It’s been nearly three years since the world learned that Josh Duggar molested five girls – four of whom were his sisters.
But for obvious reasons, the appalling scandal remains fresh in the minds of many former Duggar fans.
These days, the eldest son of Jim Bob and Michelle lives in virtual exile.
Josh works on a used car lot owned by his family, and while he still lives in Arkansas, he doesn’t spend nearly as much time with his parents and siblings as he once did.
In fact, Josh sightings are so rare at the Duggar compound that it seems even the family’s most devoted fans have forgotten the 29-year-old exists.
As you’re probably aware, multiple Duggar women are expecting chldren these days, and a recent online conversation about their pregnancies revealed the extent to which Josh is no longer on the mids of Counting On viewers.
Fans on Facebook commented on a recent post made by the family with predictions about the genders of Joy-Anna, Jinger, and Kendra’s babies.
“Lots of grandboys,” one fan wrote.
“I’m betting Jinger has the first girl! Or maybe Joy.”
“In all fairness, it’s been a long string of boys,” another commented
“The girls are sorely outnumbered!”
It was only then that a third fan pointed out that Jim Bob and Michelle have already welcomed two female grandchildren.
“You’re forgetting Mckenzie and Meredith,”
The apparent Josh amnesia amongst obsessive Duggar fans might be attributed to a number of different causes:
It could be that these fans simply prefer to forget about Josh.
After all, the disgraced former lobbyist no doubt inflicted immeasurable trauma on his sisters, to say nothing of the fact that he nearly single-handedly destroyed his family’s media empire.
It’s not hard to see why fans might prefer to pretend he never existed.
Of course, selective memory is just one possible reason that Josh and his family aren’t at the forefront of some fans’ minds.
Some fans seem to believe that the Duggars would prefer they never mention Josh.
In all likelihood, Josh makes so few appearances on his family’s social media pages for practical reasons, but discussions in online Reddit boards reveal that many Duggar obsessives believe Josh is such a painful part of the family’s past that they would prefer to pretend he doesn’t exist.
Another possible reason – and perhaps the most likely explanation – is that Josh is not on fans’ minds for the simple reason that these days, he has very little interaction with the famous branch of his family tree.
He lives outside of town, and not only has he never appeared on his family’s reality show, he rarely pops up on his sisters’ social media pages.
Since those are the primary means through which Duggars interact with their fans, it’s not hard to see how Josh might get confined to the dustbin of history.
We just hope both fans and family members will bear in mind that his children have done nothing wrong and do not deserve to be exiled.
Watch Counting On online for more from reality TV’s most famous family.
