TMZ, citing unnamed sources, says TLC has pulled all episodes of “19 Kids and Counting” from its schedule as a result of the sexual molestation scandal involving the family that was revealed this week.
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their 19 children have ridden the reality show to TV fame and fortune and enhanced their status as leading political figures on the religious right. They played a leading role in defeating Fayetteville’s civil rights ordinance for sexual orientation and gender identity, with Michelle Duggar make robocalls stirring fear that protections for transgender people could somehow put young girls in peril of sexual predators. This was after her own son, Josh, had admitted groping young girls, perhaps no older than six, in her own home. The Duggars chose to get “counseling” for Josh rather than going to authorities with the incidents.
TMZ said the decision to pull the show from its schedule is not necessarily a permanent decision.
We’re told they absolutely have not made a long-term decision, but it’s clearly a bad sign for the show.
And there’s this … a rep for General Mills tells TMZ, they have already blacklisted the show and removed it from their company’s current advertising schedule. \
As we reported, TLC ran a Duggar marathon Thursday, prominently featuring Josh. There was big backlash, not the least of which came from Mama June, who felt TLC was giving the Duggars a pass for far worse conduct than hers, which caused TLC to pull the plug on ‘Honey Boo Boo.’
UPDATE: Huffington Post says the series has been pulled for the time being, but currently reappears on the schedule May 27, or next Wednesday.
ALSO: Great timeline from Gawker on the Duggar affair, which raises the questions of what TLC knew and when it knew it.
UPDATE: This afternoon, TLC posted the following on its Facebook page:
Effective immediately, TLC has pulled all episodes of 19 Kids and Counting currently from the air. We are deeply saddened and troubled by this heartbreaking situation, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family and victims at this difficult time.