
Now, the more level-headed Jill is speaking publicly about the situation, and she’s removing all doubt about her father’s sketchy business practices.
“Up until the time we left the show we hadn’t been paid for anything,” she said during a recent YouTube Q&A session.
“There were perks – if you were traveling they may cover the expenses – and we were grateful, but we weren’t paid until we were pressing and we got an attorney involved.”
“Once we got the attorney involved, we were able to recover a portion of what Jill should have been paid,” Derick chimed in.
“We were strongly discouraged from talking to other family members about payment or lack thereof,” he chimed in.
Needless to say, this is a major revelation.
Jill and Derick have been threatening to take legal action against Jim Bob for quite some time, but we had no idea they already have!
This explains a LOT about why the two families have cut ties with one another (as well as how Jill and Derick have been supporting themselves with no income).
As far as anyone can tell, the Dillards and the Duggars have had virtually no contact with one another in 2020.
Now it all makes sense — Jim Bob doesn’t seem like the sort of guy who would handle losing a lawsuit well.
As if Jim Bob weren’t angry enough about losing the legal battle, Jill has been going out of her way to thumb her nose at him in recent weeks.
First, Jill revealed that she drinks alcohol in defiance of family rules.
On top of that, she revealed in her latest Q&A that she and Derick use birth control, which is also a big no-no in the Duggars’ world.
“We use birth control but we prefer to use non-hormonal birth control methods, because we don’t want to use anything that could potentially cause an abortion,” she said.
We’re pretty sure Jill means they can cause a miscarriage, not an abortion, and even that’s unproven.
But Michelle Duggar blames one of her miscarriages on the use of birth control, and as a result, her daughters have all been cautioned to never go near the stuff.
But clearly, Jill is none too concerned about her parents’ rules these days.
She’s setting out on her own, getting what’s hers, and finally living her own life.
And it’s an awesome thing to witness.