Jinger Duggar recently opened up about why she chose not to participate in the Amazon Prime documentary Shiny Happy People, which chronicles the rise and downfall of her massive family.
The Duggars first appeared on television in a TLC special titled 14 Children and Pregnant Again! that aired in 2004. Following the special’s success, Jim Bob, Michelle, and the rest of the Duggar clan were approached to star in additional documentary-style specials that would air from ‘04 to 2009. Eventually, the Duggars became full-time reality stars when the network gave them a standalone show called 17 Kids and Counting, which later became 19 Kids and Counting.
The series aired from 2009 until its cancelation in 2015. During this time, several police reports from 2006 became available detailing Jim Bob and Michelle’s oldest son, Josh Duggar’s sexual molestation allegations as a minor. In May 2015, TLC released a statement on the news, “We are deeply saddened and troubled by this heartbreaking situation, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family and victims at this difficult time,” they wrote. Eventually, TLC decided to premiere a new series without Josh titled, Counting On; however, this series ended in 2021 due to Josh’s arrest on child pornography charges.
Jinger says she wanted to tell her own story
In a new interview with People, Jinger revealed the specifics regarding her absence in the Prime documentary, which hit the streaming giant in June 2023.
“I really wanted to make sure that I was able to share my story in my own words and in my own timing,” she said.
Although production asked Jinger to participate in the documentary, the 29-year-old decided to release her memoir titled, Becoming Free Indeed instead.
“That’s why I wrote Becoming Free Indeed … to share more of my journey out of IBLP’s teachings. I wanted to be able to share it in a way that was, like, God-honoring and hopefully sharing my story in a balanced way,” she continued.
“I thought, ‘I want this to be my story in a book form because then whenever people are trying to work through this stuff, they can go back and highlight,’ and [go], ‘Oh, she was struggling with this too. This is how Jinger kind of walked through it.’”
Shiny Happy People is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
TELL US – DO YOU WISH JINGER WAS IN THE DOCUMENTARY? HAVE YOU READ HER NEW BOOK?
