Jinger Duggar And Jeremy Vuolo's Most Controversial Moments
If you know anything about the Duggars, other than their TV shows, it's how controversial they have become. Since landing on TLC in 2008, the fundamentalist baptist family has been plagued by scandal after scandal. Most recently and significantly, there was Josh Duggar's conviction. The eldest Duggar son, Josh, was sentenced to 12 and half years in prison for possessing child pornography, per NPR.
Josh Duggar, while the most troubling, is far from the only controversial Duggar kid. On both sides of the spectrum, the family has faced criticism. Some, like Jill Duggar, are criticized for being too modern and not adhering to the strict rules of her upbringing. In contrast, others are still devoted to their parent's practices.
Then there's Jinger Duggar and her husband, Jeremy Vuolo. They fall somewhere in the middle. They've been outspoken against Josh and remain close with parts of the family, but like Jinger's father, John is a conservative Baptist minister. They've been hard for fans to figure out, and just like the rest of the family, they are not without controversy.
Fans don't love Jeremy Vuolo
Jinger Duggar Vuolo's marriage has always been a point of controversy, even in a family known for it. In the past, fans have come out of the woodwork in support of Jinger leaving Jeremy Vuolo. One sticking point, in particular, is Jermey's ultra-conservative beliefs. Back in 2017, Jeremy came under fire for publicly criticizing a minister for performing same sex marriage ceremonies.
"We're living in a day when basic teachings of Christ in regards to marriage and sexuality are being undermined and eroded, not just out there amongst the radical liberal thinkers, but amongst our so-called Christian leaders," Jeremy said at the time, per The U.S. Sun. "Just this week, we saw this demonstrated with the endorsement of gay marriage from Eugene Peterson and his subsequent attempt to recant, which really was no retraction at all." The reaction to that, as you can probably imagine, was not good and fans blasted his closed-minded statements.
When his Christian values aren't causing a stir, he's catching heat for not being Christian enough. In 2021 Jeremy and Jinger started a couple of TikTok channels, per Cafe Mom. On one of them, the couple would post reaction videos in which they'd watch viral TikToks and duet their reaction. In one since-deleted TikTok, Jeremy and Jinger crack up after watching a woman accidentally fall over. The video was allegedly full of comments calling Jeremy and Jinger out for mocking others (not exactly pastoral behavior) and was quickly deleted.
Jinger Duggar is rebellious
Like a few of her sisters, Jinger Duggar Vuolo has taken a more modern approach to religion as an adult. The biggest change for Jinger was wearing pants. Growing up, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar insisted their girls only wear long dresses or skirts, so it was a big deal when Jinger broke with tradition and ditched the skirts for something more practical in 2016. "Growing up, I had a set of standards that I took as givens," she wrote in her Jeremey's joint memoir "The Hope We Hold," per Us Weekly. Soon enough, Jinger realized that wearing pants "wasn't disobeying a biblical command."
For those of us that didn't grow up in the Duggar world, it can be hard to understand why wearing pants would be such a big deal, but to Jinger, it was going in the face of her family's traditions. "Modesty was a huge topic in our house, and we believed that wearing skirts instead of pants was a central part of being modest," she wrote in her book, per Hello! "I felt emotional as I worried that my parents would think I didn't appreciate how I was raised."
Jinger and Jeremy weren't the only Duggar kids (and kids-in-law) to adopt a more 21st-century lifestyle after marriage. Jinger's sister, Jill and Jana have both followed her lead and frequently sport pants or (gasp!) shorts in their day-to-day lives, per InTouch Weekly.
Jinger and Jeremy are breaking away
Though they've remained closer to the Duggar family than some of their siblings since "Counting On" was abruptly canceled after Josh Duggar's legal trouble, some fans are suspicious that Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo are distancing themselves from the rest of the family in a significant way. Jinger and Jeremy might be in the process of filming their very own spinoff without Jim Bob and Michelle. On July 6, 2022, they posted a joint Instagram video of them walking around what looked like film trailers with the caption "New project! Coming 7.7.22." The next day they revealed that while they didn't score a cable TV show, they did start a new YouTube channel.
Given the tension between Jinger and her parents, it seems doubtful that her parents will be part of the channel or that she'll appear on any media they produce, if they ever produce anything again. Jinger was notably one of a few Duggar children who did not go to Josh's trial, per The Sun. Her parents, on the other hand, have stood by Josh through his mounting legal woes; something Jinger will not do.
"We are disturbed to hear of the charges against Josh," Jinger and Jeremy said in a statement after his 2021 arrest, per People. "While this case must go through the legal system, we want to make it clear that we absolutely condemn any form of child abuse and fully support the authorities and judicial process in their pursuit of justice."