Even as TLC, the network that airs 19 Kids And Counting, desperately scrambles for a way to keep one of its most popular reality series on the air without tacitly endorsing an admitted child molester, one sub-provider of said reality series is removing itself from the situation entirely. That would be Hulu, which according to The Wrap has pulled all episodes of 19 Kids And Counting as of this morning, and has confirmed that no, this is not a schadenfreude-induced technical error, but a deliberate move on the part of the streaming service.
In case you haven’t heard, the show has been the subject of much tongue-wagging since In Touch magazine published a report detailing sex-abuse allegations against Josh Duggar, eldest son of the absurdly fertile fundamentalist reality-show clan, last week. Duggar subsequently released an apologetic statement saying he “acted inexcusably” before stepping down from his position as executive director of the powerful conservative lobbying group Family Research Council.
For its part, Amazon Instant Video still has several seasons of the show—going all the way back to when it was called 17 Kids And Counting—available for purchase, as does iTunes. Netflix didn’t offer the series before, and presumably has more sense than to start offering it now. Crackle doesn’t offer it either, in case anyone cares.