While Amy Duggar King continues to speak out about her family’s past and present controversies, she suspects that more of her cousins haven’t followed suit because they remain under the control of her uncle Jim Bob.
During a recent two-part interview on The Sarah Fraser Show, Amy– who is estranged from Jim Bob, Michelle and most of their children– said she hopes her cousins will start thinking for themselves and “really questioning what they’ve been taught and why they follow blindly.”
Amy’s mom Deanna is Jim Bob’s sister, making Amy the cousin to all 19 of Jim Bob and wife Michelle’s children. (This includes Josh and Joseph, who have both been arrested for child sex abuse crimes.)
“It just blows my mind,” Amy said of her cousins’ actions amid their family scandals. “I don’t understand how you can follow blindly on all of these things and just go along with it and just live in that little bubble, you know? I think that, but I also know that they’re restricted.”
Amy explained that she doesn’t believe her cousins—including those over 18—have access to content that discusses and criticizes their family, causing many of Jim Bob and Michelle’s children to “just go with what they’ve been told.”
“ … and that’s their truth,” Amy said. “ … ‘cause there’s such a narrow mindset.”
Amy went on to say that she believes her uncle continues to be “a very strong, powerful influence in [her cousins’ lives],” and that she suspects Jim Bob still controls “how they speak” and “what they do.”
As for why none of her cousins– aside from Jill Duggar Dillard– have ever spoken out against Jim Bob and Michelle, Amy said she doesn’t believe most of her cousins have fully “done the work” that would allow them to process certain events that have occurred.
“I think that in order to really look at the dynamics of our family unit, you have to do therapy and you have to dive deep into, like, behavioral issues and just the dysfunction of it all and where it really stems from,” she explained.
“… I have nothing against Jinger. I have nothing against Jessa; I have nothing against Jana. I just don’t think they’ve done the work.”
“I don’t think they’ve done the actual, the really deep, hard work in order to look at the framework of it all in order to really disrupt it,” Amy added.
One member of her family who she believes has “done the work” is Jill– a sentiment that was echoed by Deanna later on the podcast episode. (As you know, Jill has distanced herself from her parents, but remains close to Amy and Deanna.)
While Amy remains estranged from the majority of the Duggar Family, she recently revealed in an interview with Oxygen that she’s open to having a conversation with any of her cousins “that are free and good people.”
“I would love to connect with maybe some of the girls,” Amy said. “However, they have to be able to have an open and honest conversation with me.
“ … I don’t hate them,” she later added. “I want them all to be healthy. I want [them] all to flourish and be really successful in life and be good parents and love children and protect children and tell the truth. I feel like the truth has always been so hard to find in my family. I hate that. I just wanna break cycles. I wanna be the one that breaks cycles and continues to stand up for the victim and continues to stand up for what is right, whatever that looks like.”
Watch a clip from Amy’s interview on ‘The Sarah Fraser Show’ below.
RELATED STORY: Jim Bob Duggar’s Sister Deanna Calls for All Duggars to be Investigated Following Joseph’s Arrest: “Everybody Should Be Checked Out”
(Photos: TLC; Instagram)
