Counting On's Cancellation Means The Duggars Will Lose Out On Money, But There May Be Another Hitch Too

Jessa and Jinger Duggar sharing fashion tips on TLC, skirts.

The fallout from Josh Duggar’s arrest has been substantial. Rifts between certain members of the Duggar clan have been laid bare. Counting On itself was also cancelled, substantiating rumors the show might be getting axed, which means a slew of Duggar siblings are currently out of -- or somewhat out of -- work. Patriarch Jim Bob Duggar and the family will be losing a large chunk of income with the show going off the air on TLC. However, there’s reportedly another problem with the series getting cancelled for the family

According to new reports, along with the alleged $850k per year the Duggar clan will no longer be seeing now that Counting On is no longer an income source, there’s another hitch to the TLC reality series getting cancelled. If a report over at The Sun is accurate, despite the fact the show is no longer on the air, the Counting On stars -- names like Jinger Duggar, Jessa Duggar and many more -- are reportedly all contracted for an additional six months following the cancellation.

A secondary hitch, according to an insider, is that the TLC contracts allegedly prohibit the members of the Duggar family from being too open about familial issues, including the arrest of eldest brother Josh Duggar on child pornography possession charges earlier this year. Though the person the outlet spoke to wasn’t named, they did say:

They will be doing everything they can to get out of them, and be looking at future projects either on TV or with brands.The contracts also mean the family can't speak too much about the show, it being canceled, or how Josh's arrest has affected the family, they have to be very careful.

Now, it is worth noting that certain members of the Duggar clan have addressed either the Counting On cancellation or Josh Duggar’s arrest. Jim Bob and his wife Michelle Duggar broke their own silence when they crafted a cancellation message and Jinger Duggar Vuolo and her husband Jeremy also wrote a statement basically thanking the crew for specifically filming the show and the fans who stuck with Counting On during its 11 seasons on the air.

Similarly, when Josh Duggar had been arrested, a few members of the family crafted statements and sent along prayers. This includes Jessa Duggar Seewald and the aforementioned Jinger Duggar Vuolo, both of whom were names connected to the molestation report release that happened a few years before Josh Duggar’s arrest on child pornography-related charges. Really, however, most of the reports about Duggar's arrest and his time out on bail have not come from comments Duggar clan members made themselves.

Meanwhile, some of the Duggars do have outside sources of income. Several of the Counting On stars have active YouTube accounts with ads. One of them has gotten into selling items on Poshmark. Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo recently published a book. In regards to what they can or cannot do on television, the insider information has not been confirmed by TLC and is unlikely to be, but I do wonder if even outside of the contracts, Counting On’s cancellation might give the family time to heal and not have to process the Josh Duggar arrest news on television. Perhaps a rest from TV would actually be a positive, despite any monetary side effects.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.