14 DAY TRIAL // Last week, TLC canceled another one of its very successful reality series, 19 Kids and Counting, after the May 2015 revelations (and scandal) that the eldest son of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, Josh, had molested 5 underage girls when he was a teen.
Two of these girls were his sisters, Jill and Jessa Duggar, who came forward to defend their brother in a Fox News special that doubled as the Duggars’ (and TLC’) last hope of not going through with the cancelation. By that moment, the series had already lost so many advertisers that it made little sense for the network to keep it on the air.
However, the Duggars will still get to call TLC home for another while. It just won’t be on their own terms anymore.
The Duggars are part of a child molestation documentary
TLC released more details on the documentary the Duggars mentioned would be involved in last week, in the post confirming the series’ cancelation.
This documentary won’t be about the Duggars as many assumed: instead, TLC is using the attention they got to shed more light on a very grave problem in today’s society, that of child sexual abuse.
People Magazine reports that the project is still in the early stages of production, but it already has Jessa and Jill Duggar on board, as survivors of child abuse.
However, how their story would fit in the message of the documentary is uncertain, since when they identified as Josh’s victims, they also rushed to defend him, saying he wasn’t a child molester: he was just a misguided teen who did “something really bad.”
For those new to the Duggar scandal, we should note that it started when a tab obtained police records from an older investigation into the claims of abuse, under the Freedom of Information Act. Apparently, Josh had inappropriately touched girls as young as 5 both when they were asleep and awake.
The only punishment he got for it was that he was sent away for a few months. When the authorities looked into the case, the statute of limitations had already passed.
An admirable initiative, or a cheap attempt to make more money?
As per the same report, the new documentary will also include child protective organizations like Darkness to Light, and the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
The ultimate goal would be to reach out to potential victims out there not yet daring to speak up, to let them know support and resources are available, as long as they ask for them. The documentary would also raise awareness on the issue.
“We realized just how huge and devastating the issue of child sexual abuse is around the US,” TLC says. “We felt there was a conversation happening because of the Duggars’ situation, and we wanted to do something to move it forward.”
This begs the question: is TLC really looking to do some good in the world, or is just trying to milk the Duggars cash cow for the last drop before it’s done with it? Considering how badly the Duggars defended Josh from child molestation accusations, how would Jill and Jessa help the cause if they didn’t even consider what happened to them (as per their own words) actual abuse?
So yes, the answer is probably that TLC is making one last move for the golden ratings before parting ways with the Duggars for good.