Jill Duggar Dillard Mysteriously Absent from Counting On Poster After TLC Fires Husband Derick
Last year, TLC fired Counting On cast member Derick Dillard for his alleged transphobic views — and now, he and his wife Jill (Duggar) Dillard are absent from the reality show’s latest promotional poster.
The newly released shot, posted Friday on the Duggar family’s official Facebook page, features cast members Jessa (Duggar) Seewald and her husband Ben, Joy-Anna (Duggar) Forsyth and her husband Austin and Jinger (Duggar) Vuolo and her husband Jeremy.
“30 days until #CountingOn returns!!” the caption reads.
Now in its seventh season, Counting On follows Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s older children, who were previously featured on 19 Kids and Counting, as they’ve courted, gotten married and had children of their own. Derick and Jill were once a prominent part of the show, following their life with their two sons, 2-year-old Israel and 6-month-old Samuel — until Derick, 28, came under fire for criticizing fellow TLC star and transgender activist Jazz Jennings.
“What an oxymoron … a ‘reality’ show which follows a non-reality,” Dillard tweeted Aug. 2 in response to a promotional tweet from the network about 17-year-old Jennings’ series, I Am Jazz.
“Transgender’ is a myth,” he added. “Gender is not fluid; it’s ordained by God.”
A slew of fans criticized Derick for his tweet, including one user, who responded by asking: “Is it necessary for a grown man to throw shade at a teenage girl?”
“I want to be clear. I have nothing against him,” he replied, referring to Jennings. “I only have issue with the words and definitions being propagated here.”
A day after Derick posted his tweet, Jennings issued a response on the social media platform: “Every day I experience cyber-bullying, but I keep sharing my story. Today was no different.”
In November, the father of two also said he believed Jennings was being taken advantage of in order to promote an agenda, and that he pitied her.
“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,” TLC said in response. “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.”
Counting On returns to TLC on Feb. 26.