TLC cuts ties with Derick Dillard over Jazz Jennings comments; Counting On still around
Following some of his latest open criticism of transgender TLC star Jazz Jennings, including referring to her intentionally by the improper pronoun, the network released a statement explaining that they are not working with Dillard on any new episodes of their show:
“We want to let our viewers know that Derick Dillard has not participated in Counting On for months and the network has no plans to feature him in the future. We want to reiterate that Derick’s personal statements do not reflect the views of the network … TLC is proud to share the story of Jazz Jennings and her family and will continue to do so.”
For those out there complaining that TLC is penalizing Derick for his free speech, just remember this: Free speech doesn’t mean that other people will still support your opinion. He made some of his statements, and the consequence of said statements is that he is no longer involved the production in the way that he once was.
Now that we’ve said that, there are some other complications with this issue. Because of Dillard’s removal from the show, Jill (Duggar) Dillard has to be shown without her husband; meanwhile, Anna Duggar is already being shown without Josh for obvious reasons. The series is not supporting the couple of people who’ve said terrible things or, in the case of Josh, done terrible things. Yet, they continue to support financially the entire Duggar family by continuing to give them their own show.
They may be doing the right thing by removing Derick from the show, but it’s not as though anyone within the family is coming out and openly disagreeing with some of what he’s saying here. This is what makes the entire Duggar situation all the more continually unnerving. There is no sign that some of this controversy with Dillard will stop, given that he clearly feels how he feels and there is a big part of the country right now who embraces this viewpoint and loves it when people they admire double down on their radical, and at times offensive viewpoints. (We could go further down this rabbit hole, but it’s probably a good idea to stop for now).
Feel free to share some more thoughts on the subject of Dillard’s apparent departure below. Meanwhile, like CarterMatt on Facebook to receive more insight on everything we cover. (Photo: TLC.)