The Reason Jill Duggar's Husband Doesn't Get Along With Her Family
Throughout 19 Kids & Counting's 10 seasons on TLC, the Duggar family — led by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar — presented a united front for the cameras. The religious parents from Arkansas appeared to be on good terms with all of their 19 children, even where it concerned their eldest son, Josh Duggar, who admitted to inappropriately touching at least two of his youngest sisters when he was a teenager. Jim Bob and Michelle also stood by Josh when he confessed to cheating on his wife, Anna Duggar, in August 2015.
However, ever since the spin-off show Counting On replaced 19 Kids & Counting, cracks have started to appear in the Duggar family's seemingly strong foundation. One big rift centers on Jill Duggar's husband, Derick Dillard, and his reportedly fractured relationship with the large clan. The current status of Dillard's bond with the Duggars is especially noticeable considering there was no bad blood between them when the former accountant married Jill in June 2014.
Dillard's supposed feud with the Duggars is a tough nut to crack for many reasons, all of which we'll elaborate on after the jump.
Derick Dillard has a long list of grievances
To catch everyone up to speed: Derick Dillard and Jill Duggar left Counting On in 2017, around when the ex-Walmart employee bashed transgender activist and fellow TLC star, Jazz Jennings, on Twitter. Cut to January 2020, when Dillard — who is currently in law school — accused the network of not paying him and Jill for their work on the show. The dad explained how he joined the series believing its stars "volunteered" their time in exchange for a platform to promote their religious beliefs, but later realized Jim Bob Duggar had allegedly negotiated a pricey contract with TLC. "It was presented to us as something that was done as a ministry that TLC periodically subsidized in the form of reimbursements for things ... but not any actual pay on top of that," he argued on Instagram (via In Touch Weekly).
Once Dillard learned the alleged truth about the patriarch supposedly lying about the contract (it's estimated Jim Bob is worth $3.5 million), he bounced. "It eventually became apparent that it wasn't even volunteerism, because typically volunteerism assumes that you can leave without serious risks, such as legal/financial threats, in addition to the extreme emotional pressure from within and without your family, which unfortunately end with painful burning of bridges just so that you can protect your family," he added.
Wow. Dillard didn't name Jim Bob, although we have a feeling he's not happy with his father-in-law.
Derick Dillard's angst has consequences
Unfortunately, it sounds like Derick Dillard's alleged issues with Jim Bob Duggar and TLC have caused problems for Jill Dillard. Derick elaborated on the strife when asked by a fan in December 2019 whether he's still close with his in-laws, to which he responded (via In Touch Weekly), "It's harder now because we're not allowed at the house when JB [Jim Bob] isn't there." He continued, "Jill even had to ask JB permission to go over to the house to help her sister when she was in labor because her sister wanted her help, but Jill couldn't provide the assistance until we got it cleared with JB."
The former reality star's claims seemingly add up, as the two supposedly spent recent holidays sans the Duggars. However, it sounds like Jill maintains a lot of love for Jim Bob and Michelle, writing on Instagram in September 2019 (via Showbiz Cheat Sheet), "[I'm] beyond blessed to have been raised by such wonderful parents!"
Our final word on this? We hope the family finds a solution to this mess, but in the meantime, you can check out sketchy things everyone just ignores about the Duggars.