Jill Duggar has opened up about the explosive interview that she and her sister Jessa did with Megyn Kelly back in 2015 in which they opened up about being molested by their brother Josh – while defending him against claims he was a rapist.
Jill, now 32, and her younger sister Jessa, now 30, sat down with Megyn in June 2015 for a Fox News appearance, in which they confirmed they were sexually assaulted by their older brother Josh, but angrily denied he was a pedophile.
However, in an incredibly sinister twist to the sordid scandal, Jill has now revealed that Josh was actually present for the entire interview and sitting on a couch just feet away from his younger sisters as they defended him in an effort to repair the Duggar family’s shattered wholesome image.
In her explosive new memoir, Counting the Cost, Jill admitted that Josh being there ‘was like having a bandage ripped off a deep and open wound’, but she didn’t question her parents Jim Bob and Michelle about why he was allowed to be present.
The former reality TV star said the experience was ‘so painful’ and she felt there was ‘nothing’ that she could do to ‘block any of it out’.
Jill Duggar has opened up about the explosive interview that she did with Megyn Kelly back in June 2015
Jill (right) spoke to Megyn in a Fox News special alongside her younger sister Jessa
Josh Duggar molested four of his siblings, including his sisters Jessa and Jill
Writing about the television interview, Jill explained: ‘On that day we had taken our seats beneath the bright lights at the Big House and did what we could to stand up for our parents.
‘Answering all Megyn’s questions, with Josh watching from a couch just out of shot, was like having a bandage ripped off a deep and open wound. It was agony, so painful that I didn’t really pause to ask why Josh was allowed to be there in the first place.’
She continued: ‘What was worse was the fact that I’d hoped it would calm things down. It hadn’t. The paparazzi were still chasing us, the internet still feasting on us, poring over every statement from the network, every new photo, every new angle.
‘My nightmares were getting worse and there was nothing I could do to block any of it out. All I was doing was surviving from one breath to the next,’ Jill admitted.
During the explosive chat, the two sisters largely downplayed what went on between themselves and their older brother, calling the inappropriate touching ‘subtle and mild’.
‘It wasn’t like a horror story or this terrible thing,’ Jessa insisted during the chat, as both siblings stressed that the two of them and the rest of their family, including Josh, had dealt with the trauma and put it behind them a long time ago.
Jessa also pointed out that she know ‘so many girls who go through things way worse’.
The Duggar star, who was 22 at the time, told the Fox News host: ‘I do want to speak up in his defense against people who are calling him a child molester or a pedophile or a rapist, some people are saying.
Megyn Kelly visited the Duggar home to conduct the interview with the two sisters
Jessa (left) was 22 at the time of the interview and Jill was 24 – both sisters were newlyweds
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar pictured with their children in March 2014
Michelle and Jim Bob also sat down to speak to Megyn as part of The Kelly File special
‘I’m like, that is so overboard and a lie, really. I mean, people get mad at me for saying that but I am like, I can say this, you know? I was one of the victims.’
The sisters did not entirely excuse their brother’s actions, however, though even when they did point out a negative behavior the pair seemed too quickly find a way to explain or justify his actions.
‘Josh was a boy, a young boy in puberty and a little too curious about girls,’ explained Jessa.
‘And that got him into some trouble. And he made some bad choices, but, really, the extent of it was mild – inappropriate touching on fully clothed victims, most of it while [the] girls were sleeping.’
Years later and Jill is opening up much more about her upbringing and the scandals surrounding her famous family.
Elsewhere in her new book, she went into detail about her rift with her 58-year-old father and said that he treated her convicted sex offender sibling Josh better than he did her.
Josh, 35, is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence in connection with his 2021 conviction of downloading and possessing child sexual abuse images.
The father-of-seven downloaded a vile trove of ‘the sickest of the sickest’ child porn with US District Judge Timothy Brooks saying at the time of the sentencing that ‘the images were some of the worst that this court has ever encountered’.
Jill and her husband Derick Dillard appeared in the recent Amazon docuseries Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets
Derick and Jill pictured with Michelle and Jim Bob in what appeared to be happier times
Jill released her explosive memoir entitled Counting The Cost earlier this month
In her book, Jill spoke about the time she and her husband Derick Dillard confronted Jim Bob about money, as they felt they were not properly compensated for their contributions to the family’s one-time TLC hit 19 Kids and Counting.
In the memoir she said that she told them: ‘There have been some very hurtful things that have happened, and so we wanted to sort it all out. To have a good discussion together.
‘We love y’all and I know we all hope to be able to restore family relationships very soon.’
In the memoir she said that she told them: ‘There have been some very hurtful things that have happened, and so we wanted to sort it all out. To have a good discussion together.
‘We love y’all and I know we all hope to be able to restore family relationships very soon.’
She said that her father’s ‘body language had shifted’ in the meeting.
‘He was sitting very still, lips tight, eyes locked in a scowl that had been sculpted out of rock,’ Jill wrote.
She said she could tell that Jim Bob ‘wasn’t listening to’ her and ‘had his own list of things he wanted to talk about’.
Josh is serving a 12-year prison sentence in connection with his 2021 conviction of downloading and possessing child sexual abuse images
Josh pictured before his conviction with his wife Anna and five of their seven children
She said he told her: ‘You sent me a text message, Jill. You said I was verbally abusing you. I was so offended by that, too. You know in your heart that’s not right. Are you going to apologize for that?’
Jill continued: ‘Pops must have sensed what I was thinking, because he suddenly stood up’ and told her ‘You’re not going to apologize? Really? His voice was loud, and there was an edge to it that I’d rarely heard.’
Jill said her father ‘took a step toward’ her in ‘an act of aggression.’
She continued: ‘He towered over me, his whole body fueled with anger. My face flushed red. My eyes filled with tears.’
Jill said he told her: ‘You know why you’re crying, don’t you? Your conscience is talking to you. That’s why.’
Jill said that Jim Bob’s ‘words were like blows’ as he chided her, ‘You’re guilty!’ while ‘stabbing a finger at’ her and ‘standing right over’ her.
She said that she told him in response: ‘You want to know why I’m crying? It’s that you think I’m some kind of horrible person just because I wear pants and have a nose ring, and yet you see that girl outside and praise her.’
Jill added: ‘That’s why I’m crying, Daddy. I’m evolving and changing, just like that girl out there, but you can’t see it. You treat me like I’m a prodigal who’s turned her back on you. You treat me worse than you treat my pedophile brother.’
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