The claims and revelations from the Amazon Prime docuseries, Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets continue to grab attention. And with each new detail, the luster around Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar continues to fade and tarnish.
According to InTouch Magazine, not everybody is creating distance from the Duggar clan and the heads of the family have reportedly moved in as the new heads of the Institute of Basic Life Principles, taking over for Bill Gothard according to Jim and Bobye Holt in the Amazon Prime documentary.
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“Because Mr. Gothard has been taken out of [IBLP], from what my understanding is, is that Jim Bob and Michelle are now his replacement,” Bobye Holt told one of the producers on the series. “They’ve encouraged people to move to Arkansas [as well], which is completely a cult move.”
According to the couple, the Duggars are “trying to emulate Bill Gothard” in their new roles as the head of the controversial group. Gothard was removed from IBLP in 2014 after several dozen women came forward to accuse him of “grooming,” sexual harassment, and rape, posting details behind the allegations on a website called RecoveringGrace.org.
“Recovering Grace was a community online for people to share their stories of the abuse that they experienced in [Advanced Training Institute] and their own personal stories of recovery,” ex-member Chad Harris details. “It is where a lot of the momentum came about to push back against Bill Gothard for his sexual harassment.”
Jinger Duggar even compared Gothard and her older brother Josh Duggar, currently sitting in prison on child pornography charges. The docuseries added to this thinking, drawing the parallels between the two men.
“You know, you have this kind of parallel of Bill Gothard abusing young girls in his program and Josh Duggar abusing young girls in his home,” Tia Leavings says in the doc, with another adding their take. “Abuse shows up in everything that [IBLP] touches.”
Jim Bob and Michelle responded to the documentary in a statement, waving off the claims as “sensationalized” and sticking close to their faith as a shield. “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. Like other families, ours too has experienced the joys and heartbreaks of life, just in a very public format,” the couple wrote. “This ‘documentary’ paints so much and so many in a derogatory and sensationalized way because sadly that’s the direction of entertainment these days.”
Those who are wary of the Duggars don’t need a documentary to suddenly unveil all of the negativity. The family’s dirty laundry is out in the public as is, with the proof being their son sitting behind bars.
