Amy Duggar Sends Clear Signal She's Finally Done With Her Famous Family
The "19 Kids and Counting" clan once consumed TV audiences with their unusually large family and highly religious household. Now, the canceled TLC franchise has devolved into a dark spectacle, after one family member, Josh Duggar, was convicted of receiving child sexual abuse materials and sentenced to more than 12 years in prison (per NPR). Josh was also alleged to have molested four of his sisters, admitted to cheating on his wife, and admitted to an addiction to pornography.
Despite this, Josh and his wife, Anna, remain married, and a scant few other Duggar family members — such as Jill and Jessa — have distanced themselves from the family. Amy King (née Duggar), a cousin, has decided not to leave them alone for another reason, instead using her social media platform to bring awareness to the insidious secrets the Duggar household keeps. Before Josh received his prison sentence, King told People: "I'm angry at my cousin. I am deeply disappointed in him as a person ... But let me tell you I am furious at the family that looked the other way and still today, refuse to hold him accountable."
Looking inside her estranged relationship with the Duggar family, people can see that King was perceived as a "wild child" growing up for even the mildest of behaviors, including wearing jeans or going to the mall, which her cousins were not allowed to do. Now, King seems to be cutting ties with her extended family in another, perhaps symbolic, way.
Amy Duggar no longer
Amy King has publicly asserted that she does not ascribe to the same religious beliefs as her cousins, the controversial Institute in Basic Life Principles, or IBLP, propagated by minister Bill Gothard, when she shared on Twitter: "I have to be honest and true to myself by tweeting this. I do not support Bill Gothard and the Institute in Basic Life Principles in any way, shape or form. I find his 'teachings' extremely questionable" (via Cafe Mom). Despite being Christian herself, little connected King to her extended family but her maiden name. And now, even that has changed.
Fans noticed that King changed her last name on TikTok from her maiden name to her married name, according to The U.S. Sun. Her TikTok bio reads: "The "crazy" cousin turned out to be ... normal." And her handle is simply @amyrking. She also made a TikTok video in which she shares her feelings on her ties to the Duggar family captioned: "Realizing you can't please everyone even when you have kind and genuine intentions. I'll always be compared to other family members. I'll always be attacked just b[ecause] of my maiden name and there's nothing I can do to change that. These are the lows of being a part of reality [TV]. For those that do support and see my heart, Thank you." She also uses her married name on Instagram.