The Biggest Controversies in TLC History

Warning: The following post contains discussions of sexual abuse and child abuse.

TLC’s case of channel drift has replaced the cable network’s educational programming with lowbrow reality television, and in many infamous cases, network execs got more drama than they wanted.

For more than a decade and a half now, TLC stars have been condemned by the court of public opinion and by criminal courts. Here, in chronological order, are our picks for the biggest controversies in TLC history.

2009: Family members of Kate and Jon Gosselin speak out about Jon and Kate Plus 8

In May 2009, as Jon and Kate Gosselin navigated a separation that led to the end of their marriage, Kevin and Jodi Kreider, Kate’s brother and sister-in-law, criticized them and their TLC show Jon & Kate Plus 8 in interviews with the press.

“The show is not reality, and has not been for a long time,” Jodi said at the time, per the New York Daily News. “This is a train wreck.”

Added Kevin: “It has turned into a huge moneymaking machine, and the money has become priority number one with Kate.”

2011: Lowe’s pulls ads from All-American Muslim

Celebrities Kal Penn and Mia Farrow and more than 200,000 petitioners protested Lowes’ December 2011 decision to pull ads from the TLC show All-American Muslim, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The home-improvement store chain said its decision came after All-American Muslim “raised concerns, complaints, or issues from multiple sides of the viewer spectrum,” THR previously reported.

But after the conservative Florida Family Association urged its supporters to email advertisers on the show, a Lowes representative emailed the organization, saying, “While we continue to advertise on various cable networks, including TLC, there are certain programs that do not meet Lowes’ advertising guidelines, including the show you brought to our attention. Lowe’s will no longer be advertising on that program.”

In a tweet at the time, Lowes claimed it “did not pull our ads based solely on the complaints or emails of any one group” and that the company “values diversity of thought in everyone.”

2011: Problematic docuseries My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding premieres

In June 2011, TLC started airing My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, which immediately sparked backlash. The New Republic’s Seyward Darby dinged the show for its “voyeuristic, stereotypical, judgmental, and shallow depiction of one of the world’s most misunderstood and, at times, abused minorities” and its “simplistic view of the cultures of Travellers and Roma — two distinct groups, though the show happily conflates them into one category.”

The show started its life as the docuseries Big Fat Gypsy Weddings in the United Kingdom, where it faced other critiques. Educational consultant Brian Foster, chair of the Advisory Council for the Education of Romanies and Other Travellers, said in October 2012, the show had caused “real, measurable, and long-term harm” and blamed it for an increase in bullying and negative stereotyping of Romani people, per The Guardian.

2011–12: Toddlers & Tiaras costumes spark outrage

A September 2011 episode of the TLC show Toddlers & Tiaras appalled viewers when the mother of 3-year-old beauty pageant contestant Paisley dressed the girl like Julia Roberts’ sex worker character in Pretty Woman. “When are we going to stop sexualizing our children?” Sherri Shepherd asked on The View at the time, per ABC News.

Then, in an August 2012 episode, the mother of 4-year-old Destiny dressed her up like the greaser version of Sandy Olsson from Grease, even giving her daughter a cigarette to pretend to smoke. “Destiny has a cigarette!” a judge on the show exclaimed, per Today. “What is [her mom] thinking?!”

2012: Cake Boss costar Remy Gonzalez is convicted of sexual assault of a minor

In August 2010, police arrested Cake Boss personality Remy Gonzalez — onetime brother-in-law of star baker Buddy Valastro — and charged him with sexually assaulting a minor, according to the Associated Press.

The following June, Gonzalez pleaded guilty, and in May 2012, he was sentenced to nine years in state prison for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, according to NJ Advance Media.

2012: Breaking Amish is accused of fakery

TLC had to go on the defensive in September 2012 amid accusations that the Amish and Mennonite participants of the docuseries Breaking Amish had, in fact, ventured out of their communities before and that some had even gotten married and had children.

“There is a lot of information floating around about the group featured on Breaking Amish,” the network said in a statement, per The Hollywood Reporter. “Much of it is not true, but some of it is — and is addressed in upcoming episodes.”

Breaking Amish’s reunion specials that November did address the speculation but only in circumspect terms, per Deadline. “[Viewers] can believe whatever they want, but if they want to know, they can watch the show,” cast member Rebecca said about her and her costars’ lives. “I don’t give a [bleep] what anybody thinks.”

2015: Josh Duggar’s past acts of molestation come to light

In May 2015, In Touch Weekly reported that 19 Kids and Counting star Josh Duggar had been investigated for sexually molesting minors years prior. The outlet also reported that Josh had confessed his acts to Jim Bob Duggar, his father, had that Jim Bob waited more than a year after that confession before notifying police.

“Twelve years ago, as a young teenager, I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends,” Josh Duggar said on Facebook after the scandal broke, perCNN. “I confessed this to my parents, who took several steps to help me address the situation. We spoke with the authorities, where I confessed my wrongdoing, and my parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling.”

Jim Bob and wife Michelle Duggar later said in a Fox News interview that four of the five girls Josh molested were his sisters, per The New York Times. TLC canceled 19 Kids and Counting that summer.

2015: TLC angers viewers with its series My Husband’s Not Gay

The January 2015 premiere of the TLC reality show My Husband’s Not Gay, which followed heterosexual Mormon couples in which the man of the couple had same-sex attraction, became a lightning rod for the network. More than 132,000 people signed a Change.org petition saying the show “promotes the false and dangerous idea that gay people can and should choose to be straight in order to be part of their faith communities” and calling for TLC to cancel the show.

“This show is downright irresponsible,” GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “No one can change who they love, and, more importantly, no one should have to. By investing in this dangerous programming, TLC is putting countless young LGBT people in harm’s way.”

2017: Toby Willis pleads guilty to child rape

In July 2017, Toby Willis, the patriarch of a musical family that rose to fame on America’s Got Talent and then starred in the TLC reality show The Willis Family, pleaded guilty to four counts of child rape and was sentenced to 40 years in prison, as People reported at the time. TLC had canceled the show two years prior and before his arrest, the magazine added.

“Although the criminal case has concluded with Toby Willis receiving 40 years for the crimes he committed, the impact on the victims will remain much longer,” the other Willis family members said as part of a public statement at the time, per The Tennessean. “The family is appreciative and grateful that people have respected their need for privacy during this trying time and asks for continued respect as they seek to move forward.”

2017: Derick Dillard posts transphobic tweets about Jazz Jennings

In August 2017, 19 Kids and Counting personality Derick Dillard tweeted transphobic statements about another TLC reality star, I Am Jazz’s Jazz Jennings. He called Jennings’ show “a ‘reality’ show which follows a non-reality” and claimed that “‘transgender’ is a myth,’” CNN reported.

Then, after another Twitter user confronted him about his beliefs, Dillard said he “[had] nothing against” Jennings as he mispronouned the then-teenager.

Jennings seemed to reference Dillard’s posts in a Twitter post of her own, writing, “Every day I experience cyber-bullying, but I keep sharing my story. Today was no different.”

2020: Jacob Roloff says he was abused by a Little People, Big World producer

In a December 2020 Instagram post, Little People, Big World star Jacob Roloff said that he was groomed and molested as a child by an executive field producer on the show.

“I do not expect to provide details of this encounter at any point publicly,” Roloff wrote in his post, in part. “I do hope he is never allowed around children again. … I choose to disclose it now, as it remains a traumatic memory that needs to be exorcised of any further power of my development.”

In a statement to People at the time, TLC said, “TLC was just informed about an alleged encounter that occurred years ago involving a third party connected to the production of Little People, Big World. We are saddened and troubled by this very serious allegation, and TLC will work cooperatively with the authorities. Our main focus remains on supporting the Roloff family during this very difficult time.”

2021: Josh Duggar is convicted of possession of child pornography

After Josh Duggar’s molestation scandal, TLC debuted a new spinoff with his siblings titled Counting On. But even that show got the axe in June 2021 after Duggar was arrested on federal charges of downloading and possessing child pornography, per the Los Angeles Times.

That December, a federal jury convicted Duggar of receiving and possessing material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and in May 2022, he was sentenced to 151 months in prison, as the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Western District of Arkansas said in a press release at the time.

2021: 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days star Geoffrey Paschel is convicted of kidnapping and assault

Geoffrey Paschel, one of the subjects of 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days Season 4, was convicted of kidnapping and assaulting his ex-fiancée in October 2021 and sentenced to 18 years in prison the following February, according to People. Viewers had petitioned TLC to remove Paschel from its programming in a March 2020 petition, citing the ongoing and past allegations against him.

If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual assault, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

If you or someone you know is the victim of child abuse, contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453). If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.