Amy Duggar King is no longer close with all of her Duggar cousins.
“I’ll just say boundaries are just very important,” Amy, 38, told E! News in an interview published on Sunday, July 27. “If you are not necessarily lining up with mine, then there’s going to be a line drawn. Unfortunately, that’s where we stand.”
Amy is the niece of 19 Kids and Counting patriarch Jim Bob Duggar. Her parents are Jim Bob’s sister, Deanna Duggar, and Terry Jordan. While Jim Bob, 60, and wife Michelle Duggar raised their 19 children to follow strict religious guidelines, Amy’s branch of the family did not adhere to the same beliefs about courtship, modesty and homeschooling.
According to Amy, she is no longer in “a bitter place” toward her relatives.
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“For a little while, I was really sad,” Amy told E! News. “I was really heartbroken. It was really difficult to make that choice, and now I stand by it. It’s OK to say we’re living different lives, and I wish them all the best, but I’m going to speak my truth.”
As Amy grew up, she especially condemned cousin Josh Duggar after he was convicted for receiving and possessing child pornography in 2021. Josh, 37, was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison after being found guilty. Amy also disapproved of her uncle Jim Bob continuing to support Josh and allegedly covering up Josh’s crimes when he was a teenager. (Jim Bob has never addressed the accusations.)
“It all kind of boils down to this, right? If you’re not going to protect those beautiful daughters from a predator that was living inside of your home and you knew about it, and you’re gonna sweep it under the rug and your mentality is kinda just to brush it off and to hide it and to lie, not only do I not respect you anymore, but I also don’t want to give you a right to get to know my child,” Amy said in a TikTok video posted in June 2023. “Just focus on the fact [that] the abuse was hidden and then [Jim Bob] was put on the stand, and he said, ‘Oh judge, I don’t recall.’ You don’t recall your daughters’ abuse? You don’t recall that? Well, then, for me, I have to protect my son from you. Because something is not right here. A lot of screws are loose.”
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While Amy did not reveal from which of her cousins she is estranged, the former reality TV star confirmed to E! News that she remains “extremely close” to Jill Duggar. (Jill, 34, is also distanced from her family ever since she and husband, Derick Dillard, opted to leave TLC’s Counting On before its 2021 cancellation amid Josh’s trial.)
“We were very vulnerable with each other, and just being like, ‘Hey, this is hard, this is scary. We’re going to be open about it,’” Amy added of Jill. “I’m her cheerleader for life, and she’s mine. So it’s like, ‘Let’s do this together.’ We’re stronger together because we can rely on each other.”
