Three months after Amy Duggar King dropped a tell-all book detailing her experience growing up in and around the Duggar family, the niece of Jim Bob Duggar is catching flak for continuing to share her family’s drama with the public.
As TLC fans may remember, Amy used to have a close relationship to her uncle and his large family and made multiple appearances on their reality series 19 Kids and Counting years ago. In recent years, however, Amy has distanced herself from most of the Duggars and has frequently spoken out about some of her family’s controversies, including calling out those who’ve continued to support her cousin Josh Duggar, who was sentenced in 2022 for receiving child sex abuse materials (CSAM).
On Thursday, Amy continued to speak out about her estrangement from certain Duggars by posting a screenshot of an alleged text exchange between her and an unnamed family member who appeared to be reaching out to Amy regarding her estrangement from another relative.
“I have [a] ton of pictures of u and him having fun laughing etc. I pray u can think on good things and good times,” the person wrote to Amy, who fired back with a reminder of the boundaries she’s set with her family.
“Oh I remember the good times. Clearly,” Amy replied. “But the bad does not take away from the fact of the wrong. I can’t have someone in my life who refuses to take accountability. Who has gaslighted me and has made me fear for my life. I’m breaking that cycle in my own life so my son does not have to grow up in fear.”
The unnamed family member went on to tell Amy that what she’s doing is “all wrong,” but that they believe she will eventually see that it “should not be this way.”
“So u are never connected back with us ??” Amy’s relative added– a remark that Amy pointed out to followers was “an example of classic gaslighting,” while noting that the family member who sent her the texts “clearly” hadn’t read her 2025 memoir, Holy Disruptor.
In the caption of her post, Amy claimed that she was told by a family member that she is “troublesome” for sharing her story and that she had misremembered the experiences she wrote about in her book. Amy said that while those words would have sent her “spiraling” years ago, healing has taught her that “truth doesn’t become trouble just because it makes someone uncomfortable.”
She then went on to break down the text conversation line-by-line in an effort to “show how manipulation can sound calm, spiritual, or ‘concerned,’ while quietly asking you to betray yourself.”
While Amy didn’t reveal which one of her family members had sent her the triggering texts, many in the comments suspected the texts had come from either Jim Bob or his wife, Michelle.
Amy’s post also received an onslaught of comments from followers criticizing her for sharing the private text exchange on social media, with one person accusing Amy of “lowering” herself by giving the situation her attention.
“ … you need to learn to turn the other ear,” the person wrote, with another telling Amy that posts of this nature only create gossip and drama.
“People in the comments are already trying to guess who it was who said this.. and that’s just bad-mouthing certain people without even knowing who it is.
“Frankly, this is nobody’s business except you and this person’s,” they continued. “It’s YOUR family dynamics/relationships… but posting this is quite messy if you ask me… .”
Amy also received flak in the comments for making money off of a book written about her relatives, with one person encouraging her to “move onward from the Duggar drama.”
Meanwhile, others suggested that Amy attempt to resolve the issues with her family in person, rather than continuing to share their discourse publicly.
“A member of your family should not have to read your book to know what is up!” one comment read. “Have a conversation. Everyone deserves respect, you AND them. Stop posting on social media and meet for coffee.”
“Same thing I said!” another added. “This grabbing for more attention is honestly ridiculous.”
As of press time, Amy has not revealed which of her family members sent her the texts.
While doing press for her book in recent months, Amy has stated that she hasn’t spoken to most of her Duggar cousins— or Jim Bob and Michelle— in years. In October, while doing an interview with The Viall Files podcast, Amy told hosts Nick Viall and Natalie Joy that she believes the 19 Kids & Counting patriarch is a liar, a possible criminal and basically a monster.
“I definitely think that he knows that he’s done wrong,” Amy said of Jim Bob. “I do think that. How could you not? How could you sleep at night knowing all the lies you’ve told?”
RELATED STORY: Jinger Duggar Vuolo Reveals Which Disney Princess Movie She Won’t Allow Her Kids to Watch; Debates if Disney Is “Demonic”
(Photos: Instagram; TLC)
9 Responses
I’ve never had much regard for Amy’s behavior, and her pattern has been consistent. She has repeatedly positioned herself at the center of attention, shifting personas whenever it benefits her. She first leaned into a showboating extrovert role, emphasizing her distance from the Duggar religion for visibility. When that angle lost momentum, she adopted the narrative of the overwhelmed, uninformed relative, despite having close proximity to a cousin who was a CSO.
Now she has moved on to presenting herself as morally superior, attaching herself to any topic that will generate engagement. The pattern is predictable, and the intent is transparent.
The best scenario would be for all of them to step back from social media entirely and focus on raising grounded, responsible humans rather than modeling attention‑seeking behavior or tearing others down whenever it serves their goals.
Wasn’t Amy suspected of leaking either Jill or Jinger’s secrets a few years ago? I mean Michelle and JB are terrible people, but Amy has always been desperate for attention. She made fun of Jana after the latter was charged with a misdemeanor when one of Josh’s daughters wandered away from the Duggar compound. Mind you, Jana was watching over a dozen kids by herself at the time.
It’s hard to ignore the pattern. Amy consistently positions herself at the center of every family controversy, and her timing often aligns with moments that generate maximum attention. When someone repeatedly benefits from visibility, it’s reasonable to question whether they’re acting out of loyalty or out of self‑interest.
From the outside, it certainly looks like she has leveraged family turmoil for personal gain, and her behavior raises legitimate questions about whether she has been feeding information into the public sphere for years. Whether intentional or not, she has undeniably profited from the attention that follows.
Secrets are bad news- just tell it Amy! You don’t owe anyone silence- if they are ashamed they maybe shouldn’t have done it!
This woman wants to keep milking the Duggar cow even when she was never a Duggar to begin with. She says and does whatever for some clout. Pathetic
Amy is exhausting. I agree she should meet up with then to discuss issues and keep it off social media. If discussing issues doesn’t work out, then dont speak to each other.
Amy has already spoken up, for many years. There’s no reason to be doing this other than attention.
Clearly just trying to stay in the spotlight. I think Duggars are nuts but Amy has always been called Famy and that’s for a reason. She wants the clout. She even included the family name DUGGAR even though that’s not even her family name! (I don’t remember if it ever was)
Woman, you are older than all of them. Let it go.
I can’t stand this grifter! At this point I dont believe a word that comes out of her mouth.
Duggar fans always get more upset at people speaking out against this family then they do at what Josh, Jim bob, and Michelle did.