The Duggar family has recently celebrated National Siblings Day by sharing several photos of the family on social media. Unfortunately, Josh Duggar is not in any of them.
While the Duggars have said time and again that they have already forgiven Josh after the scandal, multiple reports insisted that they were still blaming him for getting "19 Kids and Counting" cancelled. Jim Bob, Michelle and the rest of the family reportedly lost a lot of money when TLC pulled the plug on the show, not even counting the speaking engagement and book deals that fell through.
According to Inquisitr, Josh was noticeably absent in the series of photos the Duggar family posted for the national siblings day. Although this does not necessarily mean that they were ignoring or shunning him, some cannot help but wonder if the scandal tore the family apart.
In May 2015, Josh admitted to molesting five girls in his teenage years, four of them were his siblings. He also confessed to using Ashley Madison website to cheat on wife Anna Duggar.
The outlet, however, pointed out that the Duggars were just not ready to put him back on the spotlight just yet. When TLC picked up the "19 Kids and Counting" spin-off "Jill & Jessa: Counting On," the network received quite a backlash from fans on social media. They claimed that TLC was inadvertently supporting Josh by airing the show. The network, however, issued a statement saying that he will not be part of "Jill & Jessa: Counting On."
While the new TLC show drew a lot of viewers in the last episodes, multiple reports suggest that it will only be a matter of time before "Jill & Jessa: Counting On" gets cancelled. According to Life & Style magazine, the new show is like the Zika virus to advertisers, with many companies pulling their ads left and right.
CEO of Strategic PR David Johnson told the outlet that companies were just uncomfortable with being associated to someone like Josh Duggar, no matter how high the ratings get.
"The advertisers have spoken and the Duggar brand is tainted by Josh. The show doesn't even have to feature him. The Duggar name is damaged," an insider added.
"Jill & Jessa: Counting On" airs Tuesdays on TLC.