Jessa Duggar was pulled from the Facebook page of the Southern Women’s Show for her appearance in Orlando on Saturday. This comes after a slew of savage comments aimed at Jessa, her husband, Ben Seewald, and the entire Duggar family were posted on the event’s Facebook page for its last show in Charlotte , North Carolina, on August 29.
Just before Jessa was to speak in Charlotte, the announcement was made on the Facebook page that she would be on stage momentarily. That short post, accompanied by Jessa’s picture, resulted in fast and furious comments in response. At least 100 comments were removed by the page’s administrator, and a damage-control statement was made by a representative of the event.
“We understand that not all show guests are fans of Jessa Duggar Seewald or the television show [ 19 Kids and Counting ], but believe the Southern Women’s Show offers a multitude of exhibits, workshops, cooking demonstrations, and entertainment at this year’s show.”
To apparently avoid a repeat, the event’s Facebook page made no mention of Jessa Duggar’s appearance for its event in Orlando . That silence is noteworthy as an indication of Jessa’s possible future as a media attraction. However, failing to mention her appearance on its Facebook page didn’t keep detractors from expressing their opinions on other Facebook pages. The event’s sponsors are now being targeted.
One of the main sponsors of the Southern Women’s Show is Walgreens. Oddly enough, Walgreens was one of the first sponsors to pull ads from the Duggar family reality show on TLC, 19 Kids and Counting , when news of Josh Duggar’s incestual molestations hit the headlines in May. (At least 21 advertisers bailed from the TV show, which finally resulted in its permanent cancellation on TLC.) In the past 24 hours, Duggar detractors are now starting to post their objections to Walgreens’ Facebook page .
“Please do not sponsor any shows related to the Duggars and their children. They promote hatred and intolerance toward others and have minimized the impact of child abuse/molestation.”
“I won’t be buying anything from here until you stop supporting the Duggar’s new ‘specials’ on TLC. Those women minimized their brothers’ disgusting and criminal acts and are terrible role models for everyone, especially young women!!! Shame on you!”
Jessa Duggar appeared onstage at the Orlando show, accompanied by her husband, Ben Seewald. Ben is not featured as a guest on the show’s website, but he was onstage with his wife just as he was at the show in Charlotte.
In an unprecedented display, Jessa actually bared her knees in a short skirt when she appeared onstage. This was never allowed by any of the Duggar family daughters when living in the family home of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. In fact, that might raise a few eyebrows of long-time fans who appreciated the modest attire of the Duggar daughters. And, yes, her dress was above her knees even when standing.
Jessa’s appearance at the show was billed as a meet-and-greet, question-and-answer session and not as a speaking engagement. The questions fielded were screened by a moderator, who even asked a few of his own to fill up the time. According to one attendee, the audience responded with a deafening silence when Ben answered the MC’s question about when he fell in love with his wife.
Another reviewer wrote that there was “little chemistry” between Ben and Jessa onstage, and “even less between Jessa and the audience, which found her totally boring.”
After the event, Ben appeared at an autograph table with Jessa and actually signed his autograph to pictures of his wife – not pictures with his wife, but pictures of his wife.
There were no new revelations during the couple’s appearance at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The couple has been married for almost a year, and Ben is still making his living by doing odd jobs for Jessa’s father, Jim Bob Duggar. With their first baby due in November, Ben has put off his desire to enroll in a seminary to become a pastor and has no date in mind for doing that.
The couple mentioned that they still planned to adopt children, but they can’t sign up for that until they have been married for two years and can demonstrate enough stable income to qualify. Jessa answered the question with a “No” when asked if she were going to have as many children as her mother, Michelle, but that may just be because Jessa said at the Charlotte show that she planned on having at least 20 kids and her mom only had 19.
Jessa Duggar has two more upcoming appearances booked under her contract with the Southern Women’s Show: on October 10 in Birmingham, Alabama, and on October 17 in Jacksonville, Florida. The event administrators have wisely been Facebook-silent about Jessa’s October appearances, as well.
TLC has announced that it will produce a special about the birth of Jessa’s baby, which is due on November 1. The TLC Facebook page now has over 4,000 comments ranting about this decision. The show is to air on an as-yet-undetermined date sometime before the end of the year. After that, Jessa Duggar will need to think of a new way of generating interest if she intends to remain in the public eye. Fans will enjoy seeing pictures of the new baby, but after that, looking at pictures of other people’s kids becomes quite boring.
The old 19 Kids and Counting time slot on TLC has already been replaced with more noteworthy parents, Danielle and Adam Busby . That TLC series will feature the birth of America’s first all-female quintuplets . It would be hard for any new parents to top that notoriety. Although deeply religious, the Busbys are quick to point out that they are not at all like the Duggar family — and never will be.
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[Intro photo from YouTube]