Jill Duggar opens up about strict upbringing in new memoir | Nightline

for as long as I can remember there was this sense of bewilderment with people looking at our family and just seeing all of us lined up in red dresses you know out at wherever and are they all yours where are the Duggars Jill Duggar Dillard nicknamed sweet chili muffin by her family lived a seemingly idyllic life as the fourth child of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar stars of the hit TLC reality series 19 Kids and Counting okay everybody it is time for breakfast the Conservative Christian and ever expanding family a source of Fascination for their strict rules on Modest dressing homeschooling and courting but now Jill and her husband Derek Dillard say that wholesome veneer masked a damaging culture of control even if you're an adult even if you're you've been an adult for a long time you're married with kids if your parents don't give their blessing then you're not honoring them and the family becoming embroiled in Scandal what's it like to know that your your parents were protecting your abuser the couple now discussing what they say cameras didn't capture in their book counting the cost what were the costs in the way that you took account of them biggest one is relationships closeness in relationships with my family that's been one of the biggest costs millions of fans watched as Jill Grew From a teen on 19 Kids and Counting to a wife and mom starring in a namesake show Jill and Jessa counting on appearing on multiple covers of People magazine Jill's courtship with her now husband Derek was a central plot line in the family's reality show the couple following strict Dating Rules having chaperones limited touching and no kissing you had courtship rules what struck you as odd if any of it it was unusual I wasn't used to being 25 and having to have someone with me at all times Derek did me for my kiss their very first kiss was on their wedding day a ratings bonanza with TLC's cameras rolling what was that like being told your wedding is going to be on TV I was very much conditioned to it but the night before their wedding the couple say Jim Bob surprised his 23 year old daughter with the signature page of this contract which committed her to years of filming and she says she unwittingly signed you write in the book that you you felt that your father quote tricked you into signing a contract the night before your wedding yeah I do I feel like I was tricked into it Derek you're a lawyer you referred to this contract as a fraud I think the biggest thing was it was a contract we wouldn't have agreed to based on the terms that we're given the 2014 contract detailing payments to the family starting at fifty thousand dollars per half hour episode and sixty five thousand dollars for hour-long specials Jill says the money was controlled by her father the idea that you weren't paid and yet your wedding attracted 4.4 million viewers you were in many ways the stars of the show yeah even the show AF soon after that was named Jill and Jessa counting on and we still weren't seeing income even at that point Jill filmed over 200 episodes and two dozen specials with her family but she says she never received a paycheck until she and Derek confronted Jim Bob about it you write openly you got to check for 175 thousand dollars but in many ways the revenue you generated one could argue was considerably more than that yes Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar devoted followers of The Institute in basic life principles a fundamentalist Christian order that promotes strict Purity and control and gender roles where the family must obey the father we believe in honoring our parents we're Christians but we don't believe honoring is the same as obedience The Institute Organizing Family conferences like this one in Big Sandy Texas reinforcing their faith and values Nightline was there in 2011. so were the Duggars at the time the eldest Duggar child Josh had been married for three years there's many different definitions of courtship but for us it meant really choosing Purity choosing to wait for a lot of things that people would take for granted so our first kiss was on our wedding day just four years later Josh acknowledged he molested five girls when he was just 14 including four of his sisters Jill says she told authorities about the abuse Josh never faced charges 19 Kids and Counting the show that made the family of Fortune was canceled after the shocking headlines came to light tasked with damage control Jill says she and her sister Jessa felt they had to give an interview to Fox News to protect the family brand it was like okay we need you to like fall in line here and do these interviews for the show go here do this thing and that thing to kind of like rally the troops and get it back together Jess and I were talking we're like oh my goodness the most of the stuff out there is lies it's not true and so for truth's sake we want to come out and set the record straight I was surprised to read that Josh was in the room yeah off camera yeah what do you see in that 24 year old girl who's talking I didn't want to be there I wanted to help my parents and I felt like I was the only one who could do this I was the only one who could see kept the lucrative Duggar franchise going without Josh launching that new series called Jill and Jessa counting on but Derek and Jill say they wanted to start their own lives free from the television cameras when we weren't complying with the Jill and Jessa script it was threatened us like do you all want to come home and everyone to know that this show is canceled because of you Jill also says small acts of Independence such as wearing pants and getting a nose ring were met with hostility anyone who is making decisions for themselves that the parents don't give their blessing that scene as rebellious eventually the couple stopped filming all together breaking with the family watching the way that my parents kind of protected my brother but then used me and some of my sisters it was hard and it's still hard to swallow there's like one point where I call my dad out about it and I just say like you treat me worse than you treat my brother my pedophile brother that's got to be painful it's yeah it is in 2021 Josh was convicted of receiving child pornography and is now serving 12 and a half years in prison Derek attended Court every day what was the Kaleidoscope of emotions there was a lot of surprise you know anger just bewilderment disbelief that people could believe that this didn't happen because to me the evidence was so clear you in the book called Josh a monster and say that you wanted him to be put away for a very long time do you feel like you'll ever reach out to your brother I have um one time just because I didn't know what to do so I sent like a handmade Christmas card to him but then I got sent back I don't think I'm on his list in a statement to ABC News Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar said we aim to deal honorably with our children our finances and our endeavors while imperfect it is our intent and desire to live a life that honors Christ 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 further the couple say today the relationship with Jill's parents is still strained how often do you interact with your dad especially but with your family in general like I'll see my mom at sister get togethers for brunch or birthdays stuff like that my dad's relationship's a little more complicated um but is it fair to say you're strange oh yeah for sure yeah for sure there's like tension there that we recognize I think besides weddings and funerals I that was the only time that I'd seen him after Freddie was born in the last five years probably Freddie youngest of Jill and Derek's three boys was born last year the couple hopes to raise their family and live on their own terms I would definitely say that trying to disentangle what I've been taught growing up and everything um it's a journey and you need to give yourself Grace recognize let you can have those positive and negative experiences they can coexist you can have both our thanks to Juju Jill Duggar Dillard's book is out now hi everyone George Stephanopoulos here thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel if you'd like to get more videos show highlights and watch live event coverage click on the right over here to subscribe to our Channel and don't forget to download the ABC News app for breaking news alerts thanks for watching

Channel: ABC News

Views: 1,513,105

Keywords: Cost, Counting, Duggar, Jill, abc, abcnews, book, celebrity, former, memoir, new, p_cmsid=2494279, p_vid=news-103143905, reality, star, strict, the, upbringing

Id: cF1TLlPaFq4

Length: 9min 8sec (548 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 13 2023