It should come as no surprise that the Duggar family is worth a lot of money . But what many fans may not realize is that not all of the Duggar fortune comes from their reality TV empire. After all, television audiences are fickle, and future success can be hard to predict. Jim Bob is well aware of this, and since it's part of his belief system that God favors the wealthy, the Duggar patriarch is doing everything he can to stay in his creator's good graces by keeping his pockets fat — by whatever means necessary: 1. The Counting On Clan The Duggars’ reality show remains a popular fixture on the TLC schedule. 2. Looking to the Future But those profits needed to be divided many different ways, and the family has been in the business long enough to know current success is no guarantee of future success. 3. Living Large The Duggars certainly aren’t struggling. Despite having many, many mouths to feed, Jim Bob and Michelle own several properties in Arkansas, including the 7,000-foot “compound” in which they reside. 4. The Plane Truth The Duggars have also purchased two private aircraft. JB and Michelle’s son John David is a licensed pilot. 5. Jim Bob Moneybags All told, Jim Bob is estimated to be worth roughly $3.5 million. 6. Always Hustling A sizable chunk of change, but when you consider the size of his brood (now up to 20 with recent adoptee Tyler, it’s easy to see why the pious patriarch isn’t resting easy … View Slideshow
The Duggars really enjoy offering parenting advice to their fans. We're sure some folks appreciate this tendency, but it seems that just as many resent the unsolicited counsel. After all, the Duggars could really benefit from tending to their own backyard, so when they get a tad too preachy, their fans are often quick to call them out. This phenomenon took place in a big way this week, when Jill Duggar offered up some painfully obvious insights on parenting on her Instagram page. 1. Jill the Mom Jill is a mother of two, and she obviously takes parenting very seriously. She homeschools her kids and loves to share parenting tips on social media. 2. Helping or Hurting? Some fans find Jill’s tips helpful, while others feel that she tends to be a bit preachy while offering advice that’s already well-known to most parents. 3. Obvious Child Recently, Jill posted a new post on her blog about the importance of allowing children to play outside. 4. Yes, Really Apparently, Jill is under the impression that “let them play outside” is some sort of groundbreaking approach to parenting. 5. Jill Needs to Chill Needless to say, fans weren’t exactly blown away with Jill’s helpful hints. And many of them were quick to let her know that. 6. Sarcastic “Wow!” “A friend of ours called recently to check in,” Jill wrote. “She said that when her girls were little and her husband was in school she would take her littles outside and give them a ball to play with and that they’d play for quite awhile before she brought them home, tired and ready for bed.” View Slideshow
Most people have been on a horrendous date or two in their lives. Maybe the guy conveniently left his wallet at home, or you made reservations at a steakhouse before finding out your date’s a vegetarian. But no matter how many boring or awkward nights you’ve been forced to endure, you can probably say that no one ever forced you to find a babysitter just so you can sit next to them during a class or tort reform or some similarly boring BS. The photo above was posted on Derick Dillard’s Instagram page on Wednesday. He captioned the pic: “Glad my favorite study buddy @jillmdillard was able to come to class yesterday! You’ve gotta find alone time (no kids) whenever you can! Thanks @jessaseewald for babysitting!” Yes, Derick Dillard is in law school these days, and since men of the Duggar clan don’t do anything without the help of their women, he apparently brings Jill to class with him. Because every harried stay-at-home mom who homeschools her kids dreams of getting a night off so that she can sit there and take notes for her husband. Commenters on the pic were understandably curious as to why in the hell Derick would drag Jill along on such an incredibly lame “date.” The most likely answer, of course, is that Jesus instructed him to bore the hell out of his wife. As you may recall Derick has claimed that God wants him to go to law school . Presumably, this is so that he can fight for school children to be taught that the Earth is 6,000 years old and Jesus invented the AR-15 while feeding his brontosaurus. Anyway, Duggar men are taught from a young age that God wants them to be obscenely wealthy and if they’re faithful enough, he’ll set them on the path to fame and fortune. (Kind of goes against the many passages in the Bible in which Jesus condemns those who amass large amounts of wealth, but that’s a conversation for another time.) Conversely, Duggar women are told that their role in life is to be submissive and do as they’re told. Their purpose on this planet, according to the Duggars’ brand of fundamentalism, is to help their husbands get rich. And so, if Derick wants Jill to help him take notes in class, she would likely see that as her divinely-ordained duty. So we guess that her date nights will look a lot like this for the next few years. Hopefully, she’ll be able to hold onto that fake smile. View Slideshow: Derick Dillard to Fans: Don’t Watch the Sinful FILTH on TLC!
Jill Duggar’s husband Derick Dillard lives in a world where transgender people literally do not exist. Based on this view, the former reality star has earned significant backlash online. But it actually may not be the best example of how Dillard lives in his own, manufactured universe. Not after the ex-Counting On regular responded a few days ago to statement about his status on this popular TLC program. “Missing you and Jill on Counting On. Do not know why you are gone from the show,” wrote a fan of Derick’s this month, adding: “Loved watching your journey. God Bless you, Jill and the kids.” Dillard appreciated the message and wrote back: “We were going in a different direction as a family and decided to stop doing filming.” “Thank you; we hope you are encouraged in some way by our journey, especially our reliance upon our savior, Jesus Christ.” To anyone who has actually followed Dillard’s journey, this response is rich… … and flat out inaccurate. Last November, TLC issued a statement that said it had “no plans” to work with Dillard in the future after he made controversial statements about the LGBT community. Specifically, Dillard insulted and mocked fellow reality star Jazz Jennings on multiple occasions, lashing out at her transgender lifestyle. For example, just three weeks ago, Dillard labeled Jennings as a male , despite the teenager insisting in many occasions that she identities as female. Long before this latest jab, Dillard took it upon himself to slam the entire concept of anyone identifying as a gender that he or she was not born as, Tweeting: “What an oxymoron… a ‘reality’ show which follows a non-reality. ‘Transgender’ is a myth. Gender is not fluid; it’s ordained by God.” At the time, Derick tried to defend himself. Terribly. He stated that he had nothing against Jennings; that he “only [has an] issue with the words and definitions being propagated here.” So, you know, Dillard only has an issue with everything Jennings is, and stands for. That’s all. Nothing more! Several weeks after Derick first attacked Jennings and people like her, TLC confirmed it would never work with the bigot again. We want to let our viewers know that Derick Dillard has not participated in Counting On for months , wrote the network late last year, adding: The network has no plans to feature him in the future. We want to reiterate that Derick’s personal statements do not reflect the views of the network. TLC is proud to share the story of Jazz Jennings and her family and will continue to do so. Could one interpret this as saying that Dillard CHOSE not participate in filming, as he claims above, and the network then simply let viewers know that it didn’t plan on including him going forward? Yes. But does anyone really doubt that Dillard would embrace the opportunity to enter the spotlight again via a role on the show if asked by producers? View Slideshow: Derick Dillard Labels Transgender Movement as Form of Child Abuse After TLC Tweeted its quasi firing of the D-Lister, Dillard Tweeted the following : “Thank you to all those who have supported us and given us so many words of encouragement recently. God bless you all!” He also added a bible verse: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22).” Thankfully (or the exact opposite of thankfully), those who still want to hear from Dillard do not need to watch him each week on TLC in order to do so. View Slideshow: Derick Dillard Firing Prompts Applause, Outrage: Read the Responses! He’s happy to troll the universe with bizarre Tweets on a regular basis. Follow him at your own risk.
Jill Duggar’s husband Derick Dillard lives in a world where transgender people literally do not exist. Based on this view, the former reality star has earned significant backlash online. But it actually may not be the best example of how Dillard lives in his own, manufactured universe. Not after the ex-Counting On regular responded a few days ago to statement about his status on this popular TLC program. “Missing you and Jill on Counting On. Do not know why you are gone from the show,” wrote a fan of Derick’s this month, adding: “Loved watching your journey. God Bless you, Jill and the kids.” Dillard appreciated the message and wrote back: “We were going in a different direction as a family and decided to stop doing filming.” “Thank you; we hope you are encouraged in some way by our journey, especially our reliance upon our savior, Jesus Christ.” To anyone who has actually followed Dillard’s journey, this response is rich… … and flat out inaccurate. Last November, TLC issued a statement that said it had “no plans” to work with Dillard in the future after he made controversial statements about the LGBT community. Specifically, Dillard insulted and mocked fellow reality star Jazz Jennings on multiple occasions, lashing out at her transgender lifestyle. For example, just three weeks ago, Dillard labeled Jennings as a male , despite the teenager insisting in many occasions that she identities as female. Long before this latest jab, Dillard took it upon himself to slam the entire concept of anyone identifying as a gender that he or she was not born as, Tweeting: “What an oxymoron… a ‘reality’ show which follows a non-reality. ‘Transgender’ is a myth. Gender is not fluid; it’s ordained by God.” At the time, Derick tried to defend himself. Terribly. He stated that he had nothing against Jennings; that he “only [has an] issue with the words and definitions being propagated here.” So, you know, Dillard only has an issue with everything Jennings is, and stands for. That’s all. Nothing more! Several weeks after Derick first attacked Jennings and people like her, TLC confirmed it would never work with the bigot again. We want to let our viewers know that Derick Dillard has not participated in Counting On for months , wrote the network late last year, adding: The network has no plans to feature him in the future. We want to reiterate that Derick’s personal statements do not reflect the views of the network. TLC is proud to share the story of Jazz Jennings and her family and will continue to do so. Could one interpret this as saying that Dillard CHOSE not participate in filming, as he claims above, and the network then simply let viewers know that it didn’t plan on including him going forward? Yes. But does anyone really doubt that Dillard would embrace the opportunity to enter the spotlight again via a role on the show if asked by producers? View Slideshow: Derick Dillard Labels Transgender Movement as Form of Child Abuse After TLC Tweeted its quasi firing of the D-Lister, Dillard Tweeted the following : “Thank you to all those who have supported us and given us so many words of encouragement recently. God bless you all!” He also added a bible verse: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22).” Thankfully (or the exact opposite of thankfully), those who still want to hear from Dillard do not need to watch him each week on TLC in order to do so. View Slideshow: Derick Dillard Firing Prompts Applause, Outrage: Read the Responses! He’s happy to troll the universe with bizarre Tweets on a regular basis. Follow him at your own risk.
If you follow her on social media, then you’re likely aware that Jill Duggar is often criticized for her parenting. Sometimes the complaints are truly asinine, such as the time fans got up in arms because Jill put a tortilla on her baby’s head . On many other occasions, however, the gripes were more legitimate, such as the time Jill was accused of endangering her children by allowing them to play near a freeway. We guess the latest complaint falls somewhere in the middle – a bit more serious than “Mexican food as fashion accessory” but not quite as severe as “human Frogger.” As you may recall, Jill and her husband Derick Dillard perform missionary work from time to time. Or at least they did, until the allure of reality TV stardom lured them back home to Arkansas. Now that Derick has been fired from Counting On and Jill has quit the show as a misguided gesture of solidarity, the Dillards have a lot more time on their hands. Jill and Derick haven’t formally announced that they’re once again traveling abroad in hopes of winning converts, but fans noticed the couple appears in a recent photo posted by their church, which seems to suggest the Dillards are once again headed south of the border. “Pray with us for our group heading to Guadalajara today,” reads the caption on the photo above. The trip won’t be as long as Jill and Derick’s previous excursion, which lasted the better part of a year. It was advertised on the Cross Church’s website as a weeklong trip, but there it seems some members of the congregation are planning to stay a bit longer. “The week will be filled with street evangelism and building relationships to share the gospel as we help Vida Church continue reaching Guadalajara,” reads the ad. Jill and Derick have been widely praised for their philanthropic efforts, but they’ve taken their fair share of criticism for their latest trip, as well. For one thing, the Dillards are not licensed missionaries , a fact they received some harsh criticism for during their previous two travels. Despite having plenty of time to do so, it does not seem that either Jill or Derick enrolled in a licensing course in the year since they returned to the States. But the harshest complaints from fans had to do with Jill and Derick’s decision to bring their 8-month-old son Samuel on the trip. (It does not appear that 2-year-old Samuel traveled with his parents.) Guadalajara is commonly regarded as one of the most dangerous destinations in Mexico. Just last month, the city was the scene of 23 murders over the course of 48 hours. For obvious reasons, many are questioning the wisdom of the Dillards bringing their youngest son along, and some are likening it to Jill putting her son at risk for the Zika virus by remaining in afflicted areas while pregnant. We guess the problem with criticizing the couple for every piece of ethnic cuisine they place on their son’s head is that they’re that much more likely to shrug it off when the world expresses a legitimate concern. Watch Counting On online for more from reality TV’s most controversial family. View Slideshow: Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard Photos
Farrah Abraham has never been one to hold back, but she may have just taken her unfiltered relationship with her fans to a new level. As you’re probably aware, Farrah doesn’t keep many secrets with regard to her sex life. We’ve seen Farrah’s sex tape ; we’ve read her erotic novels (okay, no we haven’t, but surely someone has), and we’ve looked on in confusion as she hawked plastic molds of her various orifices. In a way, we suppose it’s a natural career progression. After all, Farrah became famous as a result of getting pregnant at a young age, so perhaps in her mind, it stands to reason that she should continue to share the details of her sexual activity with the general public. Sure, the other stars of the Teen Mom franchise don’t seem compelled to masturbate on live streams , but Farrah’s not like the other girls. In fact, Farrah’s really not like anyone , a fact that she reminded us of again this weekend, when she casually informed fans that her regular schedule of non-stop social media posting would be interrupted so that she could go terminate a pregnancy. “Oh my gosh! I had a pregnancy scare,” Farrah exclaimed in a cat-filtered Snapchat video. “Girls watch your expiration date — and that is on your birth control!” Sound advice. If the video ended there, it might be the least-WTF thing Farrah has ever posted to social media. But end there it did not … “Um, I’m gonna have to tell you a little bit later because I gotta go take care of it,” Farrah concluded . Yes, as far as we can tell, Farrah took to Snapchat so that she could inform fans of her difficult decision … while sporting a cat nose and ears. Like we said, the woman has literally never had a thought that she didn’t post online, which we suppose is part of her … well, “charm” is a strong word, but whatever you’d call that unique quality Farrah possesses, it certainly prevents us from looking away. As for the rumors that Farrah was fired from Teen Mom OG over those racy live streams, well, we think she confirmed on Twitter that she’s not returning to the show, but it’s Ms. Abraham’s unique way with words makes it hard to tell exactly what she’s trying to say. “Watching @TeenMom @mtv I’m so happy I don’t welcome anymore of @MTV made up shit to help mention the other trash moms feel important lmao good luck @MTV #2018goals #Sorrynotsorry,” Farrah wrote. Shout-out to Farrah for refusing to be limited by society’s notions of how words should work. And for tagging MTV twice in the same tweet. Watch Teen Mom OG online for more of the inimitable Ms. Abraham. View Slideshow: Farrah Abraham SLAMS Co-Stars: Bunch of Lazy, Closeted Potheads!
Jill Duggar just can’t seem to catch a break these days. As if it’s not bad enough that her husband, Derick Dillard, has been fired by TLC after bullying a transgender teen on Twitter, now it looks like Jill might soon be jobless as well. Yes, Derick says his wife will be joining him in stepping away from the spotlight, and while that might mean things are soon to get a little leaner around the Dillard household, there may be some benefits to the new arrangement. For instance, perhaps Jill’s parenting won’t be subject to quite as much scrutiny now that her family is no longer on TV. Ha! Just kidding! As long as she continues posting on Instagram, new Jill Duggar parenting controversy will continue to pop up at the rate of about one per week. The latest might not be as scandalous as the time Jill put a tortilla on her son’s head , but it’s still got Duggar obsessives all worked up. A photo from Thanksgiving has once again caught the attention of the internet’s finest mommy-shamers, and again, they’re filled with seething rage. Yes, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear, the issue of Jill putting her kid on the floor is once again being raised. Some fans seem to not realize the pic is several months old. Others are just leaping at the chance to once again look down their nose at Jill. In both cases, the argument remains pretty much the same: Jill is terrible for leaving her kid on the floor while the rest of the family eats dinner. It’s a bit of reach, considering we know nothing about the context of the pic, but that hasn’t stopped fans from really going off on the mother of two. “Jill enjoys procreating, but once the baby is born, she’s not interested in the least in the actual parenting,” one person wrote on Facebook over the weekend. “How about a carrier or swing — something besides the dirty floor? I would have never done that to either of my children.” Is the floor actually dirty? Who knows. Does it matter? Obviously not. Look, we’re not ones to jump to the Duggars’ defense, but it does seem like Jill’s not really getting a fair shake here. And it’s important to save your outrage, because we’re really due for a legitimate Duggar scandal any day now. Watch Counting On online for more from reality TV’s most controversial family. View Slideshow: Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard Photos
Jill Duggar just can’t seem to catch a break these days. As if it’s not bad enough that her husband, Derick Dillard, has been fired by TLC after bullying a transgender teen on Twitter, now it looks like Jill might soon be jobless as well. Yes, Derick says his wife will be joining him in stepping away from the spotlight, and while that might mean things are soon to get a little leaner around the Dillard household, there may be some benefits to the new arrangement. For instance, perhaps Jill’s parenting won’t be subject to quite as much scrutiny now that her family is no longer on TV. Ha! Just kidding! As long as she continues posting on Instagram, new Jill Duggar parenting controversy will continue to pop up at the rate of about one per week. The latest might not be as scandalous as the time Jill put a tortilla on her son’s head , but it’s still got Duggar obsessives all worked up. A photo from Thanksgiving has once again caught the attention of the internet’s finest mommy-shamers, and again, they’re filled with seething rage. Yes, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear, the issue of Jill putting her kid on the floor is once again being raised. Some fans seem to not realize the pic is several months old. Others are just leaping at the chance to once again look down their nose at Jill. In both cases, the argument remains pretty much the same: Jill is terrible for leaving her kid on the floor while the rest of the family eats dinner. It’s a bit of reach, considering we know nothing about the context of the pic, but that hasn’t stopped fans from really going off on the mother of two. “Jill enjoys procreating, but once the baby is born, she’s not interested in the least in the actual parenting,” one person wrote on Facebook over the weekend. “How about a carrier or swing — something besides the dirty floor? I would have never done that to either of my children.” Is the floor actually dirty? Who knows. Does it matter? Obviously not. Look, we’re not ones to jump to the Duggars’ defense, but it does seem like Jill’s not really getting a fair shake here. And it’s important to save your outrage, because we’re really due for a legitimate Duggar scandal any day now. Watch Counting On online for more from reality TV’s most controversial family. View Slideshow: Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard Photos
There are lots of fun things about being a celebrity. Money, fame, adoring fans … what’s not to like? As it turns out, if you just think about it for a minute, there are actually quite a few things not to like — for instance, all those strangers who feel like it’s OK to criticize you for each and every thing you do. Sometimes it’s deserved, of course, but a lot of times, haters hate just for the fun of it. The Duggars know that. They know it very, very well. To be clear, the Duggars have done several things through the years that deserve heaps and heaps of hate. That horrible molestation scandal , and the way Jim Bob and Michelle handled it? Despicable. Josh’s Ashley Madison mistakes and his admission that he was addicted to both sex and porn? Yes, sure, throw all kinds of shade at that. But a few days ago, Jill posted this photo of her younger son, Samuel, on Instagram: And surely there are things more deserving of your outrage than this. “That moment when you hear the rumble and you’re like, ‘oh no! Quick! Stand him upright before he….too late,” Jill captioned the picture. She added the hashtags “Samuel Scott Dillard,” “Sam the Man,” and “blowout,” just in case you needed a little more information. The photo is instantly relatable for anyone who’s ever spent any significant amount of time around babies. Things like this happen, and they happen often. But still, a lot of people feel like, for many reasons, Jill was wrong for sharing this. “What would possess you to post such a dumb picture, Jill?” one of her followers asked. “Slow day at the house of Derelict Dillweed?” All right, that’s a pretty solid nickname for Derick Dillard , we’re not going to lie. But things do get a lot worse. “Why the hell would you post a pic of poop coming thru onesie?” another person asked. “Just another reason showing how you ‘girls’ really don’t have a life outside of being submissive to your hubbys.” Someone told Jill that her post was “really not in good taste,” and someone else said “Seriously, it’s gross and nobody wants to see that.” For one of her followers, the picture was simply too much — this person wrote “SMDH – yes quick take a pic post it on social media. Screw the fact he should of been changed.” “Same as you did to poor Izzy bind him in a blanket let him cry as you take pics to post. Social Media comes before your kids damn Jill you are your parents!” Way harsh, right? But honestly, these people are kind of right. If you’re on social media yourself, there’s a good chance that you’ve seen photos like these — some parents just enjoy sharing things like this. You’d think that more people would understand that their friends don’t really care to see picture of actual poop while scrolling through their Instagram feeds … But obviously you’d think wrong. Still, this is all harmless, and we’re sure precious little Samuel didn’t suffer too much while his mom put off changing him for a second to take this picture. Though to be clear, it’s definitely gross. View Slideshow: Duggar Parenting Fails: 13 Of the Family’s Most Shocking Moments
