In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, which was published on Wednesday (June 28), Amy King opened up about the sexual abuse allegations that were made against her cousin, Josh Duggar, in 2015. The allegations are ultimately what led to the cancellation of the family’s hit show, 19 Kids and Counting.
Despite being family, King found out about the allegations just like the rest of us – through the news. She recalls being ‘pissed’ when she found out because she felt like she ‘wasn’t worth telling.’ She wondered why the family didn’t feel the need to protect her and why they, instead, felt the need to keep it a secret.
Instead of staying quiet and mum on the issues at hand, Amy King decided to confront her cousin over the allegations. “How could you do this?” she asked him in a trailer. He allegedly said he ‘knew better’ and knew he was in the wrong, but she accused him of targeting certain individuals who weren’t going to tell.
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Josh Duggar publicly acknowledged molesting four of his sisters – as well as another minor – when he was a teenager, but he was never found guilty of a crime and was never punished. He was, however, sentenced to 12+ years in prison after being found guilty of receiving and possessing child pornography.
His sexual abuse allegations and his child pornography case were explored in the new docuseries about the family – Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets. While Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar (Josh’s father and mother) refused to participate in the series, Amy King gladly accepted the invitation.
In the Vanity Fair interview, she explained how surprised she was to see how little people were speaking out about the obvious issues at hand. “Do we close our eyes and act like it’s not happening? Or do we say, ‘It’s happening and here’s the atomic bomb,’ and let the pieces fall where they may?” she asked.
Amy King wasn’t the only family member to take part in the docuseries. Jill Duggar Dillard, one of the four sisters who was a victim of Josh’s molestation, also spoke out against her brother’s allegations and the family, as a whole – for example, they expressed fear over Jim Bob’s growing control over the family.
Amy King Doesn’t Plan on Rekindling Any Familial Relationships
While she still keeps in touch with Jill Duggar Dillard and is proud of her for coming forward in the docuseries (which aired on June 2), Amy King has absolutely no interest in rekindling relationships with her aunt (Michelle Duggar), uncle (Jim Bob Duggar), and most of her cousins (including Josh Duggar).
And a big reason why is because of her 3-year-old son, Daxton Ryan – who she welcomed with her husband, Dillon Grey King, on October 9, 2019. The couple started dating in July 2014, got engaged in July 2015, and tied the knot in September 2015. The couple waited a few years before starting a family.‘
“If I can’t trust you, you’re not gonna get to know my child. I’m not going to sit there at a family dinner at Thanksgiving and pretend we’re a loving family. No, I’m scared to death of my child being around them,” she told Vanity Fair. It’s a parental instinct any mother or father understands when protecting their child.
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“It’s my right to protect Daxton at all costs and if that means that I cannot have a relationship with that family, then that’s fine,” she continued. If you’d like to learn more about what the family is up to now and what Amy (and Jill) had to say about them, go ahead and stream the new docuseries – available now!
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