Kendra Caldwell Pregnant? Joseph Duggar’s Courting Partner Subject Of Convincing April Fool’s Joke [Debunked]
Is Kendra Caldwell pregnant? Joseph Duggar and his “courting” partner aren’t even married yet, and already rumors are swirling that she’s the latest woman connected to the ever-expanding Duggar clan to be warming a bun in the oven. However, things aren’t always as they seem, especially this time of year (read: near April Fool’s Day).
Whenever you read something that is salacious, shocking, or heartbreaking on the internet, it’s always a good idea to do some fact-checking. Consider your sources, too: are you reading a meme that was shared by a friend-of-a-friend on Facebook, who posted it without any evidence to back it up? If you read it online yourself, is the website you’re reading known to put out “fake news”?
And of course, check the date.
With these rules in mind, let’s take a look at the source of the rumors that Kendra Caldwell is pregnant: a Hollywood Gossip article with the salacious headline “Kendra Caldwell: PREGNANT By Joseph Duggar Before Marriage?!”
https://t.co/usrqnqeAan Kendra Caldwell: PREGNANT By Joseph Duggar Before Marriage?! #celebs pic.twitter.com/8X6E1bsqWI
— MeganRivers (@MeganRivers95) April 1, 2017
On the surface, the allegation is nothing short of shocking. After all, while it’s not unusual for Duggar women (and/or women who marry into the family) to turn up pregnant within months or even weeks of tying the knot, turning up pregnant before signing the marriage license is rushing things just a bit, especially in the conservative Duggar world where sexual purity before marriage is valued above almost all else. Heck, Duggar kids aren’t even allowed to date; rather, they go through the quaint and old-fashioned practice of “courtship,” where the father’s permission for the relationship is required, dates are chaperoned, and the couple aren’t even allowed to touch each other beyond the occasional hug.
But, as the article alleges, Joseph owned up to having broken the courtship rules in the Duggar family blog.
“I have sinned. I mean, I have really sinned like crazy, y’all. There were nights that Kendra and I sinned like four or five times in just a couple hours.”
‘Counting On’ News: Joseph Duggar and Kendra Caldwell Is a Perfect Pair – https://t.co/1wdW4mEfnj #GoogleAlerts
— Dawn E. Lowenstein (@dawnbolow) March 16, 2017
By now, it should be obvious that the readers are being played. A well-crafted hoax contains just enough truth to be plausible and, at the same time, has a fictional element that is just outrageous enough to make it obvious that it’s a hoax. And in this case, it’s Joseph’s non-existent “admission” on the family blog. The Hollywood Gossip didn’t provide a link to the family’s blog where you can read Joseph’s owning up to his and Kendra’s sin sessions, on account of there is no such admission.
Read on a few paragraphs, and writer Tyler Johnson finally reveals the big joke: “APRIL FOOLS!”
In other words, the whole thing was an April Fool’s Day joke. Kendra Caldwell is (probably) not pregnant. Scratch that — she may very well be pregnant, but since nobody writing or reading this article is in a position to say one way or the other, nothing can be conclusively said either way. If she is pregnant, the family is sure as heck keeping it under wraps.
Of course, not everyone gets that they’re being April Fooled. What’s worse, people sometimes have a tendency to just see a headline and believe what they see — and spread the information on social media — without reading the entire article. So, an April Fool’s Day hoax, a convincing headline, and a general public that spreads misinformation without fact-checking make for a perfect storm sometimes, causing some fans of the Duggar family to get suckered.
As it turns out, however, there are some Duggar pregnancy rumors that may have a grain of truth to them. For about a week now, rumors have swirled that Jinger Duggar is pregnant, thanks to two photographs that are open to interpretation and a fan base prone to rampant speculation. If that is true, it wouldn’t be scandalous to the Duggar family in the slightest, considering she’s been married for five months and, as history shows, that’s about the time Duggar women start getting preggers.
Bottom line: Kendra Caldwell is not pregnant (at least not officially).
[Featured Image by Creatas+Images/Thinkstock]
