Photo:Amanda Edwards/Getty Images; Scott Enlow/TLC
Amanda Edwards/Getty Images; Scott Enlow/TLC
Amy (Duggar) Kingis not giving up onAnna Duggar.
Anna’s husbandJosh Duggarhas beenat the center of much controversyin the last several years. He previously admitted to sexually abusing multiple young girls — including younger sistersJill (Duggar) DillardandJessa (Duggar) Seewald— when he was between ages 12 and 15. Josh, now 35, alsopaid a woman from Ashley Madison— a website known for facilitating extramarital affairs — for sex.
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And even though she strongly condemns Josh’s actions, King has still tried to offer support to his wife, 34.
“With Anna, I have tried. I have sent text messages, I have sent emails. I’ve tried, I’ve tried,” King, 36, exclusively tells PEOPLE. “I don’t know if her phone’s being monitored. I don’t know if she’s turned it off [and] she’s gotten a new one. I’ve tried on Instagram, I’ve tried on Twitter. She wants nothing to do with it at all, and that’s her decision.”
King continues, “I understand she hasa lot of kids, and I understand that she’s in a very broken place, I’m sure. I don’t want to speak for her. I’m sure that is just heartbreaking, but I also don’t necessarily think she sees it yet. I think it’s going to take a really long time. And if she ever does reach out, I am here for her.”
The former reality star details the length to which she’s gone to support Anna.
“My husband [Dillon] and I actually were talking when all this first came out, and I said, ‘Honey, we have room to welcome all of those kids and Anna into our home. We have bunk beds, we could do something really cool,'” she recalls. “And he was like, ‘You’re right.’ He was like, ‘We could.’ He was like, ‘Let’s reach out and see what we can do.'”
“I offered it, and that’s really all I can do is just hope and pray that she opens her eyes. That’s all you can do,” she says. “Honestly, it sucks. It just sucks because I want to be there and I want to help, and it doesn’t have to involve cameras or fame or anything. It’s just family reaching out to family. Unfortunately, she doesn’t see it.”
And while she still was willing to lend her support to Anna, King would not extend the same courtesy to her cousin Josh.
“Josh, I will not reach out to, honestly, because it’s just so heartbreaking. I can’t, I literally can’t, and I don’t want to,” she explains. “I’ll just be honest. … His hand was stuck and found in the cookie jar with Ashley Madison. His hand was stuck in the cookie jar when the [abuse] stuff about the precious sisters [Jill and Jessa] came out. And his hand was stuck again in the cookie jar when the last scandal, it just took the cake.”
Adds King, “It’s so filthy and so wrong and so evil, and I hate it. It just hurts my heart so much. I’m not going to reach out. I am done with that. It’s just so sad. So for me, I won’t reach out.”
Prime
King brought the same resolve to Prime Video’sShiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secretsdocuseries, which chronicles Josh’s scandals and other controversies surrounding the Duggar family and their super conservative religious beliefs.
Being a part of the project was important to King, who wanted to advocate for survivors of theInstitute in Basic Life Principlesand its teachings.
“I am not the type to hold back, and I just feel like as I get older, my voice is getting louder about things,” she says of choosing to appear. “Obviously, I prayed about it, talked to my husband, and I was like, ‘I think this is a really great move. It would be in front of a lot of people.’ It’s not about fame and it’s not about notoriety, it’s literally about just the hurting survivors and how much they have survived.”
She concludes, “I watched the documentary just the other day, and there’s so many people that just came out of so much fear and anxiety and shame. It’s like, ‘You don’t have to live like that.’ So I’m excited just to be a part of it.”
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Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secretsis now streaming in full on Prime Video.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.
source: people.com
