People Magazine really chose the wrong week to try to launch a “woe are the Duggars” campaign, right? As we covered yesterday, People Mag put Jessa and Jill Duggar on this week’s cover, with a cover story that includes “sources” telling the magazine that Jim-Bob and Michelle Duggar “truly felt people would understand and eventually be okay with it” and that “none of the Duggars think Josh is to blame.” Skip ahead nine hours and Gawker reveals that Josh Duggar paid about $1000 overall to cheat on his wife, or to repeat Gossip Cop’s magnificent headline: “Josh Duggar In Ashley Madison Hack: TLC Star Wanted To Touch Women Who Weren’t Related To Him.” But before Gawker’s big reveal (and kudos to Gawker for that), the Daily Mail got their hands on several more quotes from People’s cover story. The mindset of this family is… astounding.
The cancellation of 19 Kids And Counting has cast a long shadow over what was set to be one of the happiest times in Jessa Duggar’s life. When the third daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar announced she was expecting her first child, she looked forward to having her pregnancy and childbirth documented on camera.
‘It’s now bittersweet,’ a family insider tells People Wednesday. ‘It’s not lost on her that Jill giving birth to Israel got an entire TLC special devoted to it.’
Jessa, 22, who is married to Ben Seewald, is due to give birth on November 1, her first wedding anniversary. Until her brother Josh’s molestation scandal broke in May, she had anticipated being the center of attention on the family’s reality series.
‘Jessa would have liked to have had the same sort of platform to give thanks, show what a miracle she feels her child is and express her gratitude… Instead, the show isn’t there to chronicle this happy time, and even though she’s posting on social media, the scandal still gets brought up by commenters. So much has changed for Jessa compared to what Jill experienced, and it can’t be changed back. And that’s sad for her.”
Jessa has been trying to maintain a public profile via social media and has posted regular updates of her burgeoning baby bump. She and Ben even devised a poll and asked people to vote on whether they think the couple will welcome a boy, a girl or even twins. They’ve also set up their own website www.theseewaldfamily.com where they post videos and share devotional messages.
While Jessa seems anxious to remain in the spotlight, her older sister Jill, 24, has literally moved to distance herself from her family and the media attention surrounding them. In early July, she, husband Derick Dillard and four-month-old son Israel traveled to El Salvador where the couple are serving as missionaries in an impoverished rural area.
‘Yes, it was ‘God’s calling’ but it was God’s calling at exactly the moment it made the most sense for her and Derick and the baby to get away from the spotlight,’ a source tells People.
Does anyone else feel like Jessa’s real thought process is “why even get pregnant if no one is going to pay attention to you?” Because that’s how it feels from these quotes. Jessa and Jill liked being the center of attention. They liked being the breakout stars of the reality show. And now Jessa is pissed off that Jill got so much more attention and that their Chester Molester brother ruined it for everybody. So while we’re feeling sympathetic towards Josh’s wife Anna today, let’s also pour one out for Jessa. She got pregnant because she was promised more attention, only to see her brother once again dominating headlines.
Photos courtesy of Duggars’ social media.
She should move and become a Kardashian.
Poor little narcissistic cult member.
I’d be sad that she grew up with no attention from her parents, but she’s an adult and married, and could get out if she wanted.
As crazy as it sounds, I prefer the Kartrashian Klan to these people.
The Kardashians are decidedly the more honest of the two. There is no denial from the Kardashians that they want money and fame. They are also smarter about their hustle, they built their brand on their dysfunctional family. There was no charade about being wholesome.
Shoot, me too. And I think those Ks are the scum of the earth.
As much as the Kardashian’s are annoying as hell, they haven’t enabled a child molester and shamed the victims to defending the criminal act.
In fact, with the Caitlyn Jenner situation, they have made things better for transgender people.
And that is my one nice thing for the day.
And the Kardahians don’t go out there judging people on their sexuality or religions. As vapid as they are, they at least are honest.
There’s nothing crazy about that. The Kardashians might be annoying, but they would probably just shrug and pity me if someone told them who I was and that I had no interest in waist training or lip injections.
If someone told the Duggars about my political beliefs and about the sexual and reproductive choices I’ve made, they’d consider me hell-bound. They want me to live like them, and ideally they’d like to change laws so that I HAD to live like them.
Agreed. The Kardashians do seem to have more integrity than this horrible Duggar family.
Let’s not forget though the relationship between the youngest, Kendall’s sister, and Tyga or what’s his name. Some commentators were saying they started the relationships when she was minor and under the age of consent? I am not saying something happened there, but still, some commentators picked that up.
PumpkinPie– Kylie and Tyga were traveling out of the country alone together when she was still 16. She is so oversexualized and has changed so much in such a short time.
Neither family for me. JUST GO AWAY, pretty please.
Tut tut – you guys are awful! Clearly it isn’t about attention or money! This is about a platform to display gratitude and a show to document the miracle of birth!!! How could you question the motives of America’s most biblical family!?
Gag me.
America’s Most Biblical Family. That’s who these asshats are from now on. Thanks!
I wouldn’t tie these people with the Bible. The Duggars are a good example of how some people misinterpret one of the greatest books for their own human advantage and sick purposes. It’s idiots like these that give Christianity and the Bible a bad name.
If anything they are the MOST ANTI BIBLICAL cult. In the Bible it is stated that everybody is born with the gift of free will…well guess what, the Duggars and their cult don’t want their women to know that, because that would mean they have a God given right to think for themselves and be their own person, able to choose and make their own decisions whether right or wrong. That is what free ill is all about and yes it is Biblical.
With all due respect, SNAP, I’m currently in “the middle” of reading the Bible (as a literary / culture self-challenge), and there is a whole lot of stuff in there about how women are men’s property; it even goes so far to say that men are permitted to beat their wives and daughters under certain circumstances. Oh, and wearing clothes of mixed fabric is also a big no-no. My point: the Bible doesn’t say one thing or another. It’s teeming with conflicting stories and messages. That’s why it’s so popular, because people project their own interpretations onto it.
@neelyo – you are certainly welcome! 😉
@Snap – I was not being serious, I was commenting on how they think of themselves, how they have been selling themselves and how they are seen by many ultra “go-hard” right wing people.
@ladyg – BINGO!
I don’t think the Kartrashian family is any better than the Duggar family. The KarTrashians lie like the rest of us breathe and as far molestation goes…Kylie and Tyga started when she was at least 16 but no older and in most states including California she was still considered a minor. Both Kim and Khloe have admitted to having sex at the age of 14. No the Kardashians are no better than the Duggars just more out there and too greedy to be part of a cult.
I’m with you. When you have 19 children, at least one of them has to have questionable morals (crazy). I think what the parents tried to do was prepare their children for a righteous life. Now the Kardashians, please, I see no dignity in what any of them do, preach, or try to sell to teenagers to be just like them. Josh is the bad apple, but the with the Kardashians it’s the whole bushel.
Perhaps, but from all we know and all that seems to appear, all the sex the Kardashians/Jenners may or may not have had was consensual. Yeah, I wouldn’t want my 16yo hooking up with a 25yo father of one friend of the family, but it stills seems like she’s willing and consenting, same goes for the older girls. Maybe they had sex at 14, but so do many other teens, it’s not the end of the world as long as they trully wanted to (though I certainly hope their partner were about their age). And they won’t tell you you’ll burn in Hell for eternity because you’re acting differently whereas the Duggars definitely judge you for being different than the version of themselves they’re presenting. I never thought I’d say that, but the Kardashians are the better family here.
How easy it is to kick the one that’s already down…
“Does anyone else feel like Jessa’s real thought process is ‘why even get pregnant if no one is going to pay attention to you?'”
Pretty much. Why can’t she just enjoy being pregnant in private? Did she forget her purpose in life is to procreate? God must be very disappointed in her.
She can’t enjoy being pregnant in private because, thanks to famewhoring parents, she has been on tv most of her life. She’s so used to getting attention for being the prettiest little lady in the cult she doesn’t know what to do with herself. Not like she can get a job or education to fill her time.
Given the twisted thought process of this family, Jessa probably believes that her ‘true fans’ are being deprived of her miraculous joy…because, you know, the media is bad and her brother is good, and stuff.
I swear young people today don’t even know what privacy means anymore. Everything has to be shared on social media or it didn’t happen. But this is even worse because this girl literally grew up on a reality show. She doesn’t know what it is like to live without cameras constantly documenting her life. It’s going to be hard for her to adjust to this new life. Poor thing (sarcasm).
Someone should remind her that in her religion, vanity is a sin. 😉
Not to mention that she and her 19 year old husband are going to have to support themselves now. Life is going to be very different without that TV money coming in and no real education.
If a woman births a baby with no film crew to document it, did she even really give birth?
HA!
Brilliant
There are seriously no words to accurately describe just how effed up this whole family is. Even though they pulled the plug, I still harbor disgust for TLC.
TLC may have pulled the plug on the regular show, but still seems to think Jim Bob has useful advice to give on the subject of child molestation….
I hope that extra tv special gets pulled now that Josh admitted to stepping out on his wife!
I harbor more disgust for People ragazine. WTF is wrong with them???????
I agree. I don’t think the vast majority of their readers are interested in this family. Or the vast majority of the public in general. In fact it is a turn-off, just like their Kelly Rutherford one-sided stories.
I subscribe to People but never read anything about the Duggars. Jessa husband also gives me the creeps. She may be the prettiest of their clan, but she married the creepiest.
Email your thoughts to editor@people.com or @JessCagle on Twitter. I did!
A child molester and narcisstic liar/kidnapper. I hope this issue tanks.
Well, to be fair to her she didn’t get pregnant to get attention. She got pregnant because she’s been raised to be a mindless baby machine. It’s not as though she was ever going to announce that they were waiting for five years before trying.
This. I totally agree. And I pity her because unlike the men in her family, she has little to no choice about anything. She can’t work or have a career. Doing this – whatever this is – is the closest she will come to having something of her own that does not belong to her husband or father. I must be alone in my opinion. But I do pity her and Jill both.
Well it looks like she will have to find a job along with her honey because the tv gravy train ended. Maybe if they are both working they will be too tired to pop out 1 million kids.
These fucking people, I hope the latest Josh fuck up torpedoes their impending TLC special.
Karma is doing her special shit dance on all things Duggar and I am here for it
Yes Toody. ALL the YES!
All I could think when I saw the latest scandal was “#$%^ These People” and “$%^& TLC.”
That TLC would even *consider* giving these people a special to discuss abuse is just mind boggling.
Mayhap God is sending them a louder message, since they didn’t seem to understand the earlier ones.
Yup from your mouth to God’s ears!
This could be a good thing, she and Jill may be reconsidering having a giant litter of their own….now that the money isn’t flowing in.
Will these grifters please go away!
I could DEFINITELY see all of these kids abandoning the harsh courting and mounds of kidlets. After all, the family was only really possible because it was subsidized by TLC. And nothing really happens if it doesn’t get obsessively documented. I bet anything Jessa was pressured into getting pregnant ASAP so that the special episodes would be continuous!! Gag me.
Oh and FREE JINGER AND JANA!!!!
While it’s unnecessary to be the center of attention, it would be so difficult to not be able to celebrate a first child because everyone constant brings up your $h!tbag brother. Super people live and thrive on the attention that comes with pregnancy. I wasn’t one of them, but she deserves to be happy about it. Don’t go whining about a tlc special though, jeez.
Oh boo hoo! Now she’ll have to have a baby in private like everybody else. The horror!
Didn’t the missionary trip end?
Maybe she can get a can of free formula and diaper bag from the hospital. That’s what us regular moms got as “special attention” after birth!
I am so sick of this family.
Except for the Josh scandal. Because that is awesome.
Josh Duggar…the gift that keeps on giving
She’s like a Kardashian with a side plate of Jesus and a cup of loony.
Didn’t Jesus turn over the tables of people like her and attacked them with whips in that book they were supposed to read?
Yes. And He said you are supposed to pray in private and not go around touting your own virtue on TLC. Ok, He didn’t say TLC, but He would have if there had been TLC back then.
‘Jessa would have liked to have had the same sort of platform to give thanks, show what a miracle she feels her child is and express her gratitude…
Please. Jessa would have liked the same amount of attention her sister got plus a little more.
Not to mention all the freebies that go with it! Platform my a$$, this is all about the money, as every story about the Duggars post-“reality” makes clearer.
And the money…don’t forget the money. Touching Little Children paid for a lot of nice perks for Jessa and Ben these past few years.
That’s a perfect description of the entire family, MonicaQ!
Well, let’s be clear. She didn’t get pregnant to seek press coverage. She got pregnant because they don’t use birth control, believing only God can drive when and how many kids you have. I would imagine when you are one of 8 zillion children, you rarely, if ever, get real personalized attention, so I don’t doubt that the media attention feels good. I think now that the American public has seen the cracks in the Dugger’s highly sanitized portrayal of their family life, we’re quite over it. The born again community may still find some value in watching a fairly attractive family who won the I-have-more-kids-than-you-and-therefore-clearly-am-more-favored-by-God Olympics, but I think the rest of the country just thinks the whole thing is a bit more competitive and fanatical than is healthy, and that so many kids raised together can’t possibly get their needs met well, especially when the family can’t afford them all. Then throw in the Chester the Molester brother, the molested girls’ brainwashed “gee, it’s not his fault” response to it, as well as the desperation to get back on TV to earn that TV money, and it just turns one’s stomach a bit, doesn’t it?
What a twit. And I’m betting she will make for a very selfish and immature parent.
I so agree. She is so going to be a stage mother that tries to steal the spotlight…
It’s commonly believed that Jessa is Michelle’s favorite because she’s the most like her. Jessa acts like she’s above it all, but she’s a fanatic like her mother.
So the duggers where crying poor about how they where going to live with out their income from TLC and now jessa feels cheated out of the attention and focus she thought she would get for having her baby. Motives people!!!! They need to really examine where their motivation for having children comes from because it’s really sounding like money and fame to me.
Side note: I thought that they where against wearing tight clothing…? Yes I realise the poor attention deprived girl is pregnant and to us it would seem like a normal top buuuut, she might get a full frontal hug by wearing clothing like this….. Joke people!
I do believe Jill is in love with her husband and its authentic. But Jessa… I think she jumped into this marriage and baby for attention. Same with her younger brother, who then saw that blow up in his face.
I feel the same. I think this couple may not stay together, and hopefully Jessa can find something meaningful to do with her life in the future.
I agree. I think Jill lucked out and found a guy who went to college and earned a real degree in something other than Jesus, had a real job, and actually loves her and vice versa. Ben and Jessa on the other hand…I think she was h*rny as hell and took up with the first guy who Dad approved of. And I think he’s young, dumb and wanted a slice of the reality fame.
He’s relatively hot and in the Duggar girls’ case – if they are sexually attracted to a guy, marriage is the only way to do anything more than side-hugging with him, so that was probably one of the reasons too. I can’t imagine being a repressed, hormonal young adult, who just wants to make out with someone, but ends up being stuck with a douche and a litter of babies for the rest of her life. My high school crush/then a short-time first boyfriend was such a douche that even a thought of being married to him makes me sick. And he is super religious too.
Is Jessa’s husband the guy who hates Catholics or the one who wanted to murder a cat?
Hates Catholics.
The younger brother (Josiah) most likely was pushed into getting engaged, because there’s long been rumors of his sexuality. He’s been sent away to brain washing camp (Journey to the Heart) quite a few times.
Regarding Jessa’s marriage – I don’t think Jessa considered much other than his pretty face. How embarrassing (in their world) to be engaged to an eighteen year old boy when you’re twenty-one.
Interesting to read about Josiah, I figured with 19 kids at least one or two have to be gay and when’s THAT going to rear it’s head? These poor kids, they don’t stand a chance. Maybe the youngest ones will wise up before the brainwashing really takes hold but I fear the older ones are lost.
Sorry I cannot work up any feelings of sympathy for her inability to lock down her own Touching Little Children show or birth special. Too bad she and her man-child husband will likely have to find real jobs to pay their bills and support their quiverfull of blanket-trained automaton kids. Life and especially karma are biotches!
I will, however, pour one out for all the people who have been horribly denigrated and wronged by the Duggars over the years. As delicious as it is to finally see these wing nuts get a very public comeuppance, it still does not change the fact that they have used their reality TV famewhoring to say and do terrible things in the name of their “religion” and so-called “value system.” Their victims deserve and have my sympathy.
+1
GET A JOB!
Well Jessa, Broodmares For Jesus DON’T Get Pregnant for Attention, ya’ll Bunnies For God ONLY do it Missionarily to make Little Servants, so Get it Together sis
bwah hah ha! “Broodmares for Jesus” I wish I could find a way to work that phrase into a conversation sometime.
perfection
Isn’t her outfit kind of revealing? Is that why she is the “rebel” of the family?
She’s been so deprived of parental attention her entire life that I don’t blame her for using her pregnancy for attention. She hasn’t had the normal life experiences and education that form a mature adult. She is probably on the same emotional level as a child and does not have the education or natural intelligence to overcome her upbringing. It is tragic that she is bringing children into this situation. Shame on her parents for the stunted, dysfunctional people their arrogance has produced.
This.
How starved this entire family must be.
Jessa has received more parental attention than the majority of her siblings. She was number five, and born before Jana and Jill were old enough to have the babies passed off to.
It must run in the family. The father of whole clan is upset that the family secrets have been released.
Not that he did a poor job of parenting. Not that his son is violating girl including family members.
It’s everyone fault but him.
Jessa should worry that by the time she reaches middle age she will have victim stress disorder from no one getting her counseling from the abuse she suffered.
Yup, that’s what I said in yesterday’s thread too. They’re all so upset their TV shows are getting canceled because the dirt got aired out in public, not that a member of the family is an abusive pervert (and apparently a cheater as well) or that the women of their family were his victims. All they care about is the fame and attention, and money I supposed.
‘Famewhore’ seems unnecessarily derogatory, doesn’t it? She hasn’t done a thing wrong, this was all brought about by her parents and her brother. No, I don’t agree with this family’s viewpoints, and I do wish they would fade away. But I find it in me to cackle with glee at any of the girls.
I’m with you on this. I feel sorry for her. She was victimized by her brother and has never had access to real help.
First,I hope she has a healthy pregnancy and baby. Second, I hope if it is a girl she has one synapse that still fires and KEEP THE BABY AWAY FROM THE MOLESTER!!! And third, Gossip Cop/Gawker’s writing needs to get an LMFAO award. That line about Jabba the Josh getting busted on Ashley Madison is priceless.
I think it would be hilarious if of them ended up with 10 or 12 boys and had to actually do all the childcare themselves instead of foisting them off on the oldest girl. Because we all know boys can’t take care of babies.
Yeah, she’s basically no different than any other reality show attention seeker. That being said, I still feel a little sorry for her, and for the boy, and for their upcoming baby. I don’t think she specifically got pregnant to get attention, but I think she married someone she doesn’t actually care that much about because having a wedding (which by her values, would then quickly be followed by a baby) was a way to be a glamorous adult woman, get lots of attention, and escape her father’s grasp. Now that she doesn’t get that, she’s stuck with the boy and the baby anyway. I’d give her marriage even worse odds than her brother’s, and I think she genuinely might break away from the rest of the clan (look at that sleeveless top!) as she realizes she’s not going to get the fulfillment she thought she was bargaining for. That would be a good thing.
FU*KING DEAD @ “Pour one out for Jessa”
Seriously, I’m crying.
It doesn’t seem all that “Christian” to want so much attention and glory. Just saying.
I’ve never understood why some women think they deserve so much praise and attention for being pregnant. The overwhelming majority of the world’s population experiences pregnancy or has a partner experience it. It’s about as special and unique as getting a zit.
I totally agree with you and I’m glad someone finally said it.
YES. Cannot stand women who act like they are the first to ever be pregnant, give birth, parent, etc. IT’S NOT SPECIAL. Females breed & it’s not special or unique.
+10000
I do have a dash of sympathy for her… Not because she’s not getting a birth special on TLC, but because she was brain washed to believe her parents had found the never ending gravy train, so marrying a virtual child with no ambition or skills beyond marrying her and doing what his father in law said to do, at that father’s recommendation, seemed like a good plan for her life. And now that she’s being a good girl and having a baby right on schedule, her creepy, disgusting brother who has overshadowed her entire life with his creepiness, (at a minimum) is effing up the whole thing. She must be wondering how this all happened, after working so hard to forgive him and rid herself of whatever “sin” she was guilty of for ten odd years, her life is still a shit show, and it’s still because of Josh. Or, uh, sin.
I mean, she must be so bewildered. She did everything her dad said to do, and she was told all her life that would equal getting what she wanted.
That being said, how do you give a fuck about any of this when you’re having your first baby? I lived far from friends and family when I was first pregnant, and I enjoyed not being in the middle of everything, just being able to focus on my tiny human.
But yeah, that shirt is WAY tight. I’m guessing once you’re fulfilling your purpose as a woman, you’re allowed to flaunt it if you’ve got it?
It’s going to take more than a few months out of the viewing line up to adjust. I hope she and her husband jump the shark and escape. I’m sorry for what happened to her and wish her and the other kids the best.
I seriously believe that thete is more buried nuggets of gossip with that family. She should be happy that there’s a possibility the rest of the s#!* storm will not receive as mush attention.
Oh and I don’t think the kids will have as many kids without the $$$ from tv.
Go sit down, get some counseling and start anew.
Ben looks like he wants to run in all the pics, he was only a teen when they meet and the fame was at the highest, but now you look in any pic and Jessa is all over him and he looks like he wants to run!!
Oh and poor Jana is the parent to the rest of the squirrels kids!!!
Dang Gawker, good headline.
The times we live in. If it didn’t happen on camera, it didn’t happen. 🙁
I do feel a little bad for Jessa if Instagram commenters are still bringing up the molestation thing. It must hurt to put up a picture and then get a response being like “omggggg you protected a molesterrrrrrr.” I know she can always quit Instagram, but I feel like it’s pretty much her only window to the real world.
That said, I find the rest of her family whack-a-doodle crazy and I am dying (as mean-spirited as it is) to see what kind of fallout Josh gets. Like, keep checking the Daily Mail every five minutes dying. I am also hoping (again, as mean-spirited as it is) that the Duggars will go into bankruptcy and have to do a “Don’t Have 19 Kids” PSA as part of their punishment. Finally, my last hope that one of those kids snaps, gets out, and writes a tell-all for millions. And that they all find bc so that they don’t reproduce. Now off to refresh the DM!
I honestly think the tell-all is the next step. One or a group of of the kids will decide that splitting with the family and airing all the dirty secrets is worth a few bucks at least, and dictate a book to a ghostwriter (they all seem barely literate to me and not very articulate, so a good ghostwriter will be essential). Then that kid or kids will spin the book into a reality TV show — “Surviving the Quiver,” or something like that — and await the tsunami of sweet, sweet reality TV cash.
Grow up Jessa.
Ah, I see. Aborting a child is evil, but bringing children into the world and exploiting their lives for profit is totes okay.
Dear Jessa – Life isn’t fair. Sincerely, The Universe
I love this site so much. That is all. Ha ha ha!
Oh, it’s tragic. I know it’s tragic. But this place is the only place on the Internet that gets it. I swear.
Do any of the women have jobs? Or does she just sit around all day? Sounds to me like she’s bored and feeling sorry for herself.
Getting pregnant shouldn’t be about getting attention. It is so sad that’s one of the reasons why she wanted children. As for filming, she can ask her hubby to do that.
Shame I don’t play the violin. I would’ve liked to have played a tune for her.
That torqouise dress is the most revealing thing I’ve ever seen a Duggar wear. I know she’s pregnant but cap sleeves and a tight fit? I doubt Jim Bob and Michelle approve.
I’ve always thought that when they’re away from their family, the married girls must wear whatever the hell they want to, now that they finally can. And I doubt their young husbands mind seeing a little more skin. Lol.
That was probably the reason why she got married as well – attention, attention, attention, and to leave the parents house. Cant say I am surprised though – they were never allowed to be children and given the attention they should have. Plus, its difficult to expect normal reactions from people who have been as brainwashed as the members of this family. I hope one of these days someone will pop the Duggars’ “bubble”. Hopefully it will be the molester and cheater, but I am sure that there is more in this family thats yet to see the daylight.
Jessa – this is where real friends are great. Go out in life and meet brand new people who don’t all parrot the same obviously predatory and clueless ideas. Real friends will be there for you when news of your molestation hits – IF you want them to be, because real friends understand consent. They will bask in your growing belly and realize your need/desire to focus on the positive in your lives and empower you to have a happy future. They will share your joy because they love you, not because you further their cause, you were ‘trained well’, or because birth is something to capitalize on. Please try it.