Last month, Amy King explained why she didn't appear in the Mary Duggar memorial episode. Now, it's another Duggar's turn.
Derick Dillard claims that he and Jill didn't appear to be at the funeral because TLC simply didn't want them in the episode. Wow.
"So you’re no longer filming Counting On? [I] never see you, Jill, or the kids in any episodes," a fan challenged Derick Dillard on Instagram.
The comment continued: "Not even the heart wrenching episode of grandmother Duggar’s death."
Last June, after Mary Duggar passed away, the very large and extended Duggar family assembled for her funeral.
Even the infamous Josh Duggar was spotted there. So why, when the episode aired in December, were Derick and Jill nowhere to be seen?
Derick replied to the follower, explaining that it was "not our fault."
“TLC cut out any family that they don’t want viewers to see in attendance," he clarified.
Derick then characterized that "It wasn’t in the script for us or the Kings to be there."
He is referring of course to the Duggar cousin, Amy.
Derick added another comment, having even more to say.
"Well, the show is only about what TLC wants it to be about," Derick reasoned.
“If there’s something about the family that they don’t want viewers to see," he spelled out, "then they’ll just edit it out."
Derick added: "or create their own storyline."
"TLC is only going to show viewers what they want viewers to see," Derick reasoned.
That is more or less how most reality shows work, but especially true for the Duggars.
Reality shows are not documentaries. They tell narratives based upon real people and real events, but don't have to tell the truth.
That's why some people still manage to believe that Jim Bob and Michelle are good people -- a combination of editing and denial.
"The conditions we were filming under took us to the brink of sanity," Derick has previously claimed of why he and Jill allegedly "quit."
Did you hear that, folks? They were almost sane!
His explanation continued: "and could have easily destroyed our lives if we had continued that trajectory,”
“We are now trying to pick up the pieces," he announced.
Well, that certainly sounds a lot better than "I couldn't stop myself from tweeting hateful things at a trans girl who was still in high school and got fired," doesn't it?
The fact of the matter is that Derick was taking cheap, hurtful shots at a marginalized minor who is also a TLC star.
TLC seems more than happy to look the other way when it comes to things, like child abuse, that happen off camera and out of the public eye.
That's why the Duggars are still on TV. But Derick was tweeting out his transphobic vitriol for the world to see.
Derick's troubled reputation, for both bigotry and for his and Jill's habit of begging fans for cash, are why a lot of people take his claims with a grain of salt.
After all, he has to be salty about losing that sweet reality TV check, right? Fans assume so, anyway.
But these Instagram comments don't say anything beyond confirming that Counting On functions like any other reality shows.
Camera angles and editing can make it look like anyone isn't present at an event. It's not shade -- it's just business.
