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As you’ve no doubt heard by now, Josh Duggar was arrested by federal agents last week in Washington County, Arkansas.

He was charged with possession of child pornography, allegedly involving minors age 12 or under.

Needless to say, celebrity scandals don’t get much more shocking or damaging than this one.

So what happens now?

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In the past, the Duggars have shown themselves to be nearly indestructible due to the loyalty of their cult-like fan base.

Remember TLC’s seamless pivot after "canceling" 19 Kids and Counting, in which Counting On returned shortly after?

So is it possible that Jim Bob’s media empire will survive something as shocking as Josh’s arrest?

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We only have one person on the inside who’s willing to talk about this sort of thing, and thakfully, he says that the writing is on the wall.

According to this insider, it looks as though the Duggars will never return to television – at least not as we currently know them.

You all know who we’re talking about?

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If you’ve been watching the slow destruction of Jim Bob’s kingdom with any interest, then you’re no doubt aware that Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard have cut ties with the rest of the family.

Over the past year, Derick has frequently warned fans of the Duggar family that a day of reckoning is approaching.

Now, has prophecy has been realized, but rather than gloating, Derick is simply telling his side of the story.

Photo via Instagram

One tweet at a time, by responding to fans’ questions about the scandal, Derick is laying bare his thoughts on Josh’s future.

For example, when one follower praised TLC for handling the situation well, Derick was quick to correct their misinterpretation.

“How do you know how it was handled? It was not handled well,” Derick responded.

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“The public was deceived. Their plan worked. And we were told to keep filming and keep our mouths shut," he said.

"We called their bluff and left.” 

He also disabused fans of the notion that Jill’s siblings are still on board with the show and are hoping for a chance to film more episodes.

“How do you know they’re not trying to leave?” he wrote.

Derek Makes a Point
(YouTube)

“They didn’t know what we knew when when knew it. As I’ve said before, we were told to not talk to the others about what we learned," Derick continued.

"And based on our history, I don’t know what scare tactics are used on the others to keep them compliant.” 

Yes, it seems that scare tactics are among Jim Bob’s favorite strategies for maintaining the loyalty of his children.

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At this point, escaping the Duggar family sounds about as dangerous and terrifying as escaping Soviet Russia.

"Everyone has their own context, including timeline, incentives, fears/threats, information, etc. that they must operate within,” Derick continued.

“We pushed back for a long time & pretended like there was nothing wrong on the outside before we finally got to the place where we quit."

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“So it will play out and look different as each individual behaves & responds differently within their unique context," he added.

"My main message at this point is just for people to evaluate critically and not just assume things are as they appear on the surface."

"Thank you,” he concluded.

Mic drop?

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Some fans suggested that canceling the show because of Josh’s actions would be unfair to the rest of the cast, as they weren’t directly involved with the scandal.

"That’s my point Josh and his parents have nothing to do with the other kid," one person argued.

“If you cancel one show cancel all. Why should Jessa and Ben or John an abbie suffer."

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"Leave their show alone. Josh was already removed from the original show."

"Counting On doesn’t even talk about him," said this fan … misguidedly.

“It’s the parents’ show, you know that, right?” Derick quickly replied.

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“Josh is grown. He’s responsible for his actions not his parents siblings anyone,” the fan shot back.

“Then why was 19K&C cancelled if it wasn’t related to them?” Derick asked.

“I get your point. To me it seemed to be a rebranding," another fan said.

"Early on you saw very little of JB and Michelle and little by little they were getting more air time."

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"The focus should have been on the older kids and leave the parents out of it," the fan said.

Derick’s response?

“Yes, that’s exactly what they called it — a rebranding."

"Same business structure as 19K&C (I.e., one person makes the decisions for all and one person got paid) but it would be ‘rebranded’ to make people think it was different."

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"We pushed back often, and we were threatened often."

"If you’ll notice, we refused to go to the photo shoot for the intro of the show, ‘Jill & Jessa: counting on’ That’s why we weren’t in the intro, but had to do the shows," he continued.

"Finally, we called their bluff and quit."

"Will explain more later in a different context.”

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Derick has claimed that Jim Bob steals the money that’s meant as a payment to his kids for their work on the show.

But clearly, from the very start, there was more going on here than a simple financial dispute.

It seems that Derick now feels that he’s ready to tell the rest of the story.

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We get the feeling that what we’ve seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg.

We’ll have further updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.