Amy Duggar King– niece of Jim Bob Duggar and cousin to Jim Bob and wife Michelle’s 19 children– is no longer breaking bread (or noshing on tater tot casserole) with her extended family, but claims she’s perfectly fine with that. The 38-year-old, who occasionally appeared on the Duggar family’s TLC series 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On, recently opened up to E! News about her estrangement from her uncle and aunt, as well as most of her Duggar cousins, telling the outlet that for her, “boundaries are just very important.”
“If you are not necessarily lining up with mine, then there’s going to be a line drawn,” she said. “Unfortunately, that’s where we stand.”
As The Ashley previously told you, Amy has spoken out about some of the Duggar controversies over the years, including calling out members of her family who chose to write letters in support of her cousin Josh Duggar– Jim Bob and Michelle’s eldest son– prior to his 2022 sentencing for receiving child sex abuse materials (CSAM). Amy also appeared in Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets– the scathing docuseries about the Duggars that was released on Prime Video in 2023. (Amy and husband Dillon King also appear briefly in Season 2 of ‘Shiny Happy People.’)
While Amy has been vocal about the issues she has with her extended family, she told E! News this week that she’s no longer “coming from a bitter place,” nor does she regret publicly criticizing some of her family’s actions, even though it cost her the relationships she had with most of the Duggars.
“For a little while, I was really sad,” she explained. “I was really heartbroken. It was really difficult to make that choice and now I stand by it. It’s OK to say we’re living different lives, and I wish them all the best, but I’m going to speak my truth.”
While Amy remains estranged from nearly all of her cousins, she claims that she and Jill Duggar Dillard– who also appeared in Season 1 of ‘Shiny Happy People,’ along with husband Derick Dillard– continue to be “extremely close.”
“We trust each other,” Amy explained. “We have this great cousinship. She has told me intimate details and things that have happened. She trusts me and I trust her.”
Amy also told the outlet how proud she is of Jill– who has had a complicated relationship with her parents since distancing herself from her family’s Christian Fundamentalist lifestyle– noting that she reminds Jill that she’s “doing the right thing” and that her and Derick’s three children will have a better upbringing as a result of the choices she’s made.
“ … I applaud her,” Amy said. “I always will and we’re just going to stay on this path of boundaries.”
Amy announced in June that she had written a memoir entitled Holy Disruptor: Shattering the Shiny Facade While Getting Louder with the Truth, which is set to be released October 14. In her book, Amy will share her “unfiltered testimony of breaking free” from her controversial family.
‘Shiny Happy People’ Seasons 1 and 2 are currently available to stream on Prime Video.
