Former Counting On star Joy Forsyth says she’s “really been struggling” following the March arrest of her brother Joe Duggar, with the mom of three also telling older sister Jinger Vuolo that that speaking out about their family’s latest scandal often leads to the situation being “rubbed in [their] faces.”
As The Ashley previously reported, Joe was arrested in March after a 14-year-old girl disclosed in a forensic interview several sexual abuse incidents involving the former TLC star, which allegedly occurred during a 2020 vacation in Florida when the victim was nine years old. The 31-year-old is facing two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior.
(Shortly after Joe’s arrest, unrelated charges were filed in Arkansas against Joe and his wife Kendra Duggar, with each receiving four counts of false imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child; both have pleaded not guilty to the alleged crimes.)
On this week’s episode of her and husband Jeremy Vuolo’s The Jinger & Jeremy Podcast, Jinger welcomed Joy for a one-on-one episode where the sisters spoke about the “hard season” they’ve been going through.
“I am getting through all of this,” Joy told Jinger. “I feel like every day it’s different and I think that it’s probably been the hardest time I’ve ever gone through, honestly … but it’s also been so sweet. And so, I think we’re all grieving in different ways … .”
Joy went on to explain that while every day “feels so heavy,” certain things “have gotten lighter” as times goes on. She also told Jinger that this difficult time has made her “lean on the Lord more than I ever have,” which she said was a “positive thing. Still, Joy reiterated that she has “really been struggling.”
“You can’t plan for something like this,” Jinger told Joy. “ … it’s so tough.”
While neither Jinger nor Joy mentioned their brother or his recent arrest directly during the podcast episode, the sisters have both addressed the topic publicly in recent months. In a statement posted to social media in March, Joy– who was once very close to Joe– called the news of her brother’s alleged crimes “heartbreaking and deeply disturbing.” Last month, she went on to tell followers in an Instagram Q&A that it has “been a heavy season personally.”
Meanwhile, Jinger and Jeremy addressed the topic of Joe’s arrest in a short podcast episode recorded in March, where a visibly upset Jinger told listeners, “I did not think my heart could break like it has.” In a follow-up podcast episode, Jinger claimed that Joe’s arrest had “reopened wounds from the past”– something she also told fans during an Instagram Q&A in April.
“ … It’s been a heavy season that reopened old wounds,” she wrote, presumably referring to her older brother Josh Duggar, who is currently in prison after being convicted in 2021 of receiving child sex abuse materials (CSAM). (Jinger and some of her siblings also experienced a similar situation in their childhood as the victim of Joe’s alleged crimes after they were molested by Josh. The molestations became public in 2015 after being exposed by a tabloid– an incident the Duggar girls said re-traumatized them.)
Joy hinted at Josh’s scandal(s) this week while recalling difficult times in her past. Joy told Jinger that, with time, she’s learned to “grab onto the positive things,” especially when things are “super hard and super dark and really heavy.”
“All that to say, I am holding in there,” Joy said. “I’m doing okay.”
Joy went on to tell Jinger that she’s also been navigating how much she should share publicly, as she feels that the recent events have “already impacted my family so much.”
“ … I feel like the more I talk about it publicly, the more it just gets, like, rubbed in our faces and I kind of want to just move on with life in some ways,” Joy said, adding that this has been “a hard balance” for her to find.
Joy spoke about this same dilemma last month, telling fans on her Instagram Story that she was “trying to find the balance of what to share on here and what to hold close, while learning to carry what’s mine and give the rest to God.”
Watch a clip from Joy’s latest appearance on The Jinger & Jeremy Podcast below.
(Photos: YouTube; Instagram)
12 Responses
This is so tone dead. They are so self-centered. They didn’t acknowledged once how the actual victim of his brother might be feeling. How the victim’s family must be feeling considering they are being harassed by Joseph and Jim Bob and even had to vacate their home while the Duggar family still supports Joseph and Kendra.
They were victims of their brother. They can make it about them because it is literally about them
Yall are all about victims speaking out until it’s one you don’t like that says something you don’t want them to say. Conditional support of SA survivors, how surprising
No, it’s not about them. It’s about Joseph’s victim. When ANOTHER one of your brothers molests a girl and ruins her family’s lives you don’t get to make this about yourself and monetize it. Joy is even supporting Kendra and Joseph actively, she received Kendra at her home even when she isn’t allowed near her own children.
Maybe they just don’t feel it’s ok to talk about them. Like it’s not their place. Who knows. They obviously feel deep sorrow for the family as they were also victimized. I’m also a SA survivor. I can understand what they mean.
As a fellow SA survivor my heart absolutely breaks for them. This must be so triggering for them to have to be publicly going through this again (even though Joe was not the perpetrator). I can only hope that they find peace in whatever place they can & have a great support system in place to allow them to work through everything.
Wtf. How many pedos are in that family?
Maybe they were molested by their grandpa and/or dad
These women shouldn’t have ANY OF THIS rubbed in their faces. They were victims. Listen, I’m no fan of these fundamentalist mega families, but there are some snarkers that take things too far with these women. It’s like they can’t do anything right, their feelings don’t matter, and they are fair game just because of how they were raised. I’m starting to wonder how these snarkers were raised, considering all the terrible things they say online to people.
I give them grace because it’s not their fault two of their brothers are child predators that also preyed on family members.
It’s got to be a shock, especially for Jinger, who was a victim of Josh to have this happen with another brother.
It’s absolutely not the girls’ faults that their parents have failed them so badly.
Joy too, unfortunately, was m0lested by her brother. She was only 5
Eww how do you know she was 5?
It was talked about when he was exposed.