Derick Dillard hasn’t been friendly with Jim Bob Duggar for a while now.
Sure, Jim Bob let him marry his daughter, Jill, but if you keep up with the Duggars, you know that things have definitely changed a lot in the past few years.
The news came out that Josh Duggar had molested five young girls when he was a teenager, and that four of his victims were his own sisters.
Derick and Jill stopped appearing on the family’s show — he said they decided to quit, everyone else said he got fired for gross transphobic remarks, but that’s neither here nor there.
The point is that a huge rift was created in the relationship between the Dillards and the Duggars.
And it seems like Derick is about to destroy that relationship forever …
Such a Mess
So yeah, Derick is not Jim Bob’s biggest fan. He’s been making that very clear recently.
Wow
Just in the past few months, Derick has stated that Jim Bob keeps every cent everyone in the family earns from being on television and that he and Jill have never gotten any money from appearing on Counting On, and that Jim Bob won’t let Jill come over to the family home without permission.
Just Awful
He’s also said that Jill really wanted to quit the show after the news about Josh came out, but Jim Bob wouldn’t let her — how horrible is that?
Oh Good
He’s claimed that he’s working on a book, a tell-all about his experiences with the Duggars.
Cool
But in the meantime, he’s just done a brand new interview.
A Familiar Face
The interview was with a YouTuber called Without a Crystal Ball — you might recognize her as the same woman who released those horrifying audio clips of Amber Portwood assaulting Andrew Glennon.
The Details
Derick doesn’t actually appear in the video — instead, she sent him a list of questions, he responded, and she reads his answers in the video.
Jumping In
So let’s go ahead and get started, all right?
Misunderstandings
The first question Derick was asked was about misconceptions people have about the family, and in his response, he decided to focus on the family’s views about modesty.
Nice
“I don’t think it’s wrong for girls to wear pants, get piercings, or have short hair,” he said. “I will encourage my kids, girls or boys, to identify their passions and pursue them, even if that requires higher education.”
Hmmm
He also touched on that whole thing where everyone thinks he’s a bigot, saying “Regarding those misconceptions, I love all people, including LGBTQ+. My little brother in my fraternity in college, he is gay and I still continue to keep up with him and he is my friend.”
Party Time
And even though a lot of people think that no Duggar has ever dared to toss back some booze because Jim Bob and Michelle forbid it, “I don’t think it’s a sin to drink alcohol, but it’s still illegal under the age of 21, so I will always encourage my kids not to break the law and they will have to decide where they stand on it after that.”
Clarification
He added that while he doesn’t thinking drinking itself is wrong, he does think it’s not OK to get drunk, because the bible isn’t cool with it, but he has knocked back some drinks in the past.
Delving Deep
Next, he was asked about the IBLP, the organization that Jim Bob and Michelle became involved with so many years ago. Some would call the IBLP a cult, and they certainly have a point, but that’s a rabbit hole we can go down into another day.
Keeping Quiet
On that subject, Derick said “I don’t have a publicly held view on the IBLP. I don’t know much about them, but I would say that the extent that they teach extra biblical precepts as god-given truth is extremely harmful.”
Right, Right
“For example, the bible is very clear that modesty is important, but nowhere in scripture does it say that pants are inherently immodest for women. My mother wears pants and business suits while maintaining modesty. Modesty is just one of many examples. Some stuff with the IBLP is definitely harmful, but we don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.”
Spreading the Gospel
“The bible is our ultimate authority,” he continued. “God’s word has been around infinitely longer than Bill Gothard [founder of the IBLP], and God isn’t worried about needing any defense. What people need to realize is that times change but God doesn’t.”
Great!
He made it clear that he and Jill aren’t part of the IBLP like her parents are, and what a relief, right?
School Time
About the choice for their oldest son, Israel, to start public school, Derick said “We have been open to both homeschooling and public schooling. There’s no specific reason other than we feel this is the right thing to do with our season in life.”
Goodness Gracious
And since Without a Crystal Ball is the same person that interviewed Amy Duggar this month — the interview that was mysteriously removed from YouTube after “someone” threatened to sue, she asked Derick about his thoughts on the matter.
Same
“I wish Amy could to what she wants to,” Derick said. “It’s strange, it’s sad, isn’t it? Amy is controlled by other people and we weren’t even allowed to be the first ones to announce our own life events.”
A Bigger Issue
He said that the announcements of things like “our marriage, expecting our baby, the genders of our children, our births” were made “not by our own choice.”
No Do-Overs
“If I had to do it all over again, I would have announced myself when were expecting and things like that, even if I would have gotten in trouble.”
What a Ride
He continued by saying “Your family relationships are affected to this extent — that you are on board with the family business,” meaning that being part of the family is intrinsically tied to being part of the show.
Whoa
And when he was asked about the current state of his and Jill’s relationship with her family, he began by saying “Most of my answers to these questions stem from misconceptions about our family, and this is no exception.”
Rumors
“What I mean by this is that people hear rumors for such a long time that they begin to believe them as truth,” he explained. “For example, some people assume that we don’t want to be around any of Jill’s family at all, but that’s simply not true.”
Just a Regular Family
“Like average families, we don’t always get along and at times might not even feel comfortable around some people,” he said — wonder who he’s talking about there? “But we try to work things out by keeping healthy boundaries and not sacrificing everything in the process.”
Poor Jill
Touching on the things that he’s said in the past about Jill struggling with everyone learning about what Josh did, he said “There’s definitely been some ups and downs over the past several years, but we’ve been seeing a licensed counselor, which has helped a lot.”
Prayers
“God has answered our prayers and has used this to help us through the pain and stress and grow closer together as a couple. We are always grateful for kind words that many have offered.”
A Miracle
He repeated that both he and Jill are currently in therapy, and isn’t that just the greatest thing?
Interesting
Without a Crystal Ball pointed out that Derick has been speaking on social media a lot for the past few years about the exploitation of children by television networks, and while he’s been pretty awful in doing that — we all remember the situation between him and Jazz Jennings — he said that he has a reason for speaking out.
More Secrets?
“My advocacy for children has grown from many sources over the past five years or so, and I may talk more extensively at a later time,” he answered cryptically.
Oh No
She pointed out that five years ago was right around the time that the news about Josh came out, and considering that and his answer … it sort of seems like there may be even more to that awful story that we haven’t heard yet.
Changing It Up
Finally, Derick was asked about how he and Jill plan to raise their children, and he said “Neither of us are bitter about how we were raised.”
Uh Huh
“We don’t accept everything they teach us into our own family, however we do follow some of those things,” he admitted. “Other things may have been good, but we may not want to do it exactly the same way in our own family, and in this sense, in raising our own kids, we will reject, accept, and recycle various aspects of our own backgrounds.”
Can’t Wait
And that’s that — for now. Derick said that he’d share more and more information as time goes on and he gets more comfortable with being more open.
Standing Up
What do you think he’ll reveal next?