Scandal Fallout - MEGA MERGE

[stabbycat]

My prediction is that a member of the extended family or a family friend will go to the media with more of the Duggar closet's skeletons. Given the size of their family, there's bound to be someone who just found out about this at the same time we did and is pissed. The part of the report that said the kids were beaten with a rod could get more press. I just don't think we've heard the last of it yet.

If the Willis' show does well enough, 19KAC will be an afterthought by fall.

[ljohnson2006]

Show gets cancelled.

All of the victims receive proper counseling. (Gothard BS doesn't count).

Anna leaves Smugs.

[formergothardite]

I wish the show will get canceled but I have such little faith in society(and especially the Duggar fans who keep this show going) that I don't think it will. I think that they will just act like this was all teenage mistake and God fixed it all so we should just STFU about it and let them go back to being America's wholesome, happy family. People don't want to look too deeply because it is easier to keep on believing that since this family puts on a good show and are conservative, fundamental Christians, that everything is really okay.

Where is the outcry from the conservative Christian circles who claim to value children so much? There isn't one and I doubt there will be one.

[Meredee]

In all of this, I wonder if somehow THIS is why Jana isn't "courting". I think she's traumatized. If any other person did this, they'd have been in jail. It makes my head swivel....

I only hope the rest of the girls get outta Tontitown because there isn't another fundie courtship going on with that group...BUT I don't think TLC will cancel the show, because it's their top rated show. I agree that we won't be seeing so much JoshAnna anymore. I feel bad for Anna...talk about DEFRAUDED. Either she knew ahead of time and she's either a huge forgiver or just wanted to be on the telly or she's just as gobsmacked as the rest of us.

I fully believe Jana is traumatized from this too and she sticks around to protect the younger girls from it happening again. I think Jana, or maybe one/some of the other older girls is headed for a breakdown from repressed memories. I really hope they have a crisis counselor for them already on hand.

I think this will be spun into "a beautiful story of forgiveness", ala the jewelry box. There will be an interview with Diane Sawyer or Meredith Viera where the word molestation is barely mentioned and never by a Duggar. They'll lay low for a while, whether forced or their own decision. Josh will become extremely depressed, he was peaking, and now he's probably hitting the biggest low of his life. Anna will plaster on a smile and cry in the bathroom and when she thinks Josh is sleeping. They won't have another baby for years, if ever.

The family will be fractured. They'll try to keep it together, but this will cause problems for years to come. Ben will take a swing at Josh at some point. Derek will encourage Jill to raise the children in a more normal manner, maybe even including public schooling, in hopes of alienating themselves from JB&M.

[lascuba]

I have zero expectation of any real change re: TLC. I though for sure that they would cancel, but considering the marathon last night, and the fact that they tweeted Josh's statement without any commentary at all...the show's not going anywhere unless advertisers pull out. 19K&C will go on with zero commentary about the molestation. At most, Josh and his family won't be seen on the show anymore.

None of the girls will talk publicly about the crimes committed against them. If they comment at all, it will be in the same "all about Josh" vein as the other statements made already...Josh made a mistake in his teens, confessed, repented, God is good, blah blah blah. I'm waiting for smiling group shot with them and Josh any minute now.

I have no opinion on whether Ben and Derrick knew, but I highly doubt they'd do anything about it now. They're way too committed to fundiedom--I'm sure they'll happily turn off their brains more than they already have and buy the forgiveness and redemption story and leave it at that.

The only wild card is the victim outside the family (or any other girls Josh abused, because I wouldn't be surprised if there are more). She might stay silent because she doesn't want the media attention and/or is still in the fundie community, but she might speak eventually. And if she breaks away from the forgiveness storyline, that might bring way too much negative attention for TLC to ignore. Unfortunately, with all the support the family is getting, I can't imagine she'd want to put herself in the line of fire.

[jingersrealmom]

Jill and Derek move away and start on baby #2

Jessa and Ben move to Hot Springs, buy a little starter home with the money they have saved from people and TLC. Ben gets a job at Home Depot in the lumber department and does online school at night. Jessa goes to beauty school part time while Guinn offers to babysit a few hours a day.

Josh and Anna HAVE TO MOVE back to Arkansas. JB gifts them the mansion because he knows they cannot afford to fix their dump and Josh has no job. Anna sends her kids to public school because it secretly sickens her for them to be around Josh all day. She has no more kids after M4 and just lives the life of the sad, submissive wife, and wonders why no one ever comes over to visit. She's stuck.

I think the show will go on without Josh.

Jana and Jinger get behind the scenes jobs with TLC.

I think JD and Joe cannot stand Josh and they will keep him at arms length so they don't punch him. I think JD will become a paid police officer and devote time to abused children when he can.

I dunno about the howlers and littles. Hoping Joy and the twins go off to college soon.

[umsami]

I'm not so sure Ben and Derrick knew before this. I say this as an abuse survivor. It's not something I've told my spouse. Based on how long ago the abuse was, I'm not so sure that they would have felt the need to share. It's also not an easy conversation to have, especially as Josh is still in the picture. "Hey, you know my brother? Well, back when he was 13, he liked to touch me and my sisters. Luckily, Uncle Bill sent him to ALERT and now the Lord has cured him!" Don't see that happening.

Of course, now they know. And because of that, I think they'll be distancing themselves from JB and Michelle.

[Pixie_Ham]

The only positive I can see about keeping the show on the air is that it might force the Duggars to go through the motions of offering the girls involved counselling. They always preach that the show is their ministry after all.

That being said I really hope it gets cancelled, the thing those kids need more than anything is privacy and a chance to live a life that isn't revolving around cameras and talking heads.

[Andora]

Anyone else think the main show could be cancelled but there might be a spin off? Jill and Derrick, perhaps?

[Ellimenopy]

I'm not so sure Ben and Derrick knew before this. I say this as an abuse survivor. It's not something I've told my spouse. Based on how long ago the abuse was, I'm not so sure that they would have felt the need to share. It's also not an easy conversation to have, especially as Josh is still in the picture. "Hey, you know my brother? Well, back when he was 13, he liked to touch me and my sisters. Luckily, Uncle Bill sent him to ALERT and now the Lord has cured him!" Don't see that happening.

Of course, now they know. And because of that, I think they'll be distancing themselves from JB and Michelle.

I believe that Anna knew, because I think JB and Michelle would have felt obligated to tell her parents. I don't think Ben and Derick knew until they were married. They couldn't have unsupervised conversations until they were engaged and even those were only semi-unsupervised.

[MalteseBaby]

Anyone else think the main show could be cancelled but there might be a spin off? Jill and Derrick, perhaps?

I saw the small preview of Jill and Derrick telling " some big news" and my immediate impression was that they are moving, as in Derrick moving up the corporate ladder to Bentonville, AR.

I hope to dog they don't drag their newborn ( and their yet un-conceived babies) to Nepal, which is now a 3rd world country ravaged by earthquakes and mass disaster, to live.

[SnazzyNazzy]

I think all of them need to fade into obscurity, get some therapy, etc.

[jenzia1]

Is anyone else concerned that if they go off the air the lost boys and little girls will be both beaten down and forced back into Hugh collars/ matching polls and jeans? That the life that they display (poorly mannered but still refreshingly lively) will be subjugated down to the original Gotthard/ Duggar zombie-child model?

[Maleficent]

Honestly? They have A LOT of supporters so I can't imagine that anything terrible will come from this, aside from maybe the show being cancelled or put on hold for a while. He asked for "forgiveness" and sought out "help" so I think all of the leg humpers just think he's magically cured and label it as him being a curious teenager. A curious teenager that acted on his desires because his sisters chose to have breasts and female private parts. How dare they!? Note my sarcasm in the last two sentences please.

I can't imagine how the Duggar girls must feel. I'm sure their parents blamed them for all of this and were made to feel ashamed and guilty because their own brother couldn't control himself. I feel like I'm living in the twilight zone when I read the statements that the duggars made regarding this issue. Ridiculous!

[Cleopatra7]

I can see fundies continuing to support the Duggars but not mainstream Christians. The only reason the Duggars have a show and mainstream success is because their appeal went further than the people in their core ATI circle. That support is probably gone now.

[Daenerys]

Jill and Jessa are out the house, but Ben doesn't have a "real job" to support his family with, unlike Jill.

The younger children, from about Justin-Josie, can't remember life without camera crews all around and overnight, they will be gone and all the attention will vanish.

The other older children will no longer have a name that carries weight in their social circle, but don't have the education to just leave and go do something else.

Seems like everyone is a loser in this... apart from JB/M who are laughing all the way to the bank.

[sense and nonsense]

I think this will be the catalyst for a Jana courtship, or Jinger pursuing further education.

I hope, rather.

[Rebelprofiler]

The heartbreaking part for me is how close those kids got with the production crew. IF the show gets cancelled (and I haven't read any reports that it will be - just that it's been pulled for a bit while things settle down), I think the hard part is going to be the production crew having to say goodbye.

I would imagine that TLC will do something similar for the Duggars that they did for Honey Boo Boo when that show was cancelled, which is they set up a trust for the minor children. I definitely do not think the Josh Duggar spin off is happening though.

My fears are that the older children are going to be dragged back down the rabbit hole at the TTH and I am sad that the children are losing their main lifeline to the outside world. They probably won't leave the faith but it still would have been nice to have extended a lifeline in case one does want to leave.

Just my two cents.

[anjulibai]

I hope this is a catalyst for all of the kids withdrawing from Gothardism. I hope they see the reaction everyone most people are having and realize that nothing about what happened was acceptable, from the acts themselves to the parents covering it all up.

I hope Jana takes the 4 youngest girls and moves out. I hope Jinger and Joy go and live with Deanna and Gramma Duggar. I hope the Howlers start in a public school. I hope JD, Joseph and Josiah move out, and Josiah goes to college.

Most of all, I hope they cut off their disgusting excuses for parents.

[Mary C Doates]

TMZ is reporting the TLC has pulled the show from its current broadcast line-up. They also note that General Mills has pulled their advertising from 19K&C.

[mebeforee]

Honestly, I think Ben and Jessa and Jill and Derick will be fine. Derick has his own career and it would not be difficult for them to move out of the house JB gave them if they feel that's necessary, they would just have to move into a smaller home or apartment in the area (most likely).

Ben works for JB right now but that's easy to change. He had a job before he moved to Tontitown, anyway, and he just finished some form of degree (I'm guessing an associate's because of his age) that should aid him at least a little in finding employment outside of the Duggar compound. Again, he and Jessa wouldn't be living luxuriously but the loss of the show would not necessarily make it hard for him to find work.

They would return to a more usual Quiverfull life, less mainstream and more Bible-thumping (if you can't imagine them getting more overt with it, just go back and watch the old specials and compare...). JB is good with money, the family under his roof will be fine, especially if John David gives some of his own income to the family to help support the group.

I think the main change for the kids would be the loss of travel and celebrity privileges. Fewer chances to hang out with Kirk Cameron, fewer cross-country road trips, speaking engagements, etc. They'll be more isolated again but at this point they might be able to protest more about that. Not all of the benefits that they got from the show will just vanish, they'll still be powerful figures in their culture who will now likely be seen as unjustly persecuted, because of how young Josh was at the time of the assaults. Some families may find them unforgivable but I'm going to hazard a guess that they'll get a lot of support from within the whole ATI group (though Josh himself may be ostracized). I don't expect this to result in the family leaving Gothardism, but it may also reveal some aspects of the lifestyle to the younger kids who are more likely to leave anyway.

[theinvisiblegirl]

I'm worried about how this is going to affect the children, especially from about Jackson down to Josie. I think Jana has stayed around largely to protect her younger sisters. Had Johannah, Jennifer, Jordyn, and Josie all been boys, Jana may have already left the nest. I don't want to see Jana never leave because she feels the need to protect those girls, but someone has to. If JimBoob and J'Chelle can't do it, Jana needs to.

Does having the film crew around for even part of their week keep them safe? On some level, I think so. You can't tell me Mr. Jim the sound man isn't keeping an eye out for Jennie when Michelle is off with Josie. But I think canceling the show is also going to not allow those little girls - and all of the children, really - to have the exposure to people that are completely outside their circle on a regular basis. Case in point - Courtney, their producer, is a hard working woman who wears pants and is also a mother. Where are they going to see this in their fundie circle of friends? Mostly no where.

To quote rebelprofiler:

I would imagine that TLC will do something similar for the Duggars that they did for Honey Boo Boo when that show was cancelled, which is they set up a trust for the minor children.

They also set up counseling for Anna (HBB's sister, not to be confused with Josh's wife). I'd like to see them offer this up to the older girls as well.

[balsamicvinegar]

Well, hopefully there will be some investigation going on. If they cancel the show. It was going to happen eventually, so Boob and MEEchele should have some back up funds. I don't know if the older kids (minus josh) would be willing totake some of the younger ones in if push comes to shove, but i honestly think it'd be better if the show got cancled.

(I was thinking of setting up a gofundme for the victims to fully break away from the duggarfold)

[theinvisiblegirl]

Honestly, I think Ben and Jessa and Jill and Derick will be fine. Derick has his own career and it would not be difficult for them to move out of the house JB gave them if they feel that's necessary, they would just have to move into a smaller home or apartment in the area (most likely).

Ben works for JB right now but that's easy to change. He had a job before he moved to Tontitown, anyway, and he just finished some form of degree (I'm guessing an associate's because of his age) that should aid him at least a little in finding employment outside of the Duggar compound. Again, he and Jessa wouldn't be living luxuriously but the loss of the show would not necessarily make it hard for him to find work.

They would return to a more usual Quiverfull life, less mainstream and more Bible-thumping (if you can't imagine them getting more overt with it, just go back and watch the old specials and compare...). JB is good with money, the family under his roof will be fine, especially if John David gives some of his own income to the family to help support the group.

I think the main change for the kids would be the loss of travel and celebrity privileges. Fewer chances to hang out with Kirk Cameron, fewer cross-country road trips, speaking engagements, etc. They'll be more isolated again but at this point they might be able to protest more about that. Not all of the benefits that they got from the show will just vanish, they'll still be powerful figures in their culture who will now likely be seen as unjustly persecuted, because of how young Josh was at the time of the assaults. Some families may find them unforgivable but I'm going to hazard a guess that they'll get a lot of support from within the whole ATI group (though Josh himself may be ostracized). I don't expect this to result in the family leaving Gothardism, but it may also reveal some aspects of the lifestyle to the younger kids who are more likely to leave anyway.

I wonder what Kirk Cameron thinks about all of this. With daughters of his own, I'd like to think he wouldn't support, but Huckabee has, so who knows what goes on in these peoples' minds.

[Mela99]

I assume they'll be very Khate Gossturd and make comments about the poor, devastated children