Jed Duggar and his wife, Katey, from TLC's Counting On, are facing a backlash from their fans, who think their pregnancy announcement made light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Duggar family has put their lives in front of the camera for over 10 years and have had many controversies along the way. The biggest scandal from the show came in 2015 when it was revealed that the oldest son, Josh, molested five underage girls, including four of his sisters. This scandal resulted in the cancelation of the popular show 19 Kids & Counting. Matters were made worse for the family when it was revealed that Jim Bob delayed reporting his son's crimes to the authorities until a year after he committed them. TLC eventually replaced the show with Counting On, giving the family a platform once again.
Then another scandal involving Josh came to light and permanently severed TLC's relationship with the Duggar family. This time, Josh was arrested for being in possession of child phonography. He was arrested in April after the U.S. Marshalls raided his home and went through his computer. If found guilty, Josh can face up to 20 years in prison and have to pay a fine of $250,000. Fans were upset when Josh was released on bail given permission to remain in contact with his seven children. Considering his alleged crime was against children, they thought he shouldn't be allowed contact. There were conditions attached to him keeping in contact with them. According to the guidelines set by the judge, all his visits with his kids need to be supervised.
Jed is now at the center of negative attention among fans of the family after they accused his pregnancy announcement of mocking the COVID-19 pandemic. As reported by E! News, Jed posted a picture on his Instagram of him and his wife, Katey, holding up a sign announcing she is pregnant with their first child. Jed's caption on the post said that Katey had tested positive and then joked that it's not with COVID but that her pregnancy test was positive. Instead of congratulating the soon-to-be parents, fans flocked to the comments section to express their anger over the joke. The couple is being called immature for making such a tone deaf joke, with some calling it cringey. One commenter in particular said the joke offended her personally because she lost two family members to the virus, calling the joke insensitive, tasteless, tacky and distasteful. Another commenter took it a step further, saying this joke showed their white privilege.
The Counting On couple also announced their pregnancy via a video on their YouTube channel. Over the course of the video, Katey detailed the events that led to her buying and taking a pregnancy test, and what Jed's reaction was when she told him. Katey said she hadn't been feeling like herself for a few weeks and experienced a lot of cramping and bloating. Based off her symptoms, Katey decided to take a pregnancy test. She said she bought the test at a local Walmart and couldn't wait to go home to take the test, so she did it in a Walmart bathroom. Katey said she had a great moment to herself after finding out in the bathroom and couldn't wait to tell Jed. She claimed he began to cry once he found out and that it was a very beautiful moment. The baby is due in the spring of 2020.
When the original show was canceled, fans thought they had seen the last of the Duggar family, but Counting On proved them wrong. With the cancelation of the second show, fans are wondering if the family will ever be on their TV screens again. People seem to be fascinated by the Duggar family, and everything they have appeared on has been very popular. With these charges against Josh, it could be argued that the show is a liability rather than a moneymaker, but it will be interesting to see if a demand for the family still exists. It will be interesting to see if TLC takes the gamble and signs the Duggar family up for a third chance without Josh's involvement this time.
Sources: E! News, Jed Duggar/Instagram