Jim Bob Used TLC Earnings to Control His Kids

It’s been over a month since the publication of Jill Duggar’s new memoir, but the book continues to stir controversy.

As you’ve likely heard by now, Jill’s portrayal of her parents was less than flattering, and her comments have deepened the rift within her already fractured family.

Now, you might think that with all the scandals he’s endured, Jim Bob Duggar would basically be immune to bad press at this point.

But Jill’s remarks cut deeper than most criticism for a number of reasons:

For starters, Jill is Jim Bob’s daughter, so he likely sees her actions as a violation of the fifth commandment.

But what might be even worse in the patriarch’s eyes is the fact that Jill went into specifics about her family’s finances — a topic that’s long been the ultimate taboo for the Duggars.

We already knew that Jim Bob refused to properly compensate his children for their work on the family’s lucrative reality shows.

Now, we have details about what exactly Jim Bob did with his earnings — and like just about everything else in his life, the details of this situation are quite unflattering.

According to Jill’s book, Jim Bob’s kids were taken aback when they realized that he was using his wealth to buy power and influence in his community.

“As the show had grown, Pops had been able to buy more and more rental properties,” Jill wrote.

She went on to explain that Jim Bob often rented units to fellow church parishioners at a discounted rate, but the kids quickly realized that “Pops” wasn’t doing so out of the goodness of his heart.

She recalls that the skepticism surrounding Jim Bob’s motives began when he cautioned his kids not to speak with any of their friends or neighbors about the family’s financial situation.

“If you have any issues, don’t go stirring contention among the brethren,” Jill recalls Jim Bob saying. “You come to me.”

It seems that the incident was Jill’s first clue about Jim Bob’s plan to use his wealth to rise through the ranks of the evangelical world.

From there, Jill delved into the time that Jim Bob agreed to give his kids a portion of the money they’d earned from the show — in exchange for their silence.

“It took a few days for the mist to clear and for us to suspect that the money wasn’t just a simple gift,” she wrote.

Jill says that she and husband Derick Dillard were offered $80,000 — but they would only receive the money if they agreed to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Needless to say, she was devastated upon learning that her father viewed her as a threat that could be neutralized with cash.

Fortunately, it looks as though Jill has had the last laugh on the matter of finances.

In a recent podcast interview, Derick revealed that he and Jill are completely out of debt as a result of the money they earned from her book.

Reports that Jill is now a millionaire appear to be erroneous, but there’s no question that she and her family have finally attained full financial freedom.

It’s a moment that should make Jim Bob proud — but he’s probably seething with resentment instead.