The Duggar family has had its fair share of controversies in the years since they rose to reality TV stardom through their various TLC shows, and two family members found themselves at the center of an odd holiday debacle just a few years ago. Back in 2019, Jill Duggar and her husband Derick Dillard landed themselves in hot water when their Thanksgiving picture with friends was branded “fake” by Counting On fans.
The controversy was sparked on Thanksgiving day 2019 when Duggar took to Instagram to document her “Friendsgiving” away from the Duggar family. Alongside a photo of herself, Dillard, and their two children – Israel David and Samuel Scott – all smiles as they posed with friends, she wrote, “we had a wonderful Friendsgiving yesterday!” The TLC alum went on to link to her blog for more pictures and videos before adding, “Haha and the boys had so much fun playing that they were so tired and ready for bed by the time we took this pic.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
The seemingly innocent post documenting the get together, however, drew the ire of fans, many of whom accused Duggar and her husband of “faking” the image, accusing them of a Photoshop fail. Commenting on the post, one person wrote, “you can tell this is so fake. Wow,” with somebody else writing that “it seems that jill still thinks shes being filmed for reality TV.” A third person asked, “Photo shop appearance by Derek?” Many agreed with that remark, one person writing, “Derek almost looks photoshopped into the pic.” Another commented, “is it just me but Derrick looks like he was photoshopped into this pic?”
Neither Duggar nor her husband responded to the comments, which came amid early reports of Duggar and her husband’s tumultuous relationship with her parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. Just a month prior, Dillard accused his father-in-law keeping money the family earned from the series without doling it out.
In the years since, the couple has put more distance between themselves and Duggar’s parents. In the Prime Video docuseries Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, released earlier this year, Duggar described her relationship with her father as “pretty toxic,” explaining that now “everything within the family dynamic has shifted-and not for the better.” The couple, who are now also parents to son Frederick, said on the Vulnerable podcast last month that they are “not rushing things either with my family. We want to have good relationships. We want there to be better trust.”
