Jill Duggar’s husband, Derick Dillard, spoke candidly in a new interview about his father-in-law Jim Bob Duggar’s “pattern” of trying to “control” people around him.
“I think what’s sad is that the pattern we’ve seen is kinda happening to us, where if you’re somebody that he can’t control then you’re cut off,” the 34-year-old told Entertainment Tonight in an interview that was published on Tuesday, September 26. “It’s like, ‘I can’t control you, so you’re cut off,’” he added.
Jill, 32, chimed in by noting that she and Derick “can hang out [with her family] sometimes and have surface-level conversations” with her dad, adding that this is something she is “actually wanting right now.” However, the former 19 Kids and Counting star described how tense it feels whenever she is in the room with Jim Bob, 58.
“He won’t bring anything up when we’re all together,” Jill said, referring to when she hangs out with her parents and her sisters. “It’s not like it used to be. It used to — you would get pulled to the side into a room and [told off], you know, behind closed doors. But now, there’s this respect of our boundary, where it would not fly. Like, we would pick up and leave [if] something that came up.”
Jill and Derick’s tell-all memoir, Counting the Cost, hit book stands on September 12. In it, the couple recount their experience filming the former TLC reality show in addition to Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s teachings of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP: a non-denominational Christian organization that has faced backlash for its patriarchal-dominated practices).
Most of Jill’s most shocking revelations in her book involve Jim Bob. After she and Derick started to break away from her family years ago, Jim Bob allegedly lashed out at his daughter several times, according to the memoir. The Counting On alum recalled one incident with Jim Bob when he yelled at her for calling him verbally abusive.
“‘You sent me a text message, Jill. You said I was verbally abusing you,’” one excerpt from the book reads. “’I was so offended by that, too. You know in your heart that’s not right. Are you going to apologize for that? … You’re guilty!’”
Not only that, but the family patriarch also allegedly threatened to lower Jill’s inheritance “significantly” because of her “accusations” against him. In response to Jill and Derick’s memoir, Jim Bob and Michelle, 57, released a statement.
“We love all of our children very much” the couple insisted. “As with any family, few things are more painful than conflicts or problems among those you love. We do not believe the best way to resolve conflicts, facilitate forgiveness and reconciliation, or to communicate through difficulties is through the media or in a public forum so we will not comment.”