Most fans don't know this (or have long forgotten about it) but the Duggar boys used to have their own YouTube channel called Duggar Studios. Launched in 2014, the channel mostly featured Josiah, Jason, Jedidiah, and Jeremiah as they showed off their burgeoning filmmaking skills, from stop-motion to even drone videography. Although the channel had typical Duggar fare, like videos of missionary trips or footage of pro-life rallies, the channel was mostly a collection of quirky, creative visions from a band of teenage boys. It actually, for the first time, made the family look kind of normal for once. So why did they stop making videos? Below, an investigation into what happened.
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Whatever Happened to Duggar Studios? A (Sort Of) Investigation
May 3, 2018 2:34 pm
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YouTube
Duggar Studios made its debut in November 2014.
When their YouTube channel first went live, they had six original videos. Two of them were music videos they made with the Bateses, and the rest were quirky scripted videos that showed the boys tinkering with stop-motion animation and even pretending to be cowboys. The videos mostly featured Jason, Jedidiah, and Jeremiah with Josiah being behind the camera.
Before Josh moved out of the house, he had his own editing room right off the boys' room, which is probably where the boys' interest in videography came from. There was also an episode of 18 Kids and Counting where the brothers got to shoot and direct an entire episode. Judging by that, the YouTube channel was probably a way for the Duggar boys to show off their burgeoning interests in filmmaking. So why did they stop?
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They ignited controversy when they added a "donate" button to their page.
In 2015, after the Josh Duggar molestation scandal drove TLC to cancel their hit show, the family started asking for donations on their YouTube page. "Help Duggar Studios make more fresh quality content," a message on their page said. "Every contribution is helpful, big or small." Both fans and the media immediately started ripping them apart, even accusing the family of being "so broke" they had to "beg for cash."
A Facebook user who donated $1 to the Duggars took a screenshot of the PayPal payment, which revealed the money was going directly to Josiah. After all the backlash, the "donate" button was removed from their page.
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They angered fans when they started selling overpriced T-shirts.
Shortly after the controversy about the donate button, the boys behind Duggar Studios were at it again, except this time selling T-shirts on their official website for $20 a piece. Fans accused the Duggars of being greedy and felt like the channel wasn't regularly updated enough to justify the demand for cash. After the backlash, the Duggars lowered the price of their shirts from $20 to $15, but that still didn't satisfy some fans.
"They are required to have an Arkansas resale license and collect taxes on the sales," a fan observed. "However, they are not charging tax, but it adds a $5 shipping charge. If Duggar Studios is registered in Arkansas, it will have a sales license that they have to be able to provide on demand to anyone purchasing merchandise."
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YouTube
Their fans didn't think the videos were "Christian-y" enough.
Although Duggar Studios included videos of the family's missionary trip to El Salvador and marching at a pro-life rally, the heart of the channel was focused on the boys' quirky, creative visions, from pretending to be cowboys to driving police cars. In other words, they were like normal teenage boys. However, some of the Duggars' intensely religious fans didn't like this deviation away from the usual Duggar brand of dead-eyed family togetherness.
"The boys looked like they are in a rock band," a fan wrote. "Skinny jeans? What's with the arm and hand motion while standing on the car? Looked kinda rappish to me." Another one added, "I was sad to see the change in music. I remember seeing the Duggars sing 'Yield Not to Temptation' on the way to go shopping with a Japanese reporter who was visiting them. It was a simple, but sweet testimony. God is holy and pure, and music for Him ought to reflect those traits."
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YouTube
Their last video was uploaded in July 2016.
Although the channel was rarely updated, they uploaded their last video in 2016, and it was the only video they released all that year. In the video, Jedidiah introduced a young 12-year-old pianist who played "Star-Spangled Banner." It was a quick and unassuming video that, for whatever reason, was their last.
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YouTube
The official "Duggar Family" YouTube page was born.
In April 2015, Michelle and Jim Bob started DuggarFamily.com and launched a YouTube channel to go along with it. Although it didn't have any of the production value of Duggar Studios, it was a frequently updated portal of courtship announcements, violin practices, and endless congratulation videos. After a while, we suppose the family realized there was no point in having two Duggar YouTube channels. But still, we can't help but miss the drama of Duggar Studios a little bit. Besides, we'd rather watch a million stop-motion videos than another boring congratulation video any day.
