Duggar Family To Attend Cousin Amy’s Wedding September 6
The Duggar family will attend cousin Amy’s wedding on September 6 in solidarity as her spin-off is cancelled and talent agent threatens a lawsuit.
The bride-to-be announced that the entire Duggar Family from the cancelled reality show 19 Kids and Counting will be at the upcoming nuptials during the Labor Day weekend as she marries her boyfriend, Dillon King, after a five-month engagement. Amy Duggar disclosed to People magazine that all her younger cousins (ages 5 through 9) will be flower girls, along with the 5-year-old daughter of disgraced cousin Josh Duggar. She said in the People magazine interview, “They’re going to be ringing bells and saying, ‘The bride is coming, the bride is coming!’ ”
Between the time the TLC network pulled the Duggar family reality show from its channel on May 22 (due to the release of sexual molestation police records involving eldest son Josh Duggar’s abuse of four sisters) until the time the show was officially cancelled on July 16, rumors were circulating about a spin-off involving just the two eldest Duggar daughters, Jill and Jessa. But the real spin-off show being planned was one featuring Amy Duggar, the quirky cousin.
The unnamed Amy Duggar spin-off was in development when two specials featuring Amy were televised on the Duggar family show: “A Big Announcement!” and “A Duggar Leaves Home.” Both specials aired in June, 2014. The shows chronicled Amy’s desire to be a professional singer. Amy, the daughter of Jim Bob Duggar’s sister, was a 27-year-old, part-time child-care provider who had little experience performing in front of an audience. The episodes follow Amy travelling to Nashville in search of her dream, with her mother Deanna (Jim Bob Duggar’s only sibling) and her grandmother, Mary, along for the ride.
In Nashville, the three Duggar family members meet up with Jamie Slocum, a Christian music singer / songwriter, who is now publicly angry with all three of them.
Jamie Slocum was the Associate Producer and Music Producer of both specials featuring Amy on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting. In October, 2014, he also produced half of the one-hour Season 9, Episode 17, entitled “Amy’s Nashville Dreams,” which filmed Slocum directing Amy’s first music video, with Amy singing a song he wrote for her. That episode aired on November 25, 2014. On his Facebook page last November, Slocum stated that he was working with Amy and TLC for more upcoming episodes to feature her on the 19 Kids and Counting series.
He was the brains and the experience behind the contract negotiated for Amy’s spin-off show with the network. In a scathing exposé of Amy, Deanna, and Mary, published on Radar Online, Slocum claims that the three Duggars are “very cheap” and refuse to pay his earned commissions.
“When TLC wanted more shows, Slocum said he began negotiating with the network lawyers and managed to bump Duggar’s [Amy’s] salary to $20,000 per episode from $3,500.
The paycheck for her sidekick mom and grandma got bumped to $6,000 per episode from $1,000, he told Radar.”
The exclusive interview with Slocum reports his outrage. “They could get their butt sued off for doing what they are doing,” he said. He states that the Duggar family trio refused to pay his 15 percent fee on the higher per-episode amounts he secured for them.
The Biblical proverb comes to mind: “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Here is the timetable of how this played out alongside the more notorious Duggar family scandal.
? May 15 – Jamie Slocum interview is published on Radar Online.
? May 19 – Last episode in Season 10 of 19 Kids and Counting airs on TLC.
? May 21 – In Touch magazine publishes police records of Josh Duggar’s incestuous sexual assaults.
? May 22 – TLC pulls all 19 Kids and Counting reruns off of its channel as a multitude of advertising sponsors cancel their ads on the show.
? May 29 – Jamie Slocum posts on Facebook that he is looking for a new artist to promote and to produce their music.
? July 13 – Amy Duggar announces her engagement to Dillon King on Instagram.
? July 16 – TLC announces that 19 Kids and Counting is permanently off the air and the series is cancelled.
? July 22 – Dillon King announces on Instagram that TLC cancelled its plans to film the upcoming wedding and asks fans to “voice your opinion to [the] network.”
? July 24 – Amy solicits wedding gifts and posted a mailing address on Instagram.
? August 6 – Amy and Dillon schedule their wedding for September 6.
? August 8 – Dillard’s department store sponsors a bridal shower for Amy at its store in a shopping mall, inviting shoppers to stop by for a free piece of cake.
It is unclear just why Amy Duggar’s spin-off was cancelled. Her episode on the now-defunct Duggar family show, “Amy’s Nashville Dreams,” only has a paltry 700 views on TLC’s official YouTube channel. The joint Facebook page she and Dillon set up in January only has 3,600 likes. It could be that the Duggar family scandal was not the only reason her spin-off was cancelled, if that was the reason at all. In any event, it’s doubtful that Jamie Slocum will be in attendance at Amy’s wedding in September.
Please scroll down to give your opinion of the treatment of Jamie Slocum and add your comments below.
[Photo credit: TLC publicity photo from gallery]
