Duggar Fans Accuse Austin Forsyth of Emotionally Abusing Joy-Anna

Duggar fans can’t seem to let the TLC family live.

Counting On viewers are now coming for Joy-Anna (Duggar) Forsyth’s husband Austin, accusing him of being controlling at best and abusive at worst.

A Duggar critic took to Reddit recently, as reported by InTouch Weekly, criticizing the couple’s relationship and opening up a can of worms as to whether Joy-Anna is a victim of domestic abuse.

Reddit user @crazykak writes that they believet Austin “at the very least, [is] emotionally abusive” in a thread dedicated to the topic.

“I think Austin is a creep. I really think he is at the very least emotionally abusive. He seems super controlling and Joy just looks to him for answers to everything. She is so used to obeying her parents without question, and being so young and brainwashed makes her so vulnerable to domestic abuse,” Reddit user @crazykak wrote in a thread entitled, Do You Think Austin is Abusive. “She was so indecisive with wedding details and seems like a really naive little girl. Austin just gives off dark vibes to me on the YouTube clips — thoughts?”

Some fans agreed, with one writing that Austin is “100 percent in the right place to be at least emotionally abusive, since Joy does not have a mind of her own.”

The commenter continued, “[She] always looks to him whenever they are asked a question. Plus she’s only 20 and a lot less knowledgeable (and she acts it too) than he is.”

It’s clear that Joy-Anna does lean on her husband at evidenced points in their relationship, like during last year’s episode of Counting On when the couple went cake tasting prior to their wedding.

When Joy-Anna was a little overwhelmed with picking out a flavor, she turned to her husband-to-be for his opinion, to which he responded, “It’s your cake.”

“It’s our cake,” Joy-Anna retorted.

So, while she did seem to be looking for his guidance, Austin didn’t seem like he was controlling her at the time.

The couple welcomed their first child, a son named Gideon, in February, a point which was brought up several times in the negative thread.

The user crazykak replied, “I can see him being abusive to his Gideon and the rest of his future kids for sure because of the Pearl tips.”

The Pearls, who are scheduled to speak at Austin’s family’s Christian camp this year, are infamous for their book, To Train Up a Child, which advocates “switching” babies as young as 6 months with a rod, and has been implicated in at least four cases of abuse that led to the death of a child.

However, not everyone thought Austin was controlling toward his wife, and many people in the thread said they think he just might be a more reserved person in front of the cameras, compared to Joy-Anna’s bubbly demeanor.

“This won’t be the most popular opinion, but I can actually kind of see him being really sweet to Joy in private,” one person commented. “From what I’ve gathered he’s just very serious. He also grew up in an environment where men aren’t supposed to show a lot of emotions and he’s the only son in his family. I know quite a few guys who aren’t outgoing or super affectionate in public, but are very caring and loving in private.”

Joy-Anna has always seemed like an opinionated woman, and let’s hope that marriage hasn’t quelled that at all. As for their relationship, it’s hard to make judgements based on people whose lives we don’t see on a day-to-day basis.

Photo credit: Instagram/Joy-Anna/Austin Forsyth