Joy-Anna Duggar said a lot without saying much at all.
Her recent appearance alongside her husband, Austin Forsyth, on the Unplanned Podcast revealed her thoughts on Jill Duggar.
She was Jill’s first buddy on her buddy team, and when she moved out to begin her life with Derick Dillard, Joy likely had to step up and take care of the other two siblings on the team.
There had been speculation for quite some time that things between Jill and Joy weren’t great. Still, after hearing the latter talk about her family “falling apart” on the podcast and the timing of it all, it was clear she was discussing Jill’s book release and her participation in Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets.
She specifically talked about postpartum depression and everything going downhill when Gunner was born, which was right at the time the documentary was released and news of Jill’s book, Counting The Cost, was made public.
Does Joy resent Jill for speaking out and adding tension in the family?
Joy-Anna Duggar favors Jinger Duggar
Two of Joy-Anna Duggar’s sisters wrote books about their lives. Jill Duggar wrote about personal things that specifically happened to her, revealing some dark truths about what happened between her and her father, Jim Bob Duggar.
Jinger Duggar went another route and discussed how she disentangled from Bill Gothard’s teachings. She talked about her experiences without blaming her parents and only focusing on how Gothard’s teachings were harmful and not from the Bible.
Despite being asked about Jill and Jinger’s books, Joy only discussed Jinger by name and talked about how her book has her questioning some things. She avoided addressing Jill’s book at all, which just adds to the speculation that the relationship between the sisters is strained.
Jill Duggar has been the Duggar family scapegoat
In the early days of 19 Kids and Counting, Jill Duggar was always the truth-teller. She wanted to ensure everything went well and often rattled on her siblings.
In fact, she is the one who alerted her parents to Josh Duggar’s inappropriate touching of her and her sisters.
Jill was blamed for what happened to Josh because she told on him, and when she decided to walk away from Counting On in 2017, relationships with her siblings became strained.
She didn’t talk about which siblings, but the distance between her and some of her sisters was noticeable. Joy-Anna Duggar doesn’t snap photos with Jill or even interact much with her when they are in the same room.
Her comments on the Unplanned Podcast made it seem like she blamed Jill for the family taking a hit when the documentary and her book were released. It negatively affected Joy, and she likely blamed her big sister.
Jill was blamed for a lot within the family, so unsurprisingly, Joy feels the way she does.
Hopefully, their relationship can be repaired, but Joy appears focused on remaining loyal to her parents and siblings who are against Jill. She has maintained relationships with her younger siblings, which seemed a priority even after marriage.
Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets is currently streaming on Prime Video.