For many months now, Derick Dillard has screamed from the social media heavens that he's been ripped off by his in-laws.
At one point, Dillard even accused Jim Bob Duggar of stealing millions from his own kids, arguing that the family patriarch pocketed all the profits from 19 Kids and Counting, along with its subsequent spinoff.
This allegation raised an obvious question among followers:
How much was Dillard paid to finally spill all the tea on his wife's family?
Derick and Jill Duggar must have negotiated a fee with People Magazine in exchange for their recent interview, the one in which they explained why their estanged from most of Jill's family, right?
No, Derick now claims.
He says his intentions were pure and his bank account isn't any more impressive as a result of this sit-down.
Earlier this week, a social media user on Instagram said the the father of two must have made out handsomely as part of his People Magazine, to which Derick replied:
"We actually did it for free."
Why, was the obvious follow up?
It's not unusual for a publication to pay a participant as part of a mutually-beneficial arrangement when it comes to a cover story or article?
So... why did Derick and Jill allegedly do this for free?
"Please never assume things; that's part of our message," Dillard explained, adding:
"People criticized us for raising funds to work on the mission field because they assume we had an income from reality tv.
"This unnecessarily hurt our work and credibility, so I wanted to set the record straight and remind people that things aren't always as they seem."
For those who missed it, Jill and Derick really opened up to People about the tension that exists between them and the latter's mom and dad.
Yes, Jill has admitted recently to drinking alcohol.
And, yes, she has confessed to using birth control.
So we've known she's split to some extent from her conservative relatives, but we hadn't really heard her dissect why until this interview.
"Our control to choose what jobs we were allowed to accept and even where we were allowed to live was taken away from us," Jill candidly told this magazine.
She even said that she and her husband weren't even permitted to set their own goals in life.
"The first few years of our marriage, we spent time and money working towards opportunities only to hit a dead end when we'd be told, 'Well, you're not allowed to do that,'" Dillard added to People.
This all lines up with what Derick, especially has said in the past. And also with things we've heard on the Internet.
Jim Bob and Michelle have always been very controlling parents and now that Jill has started to establish her own life and her own family... she seems to understand that she can finally do her own thing.
Heck, she can even wear pants!
Jill, of course, was a lead star on 19 Kids and Counting, a reality program that chronicled the highly-religious, ultra-conservative Duggar household.
She then played a role on TLC's Counting On, until she and Derick left after the latter got in trouble for constantly making anti-LGBTQ remarks.
"We knew we had to pull out completely to reevaluate and get our bearings," Jill told People, saying she and Derick started to break away from her loved ones in 2017, after they were no longer part of the aforementioned series.
The break now appears to be complete.
But all hope is not lost.
When asked for a statement by People, this is what Jim Bob and Michelle said:
Every family has differences of opinion and perspective at times, but families work things out.
We all love Jill, Derick, and their boys very much.
It is our prayer that our relationship is healed and fully restored quickly!
