The Latest, Most Controversial Duggar Moments

The Duggar Family is certainly no stranger to controversy; over the years, the uber conservative Counting On family has been the subject of public scrutiny thanks to the unique nature of their reality show.

The largest scandal by far to hit the family were the molestation accusations brought against the family’s oldest son, Josh. In May of 2015, Josh apologized for his “wrongdoing” after a 2006 police report revealed he was investigated for inappropriately touching underage girls, two of which were his sisters, Jill and Jessa.

A few months later, it was revealed that Josh had an Ashley Madison account, a social network dedicated to extramarital affairs. He issued an apology on the Duggar family website for secretly “viewing pornography on the internet” and being “unfaithful to my wife” (Anna), calling himself the “biggest hypocrite ever”.

Josh has since completed a long-term rehab stint and he and Anna is currently pregnant with their fifth child. “It isn’t easy and some days are very difficult,” the couple said of their marriage in a statement. “It is a long road to rebuild trust and a truly healthy relationship.”

And while you may already know about Josh’s well-publicized scandal, the Duggars have been the subject of many other smaller controversies as well. Take a look at the most controversial Duggar moments of 2017.

Joy-Anna Duggar accused of having shotgun wedding

In late August, newlyweds Joy-Anna Duggar and Austin Forsyth announced that they were expecting their first child. Joy-Anna proudly put her baby bump on display in some Instagram photos, but followers were quick to comment about the size of her bump.

“This is more than 3 months pregnant,” one person wrote, alluding to the fact that she must be only three months pregnant, since they tied the knot in May of this year.

“She really does look super big for possibly only maybe 3 month[s]? I’m 4 months in my second pregnancy and I’m not even showing that much. Wasn’t even showing that much with my first,” another commented.

The couple surprisingly moved their wedding date forward six months to May of this year after originally planning on getting married in October, fueling the rumors that the couple had a shotgun wedding.

If Duggar were more than 3 months along, this would obviously reveal that she and Forsyth had sex before tying the knot — an obvious violation of the Duggars’ rules, as the family is notoriously strict in dating and courtship guidelines. For example, the Duggar kids aren’t allowed to give full-frontal hugs to their significant others until they are engaged.

Jinger Duggar’s ‘rebellious’ Nike outift

Known for rebelling against her family’s strict rules, Jinger (Duggar) Vuolo posed in an all-Nike ensemble (that’s likely not Duggar-approved) for her husband Jeremy Vuolo’s Instagram.

“Her first pair of J’s. Retro 7’s,” wrote Jeremy, a soccer pro-turned-pastor. In addition to her shoes, the young woman sported a Nike t-shirt, which reportedly holds interesting significance to the reality family.

While there’s nothing racy about the tame Instagram photos, because of Jinger’s strict religious upbringing, the wardrobe selection is significant on many levels. In fact, in Growing Up Duggar (a book written by Jana, Jessa, Jill and Jinger Duggar that explains they dress modestly because their bodies are “a special gift from God that He intends for it to be shared only with our future husband”), the Duggar sisters wrote that they used the code word “Nike” to warn men in their family that a provocatively dressed woman was crossing their path. The word was designed to make the men look down at their shoes to avoid temptation.

It’s hard to say if Jinger is breaking family rules and declaring freedom by flashing the Nike symbol, but she has also made headlines simply for wearing pants and shorts, a major break from Duggar rules and traditions.

Jill Duggar’s husband accused of bullying transgender teen

Jill Duggar’s husband, Derick Dillard, was accused of bullying a transgender teen who appears on TLC’s I AM Jazz, a show that chronicles the teen and her family, after tweeting insensitive remarks about the show and the teenager.

“What an oxymoron… a ‘reality’ show which follows a non-reality,” Dillard tweeted in response to a promotional tweet from TLC for I Am Jazz. “‘Transgender’ is a myth. Gender is not fluid; it’s ordained by God.”

Dillard was immediately slammed by Twitter users. “He’s a grown man attacking a child. He’s being a bully,” one person wrote. Another said: “what an oxymoron. A Christian judging someone when our God calls us not to judge. Matthew 7:1. Disagree all u want, don’t judge.”

Upon trying to clarify his remarks, Dillard only made the situation worse by replying with the male pronoun, writing, “I want to be clear. I have nothing against him. I only have issue with the words and definitions being propagated here.”

Dillard’s words have reportedly sparked rumors that TLC executives were “not pleased” about his actions and may be looking to “axe” the Dillards from Counting On.

Derick and Jill announced that Derick will be joining a “one-year residential ministry experience that prepares leaders for life, ministry, and Gospel advancement globally through a program at their home church called the Cross Church School of Ministry.” It’s unclear if his new ministry announcement is related to TLC’s alleged disappointment with him.

Amy Duggar reveals graphic details about father abusing her

Before this year, Amy (Duggar) King had opened up about the abuse she faced as a child from a family member, but it wasn’t until a February episode of WEtv’s Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars that she revealed the abuser was her own father.

“He picked me up by my throat, all the way up to the ceiling,” she said of one of the incidents.

“My dad was like, ‘Amy, did you brush your teeth?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah daddy,’” she said. “And he was like, ‘No you didn’t.’ And he picked me up by my throat, all the way up to the ceiling. He was like, ‘You will brush your teeth.’”

“And I was scared sh-tless,” Amy said.

It was the first time that Amy has ever named her abuser.

Previously, Amy had explained that her abuser, her father, was violent. She witnessed “things flown in the air” and has been called “every name in the book.”

“My father tried to run me over with a car,” she said. “It scared me half out of my mind.”

Despite the horrific events from her childhood, Amy has been able to overcome her anger and has forgiven her father.

“It was a very heartfelt moment where I actually forgave that person who hurt me when I was younger,” she said. “So, it was a family member. I love that person very much and we’re better now. But I did need to heal from that.”