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'19 Kids And Counting' Finally Gets The Axe After Molestation Scandal
TLC has officially axed '19 Kids And Counting,' nearly two months after Josh Duggar admitted to molesting his sisters as a teen.
TLC says that it's not going forward with the 11th season of "19 Kids And Counting" and won't be airing reruns. The show followed the lives of Arkansas couple Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their titular 19 kids, and it averaged 3.2 million viewers. But after Josh Duggar's admission, advertisers dropped the show. Duggar never faced any charges.
"We spent the past month and a half in thoughtful consideration about what is the best way forward here," Marjorie Kaplan, group president of TLC, Animal Planet and Velocity networks, told the Associated Press.
This is the second show in the last year that TLC has canceled because of a child molestation scandal. Here Comes Honey Boo Boo was axed after reports that Honey Boo Boo's mom June Shannon was dating a convicted child molester.
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TLC says that it's now teaming up with two child-protection organizations—Darkness to Light and RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)—to kick off a campaign to raise awareness about child sexual abuse. They plan to air a one-hour, commercial-free documentary in late August, AP says. Jill and Jessa Duggar, two of the four sisters that Josh Duggar admitted to touching inappropriately, will appear in the show alongside other survivors of abuse.
"We took it as an opportunity to step further than just 'How do we protect ourselves?' and step into 'How do we protect our audience and protect children?'" Kaplan said. "Our hope is to do more of that, in a way that's thoughtful and respectful of the victims of child abuse — in the Duggar family and across America."
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