The Duggar family has been around for quite some time now. Their reality TV show, 19 Kids and Counting, aired on TLC for 7 years so we got to see the Duggars’ lifestyle, family values, as well as some interesting rules that this family of devoted Baptists follows very closely. And just like with all other reality TV personalities, the Duggars also have their fans and the people who can’t stand them. That being said, some of those people are celebrities who have publically shared their opinions about this controversial family, and we are about to take a closer look at what they had to say.
However, whether you appreciate their lifestyle or not, one must agree that the Duggars are a pretty unique family and that the values they promote are quite different from what we usually see in the media. For example, they completely avoid birth control, all of their kids are homeschooled, they have a limited access to technology, they aren’t allowed to dance in public, and there is absolutely no physical contact allowed between two people until they’re married. With all that in mind, let’s take a look at the celebs who can’t stand the Duggars and at those who actually like them.
15 Can’t Stand Them: Montel Williams
Over the course of 17 years that Montel Williams spent hosting his show, The Montel Williams Show, he has publically spoken about all sorts of things and issues that bothered him or that he simply found interesting – and the Duggar family was one of them. Specifically, he decided to speak up after the scandal involving Josh Duggar and his younger sisters. And while Josh apologized for the things from his past he wasn’t proud of, Williams wasn’t satisfied with his apology at all. He posted a number of negative comments about the Duggar family on Twitter and Facebook saying that nothing about them was real and that they are all very hypocritical. Additionally, on several different occasions, he mentioned the fact that the Duggar family is very homophobic and that they have stated numerous times that the LGBTQ community was a danger for little children, while at the same time, their own family member faced accusations involving child endangerment. After the whole thing blew over, Williams had a new batch of harsh words for the Duggar family in 2015 when he questioned their family values and their devotion to family – again, mostly because of Josh’s Duggar’s actions.
14 Can’t Stand Them: Sheryl Underwood
Sheryl Underwood was very disappointed with the Duggar family once the news about Josh Duggar hit the headlines. In June 2015, the talk-show host burst into tears during a discussion about what had happened. The biggest problem that she had was with the way Josh’s parents, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, tried to rationalize the whole thing and explain Josh’s behavior in a way that would make it acceptable. However, for Sheryl Underwood, this was a particularly tough pill to swallow because she herself had suffered through a similar situation as a child so she very well knew that there is absolutely no excuse for people like Josh or for their actions. After talking about her own experiences, Underwood praised Jill and Jessa Duggar – two of Josh’s victims– for coming forward and telling the truth about what had happened to them: “They really helped the world to see what happens to people when they’re in some type of family structure when the people you’re supposed to trust to protect you seem to be your co-conspirator in your violation.” Looking at this statement, it is pretty obvious that Underwood was more than disappointed in Josh’s parents and the way they handled things.
13 Likes Them: Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee is a politician and a Christian minister. He also hosted the Fox News Channel talk show, Huckabee, from 2008 to 2015. He also published several books, and he still works as a political commentator on The Huckabee Report. The Duggars have donated money to his campaigns on a regular basis and, according to Patheos.com, there are certain reports that suggest that there is a connection between Huckabee and the judge who destroyed the records of Josh’s child case. However, that hasn’t been proven so we are not going to continue to speculate about that, and we are going to focus on the facts instead. The fact is that when the whole Josh scandal happened, Huckabee openly defended him on social media (mostly Facebook) where he wrote: “Janet and I want to affirm our support for the Duggar family. Josh’s actions when he was an underage teen are as he described them himself, ‘inexcusable,’ but that doesn’t mean ‘unforgivable.’ He and his family dealt with it and were honest and open about it with the victims and the authorities. No purpose whatsoever is served by those who are now trying to discredit Josh or his family by sensationalizing the story.”
12 Can’t Stand Them: June Shannon
June Shannon, better known as Mama June, isn’t too big of a Duggar Family fan, and she has proven that publically on more than just one occasion. However, there is an interesting twist to this whole story, as it is a bit more personal than with the other celebs who can’t stand the Duggars.
Mama June’s reality TV show, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, got canceled in 2014 after June allegedly got back with her ex-boyfriend who is also a convicted child abuser, not to mention the fact that one of the victims reportedly was June’s own daughter. June denied getting back with him, but the show was canceled either way, with the network’s explanation stating that the welfare of the children was their absolute priority. In 2015, once the Josh Duggar scandal hit the news, June Shannon slammed the family and repeatedly stated that the show, 19 Kids and Counting, should receive the same fate as her own show did – the cancellation. According to TMZ, this was June’s original comment: “I read that the Duggar family said, this happening with their son brought them closer to God and each other. So they’re saying it’s ok to have family touch time? Hell no.”
11 Can’t Stand Them: Jazz Jennings
Being a transgender reality TV star, Jazz Jennings is, unfortunately, very familiar with cyber-bullying, transphobic comments, and harsh criticism. However, luckily for her, she seems to know how to deal with all that stuff pretty effectively without letting all the negativity affect her too much. But what does all of this have in common with the Duggar family? Unfortunately, a lot.
The Duggars have been openly anti-LGBTQ for as long as they have been in the public eye and Derick Dillard, Jill Duggar’s husband, decided to bash Jazz Jennings’ TV show publicly with his transphobic ranting. He tweeted: “What an oxymoron… a ‘reality’ show which follows a non-reality. Transgender is a myth. Gender is not fluid; it’s ordained by God.” Jennings decided to take the high road and replied that she was used to this kind of comments and they didn’t stop her from sharing her story. However, Dillard didn’t stop there and in November 2017, he posted another tweet: “I pity Jazz, 4 those who take advantage of him in order 2 promote their agenda, including the parents who allow these kinds of decisions 2 be made by a child. It’s sad that ppl would use a juvenile this way.”
10 Likes Them: Tamra Judge
The Real Housewives of Orange County star, Tamra Judge, had faced her fair share of drama after publically supporting the Duggar family on social media. After the whole Josh-related scandal happened, Tamra Judge, just like many other celebrities, felt the need to comment on the whole thing, so she posted a tweet where she wrote that she wondered what had happened to Josh Duggar in the past to make this kind of behavior okay in his mind. The moment she posted it, everybody started calling her out for making excuses for Josh’s actions. However, Tamra then explained her statement on Perez Tv: “Does my heart break for the Duggars? Absolutely! This is a family that we are talking about. This is a 14-year-old boy who was doing things that are inappropriate and what happened was that he felt that it was okay. All around, it’s a bad situation and I feel bad for everybody involved, especially the victims, the girls that were involved. And I hope that he gets help, and the girls get help and that the whole family can hold it together because that is a tough thing to deal with.” That sounds like a whole lot of excuses, don’t you agree?
9 Can’t Stand Them: Andy Cohen
Andy Cohen is one positive-minded fellow. He doesn’t engage in social media feuds, he keeps things positive, and he rarely posts negative comments about things he isn’t fond of. He usually stays on friendly terms with most of his fellow celebrities. With all that in mind, it was pretty surprising to see just how much he can’t stand the Duggar family – and he didn’t even try to hide it. After the whole Josh Duggar scandal, Cohen had a lot to say about the way Josh’s parents, Jim Bob and Michelle, tried to make excuses for their son’s behavior, and he called them hypocrites and tweeted out how much he hated hypocrites like them. Of course, the Duggar fanbase attacked him immediately after he posted the tweet, but he didn’t cave. On the contrary, he responded to all of the people lashing out at him with another tweet saying: “NO ONE is attacking the Duggars religion or faith. They are being attacked for their actions, stupidity, and hypocrisy. Big difference.” Wow, he really didn’t try to soften things up there. Instead, Cohen decided to let everybody know how he really felt about the Duggar family – and he had no kind words for them whatsoever.
Featured Today
25 A-Listers Reveal Their Real Names (And It Totally Surprised Us)
10 Actresses With Diva Personalities (And 10 Who Are Still Humble Beauties)
15 Reasons Why Hollywood And Jeremy Renner Don't Work Together Anymore
8 Can’t Stand Them: Jax Taylor
Anyone familiar with Jax Taylor knows that he is a big advocate for LGBTQ community – and that is where his issues with the Duggar family start. The Duggars are known to be extremely religious, and they often try to explain their conservative opinions simply as being a part of their religion. However, there are people who are clearly not okay with that, and they are not afraid to say it out loud – and Jax Taylor is one of them. After Derick Dillard, Jill Duggar’s husband, posted a series of transphobic tweets regarding Jazz Jennings, Taylor couldn’t help himself but tweet his own view on things and he didn’t really try to hide his anger. August 3, 2017, Taylor found an old tweet of Jill Duggar’s where she bragged about getting engaged to Dillard, and here is the response he posted: “Sweetie I wouldn’t brag about that speck of dust on your finger. You married a delusional piece of […], and he’s probably hiding he’s (two men holding hands emoji).” Ok, one must agree that this probably wasn’t the most classy way to handle things, but this reaction made it pretty obvious that Taylor really can’t stand the Duggar family, and he is not even trying to pretend otherwise.
7 Likes Them: Scott Walker (Politician)
Scott Walker is the 45th and current governor of Wisconsin and also a pretty good friend to the Duggar family. We have had a chance to see photos of him hanging out with Josh Duggar in the past, and that hasn’t changed after the whole controversy with Josh took place in 2015. He and the Duggars share a lot of the same values so it isn’t too big of a surprise that he likes them. Just like the Duggar family, Scott Walker has had a strong and consistent position against abortion throughout his whole political career. He also doesn’t believe in climate change and proposed cutting the funds for environmental programs and clean energy. Over the course of his career, he has been strongly in favor of gun rights, he wants to ban the LGBTQ marriage, and he doesn’t believe in evolution. With all that in mind, it is only logical that he likes the Duggar family considering the fact that they agree on all those major life questions that most people tend to disagree with them. According to The Washington Post, Walker’s own wife and his two sons disagree with him on certain religious and political questions mentioned above.
6 Can’t Stand Them: Bill Maher
Out of all the celebs who can’t stand the Duggar family, Bill Maher is one of those who does it most openly. We are used to the fact that Maher rarely holds back when it comes to sharing his opinions with the world and anyone who has ever watched Real Time With Bill Maher is well-aware of that. So it wasn’t really much of a surprise when he decided to share his opinions on the Duggar family on multiple occasions. During an episode of his show back in 2015, Maher said that to him, the Duggars are the biggest freaks in the world. When the Josh Duggar scandal happened, Maher said that the reason it happened in the first place was the way his parents repressed his natural urges, and he blamed it on their religion, and the way religious people sometimes try to act against some primal human instincts. What made Maher angry even more was when Josh’s parents tried to rationalize their son’s behavior, while using the religion as a defense mechanism. Maher claimed that it was wrong to even mention God in that context, and that religion should never be an excuse for one’s horrible actions.
5 Likes Them: Sarah Palin
After the Josh-related scandal, Sarah Palin was openly supporting the Duggar family, and when she faced public bashing for sharing her support for the family, she agreed to an interview with Extra in her home in Alaska where she explained why she kept on defending the Duggars. She seemed to be particularly upset with the media constantly writing about the scandal and publically judging Josh without taking all facts into the consideration – as she said during the interview: “The media’s hypocrisy about how they try to crucify an entire family for a 14-year-old kid’s actions 12 years ago.” Later, she spoke about how she felt about Josh’s victims and she said: “They did such a good job in explaining they’ve forgiven their 14-year-old brother.” However, Palin came under fire once she dragged the actress, Lena Dunham, into the whole story, as she tried to explain how Dunham is celebrated for exploiting young girls while Josh Duggar, on the other hand, is being crucified for it. Sarah Palin isn’t the only member of her family who openly supports the Duggars; her daughter, Bristol Palin, shares the same stand on this, and she has also publically shared her support for the Duggar family.
4 Can’t Stand Them: Dr. Drew Pinsky
Everyone familiar with the show, Celebrity Rehab, knows that Dr. Drew Pinsky is as diplomatic when it comes to sharing his opinions as one can get. This is one of the reasons why it was pretty surprising to see him throwing all that diplomacy out of the window and speaking openly about how much he disagreed with the Duggar family, and their way of handling the scandals the family had faced. According to Extra, he claimed that the whole family was full of hypocrites, that Josh Duggar should be ashamed of himself, and that his parents should be ashamed even more for how they handled their son’s behavior and actions. Then he added: “I’m upset by this case, though, because the reality is from the beginning we knew there was something wrong. That is a profound problem. You don’t pray that away, you don’t parent that away.” He also explained that behavior like Josh’s could have easily be predicted, and he advised the family to get all the necessary help from the team of experts that could actually help their son. According to Dr. Pinsky, Josh doesn’t need prayer at this point, he needs to be evaluated and treated by the doctors.
3 Can’t Stand Them: Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg decided to share with the public all that she had to say about the Duggar family during the taping of The View – and it wasn’t pretty. It was shortly after Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar’s interview about the actions of their son, Josh, that Whoopi completely stopped holding in the distaste for this family. The first point she made was that since the Duggars weren’t really forgiving about the people who didn’t see the world the same way they do, maybe it was too much to expect forgiveness from them now that they were in the position of needing it. She also seemed pretty angry about the family finding excuses in religion as she stated following: “I know this is your son and I know that you’re trying, and this was many years ago, but don’t downplay this, especially after what you guys have done in the name of Christianity and God to other people. My point is, don’t play the Christian card like that … don’t bring up God. God made all of us, and God doesn’t make mistakes.” Well, she is probably not going to be invited to dinner with the Duggars anytime soon – not that she would accept the invitation.
2 Can’t Stand Them: Patti Stanger
Patti Stanger is no stranger to celebrity feuds, and she has had her fair share of beef with a lot of people over the past few years. People like Andy Cohen or the Real Housewives of New York star, Ramona Singer, know very well what it feels like to get on the bad terms with Stanger. That being said, it wasn’t much of a surprise when she decided to go after the Duggar family in a series of tweets about them, mentioning Josh’s inappropriate behavior and actions towards his sisters. After the interview with Michelle and Jim Bob where they tried to rationalize their son’s actions was published, Stanger couldn’t hold the opinions in any longer and she posted the following tweet in June 2015: “Will the #Duggars stop using Jesus as an excuse for everything they are not God if Jesus were here today he’d say go @caitlyn_Jenner go!” This tweet was obviously meant to point out several issues Stanger had with the Duggars. First of all, she was obviously annoyed by the family not accepting the consequences of their actions and making excuses with the help of their religion, but there was also the whole LGBTQ issue pointed out with the Caitlyn Jenner reference.
1 Likes Them: Ted Cruz
When Josh Duggar scandal hit the headlines, many people were asked to share their opinion on the matter, and Senator Ted Cruz was one of them. He said during a local Texas radio interview that Josh did nothing wrong and that he would let him babysit his kids with no problem. It is no wonder why people who heard this interview went a little bit crazy after this statement: “Josh is a very close friend of mine and that’s why I am very saddened by this whole scandal. I believe it’s been blown way out of proportion. He was a fourteen-year-old boy, I mean, who didn’t cop a feel at that age? I know I did and I’m not going to stand here and apologize for the sins of my youth. Boys will be boys! Sure, I don’t condone what he did, but I can’t say that I find there’s anything particularly wrong with it and certainly not to the extent that it should have a huge impact on his and his family’s life. I would let him babysit my daughter’s any day of the week, he is, truly, a harmless man.” We aren’t judging but saying, “boys will be boys” as an answer to this kind of accusations is not exactly the classiest way to put it.
Source: Read Full Article