Jill Duggar Dillard is sharing her memory of an intense moment with parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar in an excerpt from her upcoming memoir, Counting the Cost. The 19 Kids and Counting alum recalls attending a mediated meeting surrounding her estrangement from her parents with her husband Derick Dillard by her side in the excerpt released Monday by PEOPLE.ย
Having written her parents a letter about Derick and her feelings, Jill details her father’s reaction to being called out for “verbally abusing” her over the years. “Pops took a step toward me, closing the gap. It wasn’t a gesture of reconciliation. It was an act of aggression,” the excerpt reads. “He towered over me, his whole body fueled with anger. My face flushed red. My eyes filled with tears.”
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After being asked to apologize for what she had written in the letter, Jill got emotional recalling her father’s differing demeanor when he addressed a young woman who had asked for a video with the Counting On star as he entered the building for the meeting.ย
“You think I’m some kind of horrible person just because I wear pants and have a nose ring, and yet you see that girl outside and praise her,” Jill told her father at the time. “That’s why I’m crying, Daddy. I’m evolving and changing, just like that girl out there, but you can’t see it. You treat me like I’m a prodigal who’s turned her back on you. You treat me worse than you treat my pedophile brother.”
The eldest Duggar son, Josh Duggar, was sentenced in May 2022 to more than 12 years in prison after being convicted on two counts of receiving and possessing child pornography. In 2015, the Duggar family confirmed that Josh had molested four of his sisters, including Jill and Jessa Duggar, and a babysitter when he was a teenager.
Jim Bob and Michelle addressed Jill’s memoir in a statement to PEOPLE saying, “We love all of our children very much. As with any family, few things are more painful than conflicts or problems among those you love. … We do not believe the best way to resolve conflicts, facilitate forgiveness and reconciliation, or to communicate through difficulties is through the media or in a public forum so we will not comment.” Counting the Cost will be released on Sept. 12.
