Jinjer 56: Oh My Stars It's a Reality Show Book! How Surprising - Not

[Idlewild]

So their parents don’t let them watch TV or be alone with a fiancé, but they let them read unsolicited mail from prison inmates? 
I have no doubt that unwanted attention from fans can be awful  - but Jinger never seems to join the dots that her parents actively sought this lifestyle for their family and seemingly did bugger all to protect them. They thought wearing jeans or a swimsuit was more dangerous than exposing their children for profit. Jinger also doesn’t seem ready to let go of the perks of fame- they may be hiding the children’s faces for now on Instagram but it’s clear they crave the ‘celebrity’ lifestyle.

[SassyPants]

3 hours ago, Knight of Ni said:

I just read an article from People where Jinger talks about the consequences of growing up in the spotlight. She mentioned that she and her sisters would receive love letters from inmates. It doesn't mention how old they were when they received the letters but I can imagine it would be very uncomfortable to receive them. However, she then goes on to talk about how men would just show up at church thinking they could start a relationship by showing up at church. Isn't that exactly what Ben did? 

I feel sympathy for the Duggar children.  Jinger talks a lot about the unsolicited attention they received from fans but says nothing about what her parents did to help them deal with it.

Yet to date, they’ve done the same shite to their own kids. Do better or be quiet, Jinger!

[doubleT]

3 hours ago, Knight of Ni said:

However, she then goes on to talk about how men would just show up at church thinking they could start a relationship by showing up at church. Isn't that exactly what Ben did? 

Yes.  And Derrick came through a "back door" too.  Jim Bob was one of his prayer partners when he was in Napal.  I think Ben admitted that his family drove up from Hot Springs to Rodgers to go to the Duggar church, but I don't know if Derrick asked Jim Bob for his prayers in order to get close to one of the girls.  

[Audrey2]

21 hours ago, feministxtian said:

I am currently freezing my butt off here in the frozen tundra. Its cloudy and 63F. Next week is supposed to be in the 80's all week. It feels extremely odd to be wearing a hoodie at the beginning of July. I'm used to my "oh my god I live on the surface of the sun" summers in the desert....

I live in the Pacific Northwest and was visiting my friends in Portland last weekend when the heat wave was at its worst. I hung out the one friend's bedroom where the stand on the floor air conditioning unit with keeping the room around 87, but his brother was in the front room and measured 100.3 degrees with an oral thermometer. I would be happy to send you about 20° to warm you up and cool me down! 

[WiseGirl]

Was this discussed and I missed it? Might be why they don't share pictures of the kids any more. (I very may well have).

https://people.com/tv/jinger-duggar-on-the-mental-health-toll-of-being-in-the-public-eye/

[DalmatianCat]

22 minutes ago, WiseGirl said:

Was this discussed and I missed it? Might be why they don't share pictures of the kids any more. (I very may well have).

https://people.com/tv/jinger-duggar-on-the-mental-health-toll-of-being-in-the-public-eye/

That was always my guess when they stopped showing their girls faces…they had a negative experience out in public with a paparazzi and it made them pullback. 

[AprilQuilt]

16 hours ago, DalmatianCat said:

That was always my guess when they stopped showing their girls faces…they had a negative experience out in public with a paparazzi and it made them pullback. 

I'm sorry that it happened to them, if this is the case, but I'm glad they got a reality check on it. I also hope that having this experience while in a parent role rather than the child role might also have prompted Jinger to reflect on her own childhood and whether her parents could have made different decisions (eg the letters from inmates as mentioned above).

I think she shares Jill's people-pleasing trait but unlike Jill hasn't done or been encouraged to do much work on it, probably because it suits Jeremy. But, I do also think that just because she's not criticising anyone in public doesn't mean she is totally fine with it all. The Vuolos' statements about Josh's latest scandal and also about the TLC cancellation, plus the stuff in the book/the interviews she's given lately, all give me the impression that Jinger has been genuinely rattled by Josh's behaviour all coming up again, if not retraumatised; and that she and Jeremy  do take it seriously. They were already willing to explicitly distance themselves from the Duggar brand even if only to further their own interests, but I think there is more to it now. I suspect that several of Josh's original victims, who had made some kind of peace with the 'curious teen' narrative their parents pushed and were willing to run with it publicly, are genuinely shocked by the evidence of CSA and it's made them reevaluate what happened to them, what their parents told them, and maybe what the gut is saying about it all.

I don't want to overstate this at all. I don't expect any dramatic tell-alls or anything. But I have a feeling that it may be just starting to dawn on some of the kidults that they were actually quite seriously betrayed by JB and Michelle when they minimised what Josh did and persisted in protecting the family's image rather than doing the actual work for their kids. And if Jinger is able to let any of that in, if she has started to seriously consider how best she can protect her children and whether her own parents took the necessary steps in their turn, it's going to really fight with her apparently genuine attachment to her mother. I think she could feel genuinely quite conflicted right now. But being geographically distant and not financially dependent on them makes her better placed to think things through than some of the other kidults.

[SassyPants]

8 hours ago, AprilQuilt said:

I'm sorry that it happened to them, if this is the case, but I'm glad they got a reality check on it. I also hope that having this experience while in a parent role rather than the child role might also have prompted Jinger to reflect on her own childhood and whether her parents could have made different decisions (eg the letters from inmates as mentioned above).

I think she shares Jill's people-pleasing trait but unlike Jill hasn't done or been encouraged to do much work on it, probably because it suits Jeremy. But, I do also think that just because she's not criticising anyone in public doesn't mean she is totally fine with it all. The Vuolos' statements about Josh's latest scandal and also about the TLC cancellation, plus the stuff in the book/the interviews she's given lately, all give me the impression that Jinger has been genuinely rattled by Josh's behaviour all coming up again, if not retraumatised; and that she and Jeremy  do take it seriously. They were already willing to explicitly distance themselves from the Duggar brand even if only to further their own interests, but I think there is more to it now. I suspect that several of Josh's original victims, who had made some kind of peace with the 'curious teen' narrative their parents pushed and were willing to run with it publicly, are genuinely shocked by the evidence of CSA and it's made them reevaluate what happened to them, what their parents told them, and maybe what the gut is saying about it all.

I don't want to overstate this at all. I don't expect any dramatic tell-alls or anything. But I have a feeling that it may be just starting to dawn on some of the kidults that they were actually quite seriously betrayed by JB and Michelle when they minimised what Josh did and persisted in protecting the family's image rather than doing the actual work for their kids. And if Jinger is able to let any of that in, if she has started to seriously consider how best she can protect her children and whether her own parents took the necessary steps in their turn, it's going to really fight with her apparently genuine attachment to her mother. I think she could feel genuinely quite conflicted right now. But being geographically distant and not financially dependent on them makes her better placed to think things through than some of the other kidults.

How are the Vuolos not financially dependent on the TTH? Also, I don’t feel so sorry for Jer and Jinger. They don’t get to bitch about the consequences of their decisions and actions. Make better choices. Jeremy and Jinger need to get jobs and get their kids and themselves out of the public eye. I doubt Jer and Jinger REALLY want to be out of the public eye! They want the cake and eat it too!

[AprilQuilt]

10 hours ago, SassyPants said:

How are the Vuolos not financially dependent on the TTH? Also, I don’t feel so sorry for Jer and Jinger. They don’t get to bitch about the consequences of their decisions and actions. Make better choices. Jeremy and Jinger need to get jobs and get their kids and themselves out of the public eye. I doubt Jer and Jinger REALLY want to be out of the public eye! They want the cake and eat it too!

To be honest, I think this is kind of a gross attitude. I don't even like these people, but consenting to one kind of exposure doesn't imply consent for all of it: they wouldn't be the first people to discover they've bitten off more than they can chew in terms of fame and how controllable it is. Everybody thinks they can handle it, and everyone underestimates what a poisoned chalice it is. If they have genuinely removed their daughters from social media because they were distressed by how invasive the media attention was, then that's not bitching: that's taking reasonable action. I don't trust that there isn't more to it, necessarily, but I am willing to watch and wait before deciding that everything they do is 100% venal.

As to your other point, they certainly aren't dependent on JB in the way of many of the sons who are employed in Duggar businesses, or live in Duggar houses. I doubt Jeremy would find that level of control at all appealing: he married Jinger for the social cachet to further his own plans, not to get a free ride in Nowhere, Arkansas. The Vuolos have churches to pay their way instead, so they aren't financially independent, but right from the beginning their goal has always been 100% not to have to answer to JB.

[fundiefan]

That People piece shows how truly ignorant Jinger is. Ignorance as in literally has no freaking clue, not "stupid". 

She does the fundie whine of "my hope is in Jesus, stop picking on me" while "writing" & publicizing a book-for the public; by doing public interviews with...People magazine....doing a podcast, for the public. Didn't they have a store trying to sell / create a brand for themselves? Hasn't she been known to use her following as a way to make money by pitching crap on IG (as most Duggar women do?)

I don't know how you can whine about the evil public while using the public for your own means. 

Did the Duggar children deserve privacy while their father exploited them? Yes. But, once they became adults and made the decisions to make themselves public, they made a choice. 

Do Jinger's kids deserve privacy as their parents sell themselves? Yes, they do. But Jinger, honey; when you use the public for your own ego, relevance & income, you DO open yourself up to scrutiny. Fame is not a one way street where you get all the rewards with no drawbacks. Ask any actual famous person who finds a balance - without constantly whining about how famous they are and that makes their lives so hard dontcha know. 

I do believe that the paparazzi is out of control in general. Human beings have been damaged by them - died running from them. But Jinger is not in that league. None of the Duggars are. There are plenty of places outside the US that they can go and not one single person knows or cares who they are. Hell, htere are places within the US they can go and no one would know them. An old friend of mine had never heard of them in 2015 when Joshie first made news for being a sexual deviant. I remember vividly sitting in a restaurant having Sunday brunch when something was on the bar TV about him and she asked who the hell he was and why she was seeing his face all the time. 

Jinger applies high level fame scenarios to her low level relevance, all the while, looking to reach those higher levels. Actually, many of the Duggars do exactly that. It was taught to them along with their Wisdom booklets at the kitchen table. 

[SassyPants]

4 hours ago, AprilQuilt said:

To be honest, I think this is kind of a gross attitude. I don't even like these people, but consenting to one kind of exposure doesn't imply consent for all of it: they wouldn't be the first people to discover they've bitten off more than they can chew in terms of fame and how controllable it is. Everybody thinks they can handle it, and everyone underestimates what a poisoned chalice it is. If they have genuinely removed their daughters from social media because they were distressed by how invasive the media attention was, then that's not bitching: that's taking reasonable action. I don't trust that there isn't more to it, necessarily, but I am willing to watch and wait before deciding that everything they do is 100% venal.

As to your other point, they certainly aren't dependent on JB in the way of many of the sons who are employed in Duggar businesses, or live in Duggar houses. I doubt Jeremy would find that level of control at all appealing: he married Jinger for the social cachet to further his own plans, not to get a free ride in Nowhere, Arkansas. The Vuolos have churches to pay their way instead, so they aren't financially independent, but right from the beginning their goal has always been 100% not to have to answer to JB.

Where is their money coming from? I know they briefly sold hats and had a podcast for a few weeks. Jer has done some speaking gigs, but I thought those were associated with his Master’s program. And speaking of which,  who is paying for that? I totally disagree about them having any financial independence from JB’s purse-

Edited July 5, 2021 by SassyPants

[Idlewild]

13 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

That People piece shows how truly ignorant Jinger is. Ignorance as in literally has no freaking clue, not "stupid". 

She does the fundie whine of "my hope is in Jesus, stop picking on me" while "writing" & publicizing a book-for the public; by doing public interviews with...People magazine....doing a podcast, for the public. Didn't they have a store trying to sell / create a brand for themselves? Hasn't she been known to use her following as a way to make money by pitching crap on IG (as most Duggar women do?)

I don't know how you can whine about the evil public while using the public for your own means. 

Did the Duggar children deserve privacy while their father exploited them? Yes. But, once they became adults and made the decisions to make themselves public, they made a choice. 

Do Jinger's kids deserve privacy as their parents sell themselves? Yes, they do. But Jinger, honey; when you use the public for your own ego, relevance & income, you DO open yourself up to scrutiny. Fame is not a one way street where you get all the rewards with no drawbacks. Ask any actual famous person who finds a balance - without constantly whining about how famous they are and that makes their lives so hard dontcha know. 

I do believe that the paparazzi is out of control in general. Human beings have been damaged by them - died running from them. But Jinger is not in that league. None of the Duggars are. There are plenty of places outside the US that they can go and not one single person knows or cares who they are. Hell, htere are places within the US they can go and no one would know them. An old friend of mine had never heard of them in 2015 when Joshie first made news for being a sexual deviant. I remember vividly sitting in a restaurant having Sunday brunch when something was on the bar TV about him and she asked who the hell he was and why she was seeing his face all the time. 

Jinger applies high level fame scenarios to her low level relevance, all the while, looking to reach those higher levels. Actually, many of the Duggars do exactly that. It was taught to them along with their Wisdom booklets at the kitchen table. 

Exactly. I’ve said elsewhere it is pretty horrific that her parents didn’t allow TV or college but let her read letters from prison inmates, but unlike Jill, Jinger hasn’t joined the dots and holds the weird fans and TLC and possibly Satan accountable, but never her parents.

They choose to style themselves as the ‘breakout stars’ of CO and Jeremy includes that in his bios. Jinger has spoken of wanting to be a photographer- once her kids are bigger she can do a course and set herself up- we know how the fundies love their photo shoots- she could make a good living on top of whatever Jeremy can earn from being a pastor. But Jeremy wants to be a celebrity and Jinger wants whatever Jeremy wants. 

[SassyPants]

So it all boils down to maturation. These 2 haven’t matured. I think JB’s influence and control is too big of a carrot. It seemingly keeps fully grown men and women, even parents, reasoning and decision making like adolescents, and whining about the outcomes in kind. 
 

Being a grown up and a parent is hard.

 

And of course a public life IS hard, and some people are cruel, but that’s one of the downsides to having a public life. All jobs have downsides, and most people weigh the negatives/risks against the po$itives/rewards. It’s part of being an adult and making adult decisions. Someone above commented on consent, but unfortunately, In the US, minors don’t have a voice. Reality TV kids should have legal protections similar to kids working outside of reality TV. We assume parents will protect their kids, but clearly that is not always so-

Edited July 5, 2021 by SassyPants

[Mama Mia]

13 hours ago, SassyPants said:

Where is their money coming from? I know they briefly sold hats and had a podcast for a few weeks. Jer has done some speaking gigs, but I thought those were associated with his Master’s program. And speaking of which,  who is paying for that? I totally disagree about them having any financial independence from JB’s purse-

Celebrity Insider and InTouch estimate Jinger and Jeremy  as having the highest net-worth of any of the siblings, estimating $2 million in net assets for the Vuolo’s. As they don’t own any real estate (except maybe their Texas house-did they keep that?) - this is likely mostly income streams for being — them —- Primarily from social media, Cameo, workshops, speaking gigs, and various other influency things I don’t understand. 
 

interestingly, John David has the next highest projected net worth between 500k (In Touch) and 1 million ( Celebrity Insider) But because he is - get this- a pilot. Who owns planes and plane related things as assets. Plus some real estate and construction equipment. 

Edited July 6, 2021 by Mama Mia

[SassyPants]

33 minutes ago, Mama Mia said:

Celebrity Insider and InTouch estimate Jinger and Jeremy  as having the highest net-worth of any of the siblings, estimating $2 million in net assets for the Vuolo’s. As they don’t own any real estate (except maybe their Texas house-did they keep that?) - this is likely mostly income streams for being — them —- Primarily from social media, Cameo, workshops, speaking gigs, and various other influency things I don’t understand. 
 

interestingly, John David has the next highest projected net worth between 500k (In Touch) and 1 million ( Celebrity Insider) But because he is - get this- a pilot. Who owns planes and plane related things as assets. Plus some real estate and construction equipment. 

Sounds like BS to me-

Also, IMO, Uncle Sam’s Mr IRS needs to do an extensive, audit on the entire operation. 

Edited July 6, 2021 by SassyPants

[Mama Mia]

1 hour ago, SassyPants said:

Sounds like BS to me-

Also, IMO, Uncle Sam’s Mr IRS needs to do an extensive, audit on the entire operation. 

Does it? People really do make money off of being “influencers” and with a lot less built in market and exposure than Jinger started with. It’s weird, to me, but I have extended family who seem to make a good chunk of their income just off social media- completely different niche market, but also attractive young people with kids. And one of my kids knows a couple people who this is their entire source of income- and they live comfortably. Again, not fundie, different interest group, but same principle 

[Idlewild]

I think those celebrity net worth estimates can be very skewed. We know Jeremy had an apartment in Laredo and they later bought a house. His soccer career was short lived at the high level and I doubt he had much by the way of savings. They will presumably have had an advance for the book and a share of any profits; advertising revenue from the podcast; endorsements done by Jinger- teeth thing, hairbrush; I expect they get a free meal every time they name check a venue; Jeremy is doing speaking engagements; they live in a highly subsidised property so either have the profit from the Laredo house or are letting it out.

I do think they probably secured a decent chunk of cash from CO- after Jill left they had a bit of leverage as they are popular with the fans and could have hinted they’d go it alone, forcing either JB or TLC to pay them enough to stay. I don’t know what the fees are for Jeremy’s course but he does seem to advertise the college a bit so he may have got a subsidy there too.
In short, I doubt they are millionaires but they are living a very comfortable life considering neither hold a proper job and they don’t put that much effort into their endorsements. I think we’ll see them ramping up the paid promotions and Jeremy increasing his engagements and behind the scenes desperately trying to get another show for themselves. 

[seraaa]

Jinger makes these comments about her childhood experiences with fame in Jeremy Fall’s podcast.

In it, she also touches on her experience with anxiety around forming adult friendships. She believes that the anxiety is rooted in her childhood because she feels keenly the differences between her upbringing on TV/in her family and other women. She says that she’s still working through not letting anxiety around comparisons and worries over being able to connect get in the way of reaching out to other women.

She said that she would worry about what to say to people and the ways they might be judging her for her choices instead of just being herself. 

And to be fair to Jeremy (her husband), she relates how when she questioned why she was feeling this way, he said that many people go through these struggles with learning how to navigate friendships, but that she was just doing it all at a slightly later stage of life. It sounds like Jinger is working through and coming to terms with this. Because she’s branching out and trying to form close friendships with people other than those she has grown up with, which can be stressful.

 

Edited July 6, 2021 by seraaa

[Idlewild]

@seraaa if Jinger is making friends outside the IBLP and Duggar bubble then that is healthy- I think adult friendships have been key to Jill’s recovery from the toxic upbringing inflicted by JB & M, 

[JenniferJuniper]

Paraphrasing Johnny Rotten, if you don't like being a reality show star, just stop being one.

Stop talking to People and writing books and looking to pump up your monetized social media.  I totally understand what the Duggar kids went through, especially the girls, during childhood.  It was awful, and no one should have to grow up like that.  I also get that TLC has been the main way some of these Duggars have made money in adulthood.  But it's time to grow up and move on, and if you stay out of the limelight, people will forget you soon enough.  21st century humans have very short attention spans. 

[Queen Of Hearts]

9 hours ago, Mama Mia said:

Does it? People really do make money off of being “influencers” and with a lot less built in market and exposure than Jinger started with. It’s weird, to me, but I have extended family who seem to make a good chunk of their income just off social media- completely different niche market, but also attractive young people with kids. And one of my kids knows a couple people who this is their entire source of income- and they live comfortably. Again, not fundie, different interest group, but same principle 

I used to work for a nationwide company and I know what we paid some of our "influencers" (and these were people a lot less well-known than Jinger). I for sure believe these two fools could be millionaires. Sadly.

Edited July 6, 2021 by Queen Of Hearts

[SassyPants]

34 minutes ago, JenniferJuniper said:

Paraphrasing Johnny Rotten, if you don't like being a reality show star, just stop being one.

Stop talking to People and writing books and looking to pump up your monetized social media.  I totally understand what the Duggar kids went through, especially the girls, during childhood.  It was awful, and no one should have to grow up like that.  I also get that TLC has been the main way some of these Duggars have made money in adulthood.  But it's time to grow up and move on, and if you stay out of the limelight, people will forget you soon enough.  21st century humans have very short attention spans. 

Love this…we need an “exactly” button.

[HereticHick]

14 hours ago, Mama Mia said:

interestingly, John David has the next highest projected net worth between 500k (In Touch) and 1 million ( Celebrity Insider) But because he is - get this- a pilot. Who owns planes and plane related things as assets. Plus some real estate and construction equipment. 

John David's projected net worth is only meaningful me if he owns all of that outright, with zero debt.  It is possible that he does. I'd also like to know if Jeremy and Jinger bought that Laredo house with cash.

[Mama Mia]

39 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

John David's projected net worth is only meaningful me if he owns all of that outright, with zero debt.  It is possible that he does. I'd also like to know if Jeremy and Jinger bought that Laredo house with cash.

Usually when they do estimated projected net worth it minuses any known debt from the asset value, but I don’t know how thorough a search they do, or how they get the info. 

[Dominionatrix]

I strongly suspect that the $2 million estimate is based off of the value of the house they’re living in (but which is not actually theirs), and that the good people at Celebrity Insider are cranking these estimates out without doing much rigorous fact-checking. But I could be wrong! Large social media followings can be very lucrative, which is why I never formally follow anyone whose message I don’t support.