Amy Duggar has laid bare the alleged abuse her mom Deanna suffered at the hands of her own father.
The 39-year-old star, who is the niece of Duggar family patriarch Jim Bob Duggar, was a big part of their many reality shows, including the TLC series, 19 Kids and Counting.
However, in recent years she’s cut ties with nearly the entire clan, amid her cousin Josh’s child pornography conviction and previous allegations that he molested four of his sisters.
And in a new memoir, Holy Disruptor: Shattering the Shiny Facade by Getting Louder With the Truth, Amy opened up about more family woes, claiming that her grandfather, Jimmy Lee Duggar — who passed away in 2009 — ‘almost succeeded in murdering’ her mom during a terrifying attack.
In the book, which was released on Tuesday, Amy called her grandfather a ‘complicated’ man, adding that he was ‘off-the-wall, unpredictable, reckless, and practically a real-life Kramer from Seinfeld.’
She recalled one instance when Jimmy Lee ‘went ballistic’ after finding out that Deanna, who is now 63 but was 21 at the time, wanted to move in with her then-boyfriend.
Amy Duggar, 39, has claimed that her grandfather, Jimmy Lee Duggar ‘almost succeeded in murdering’ her mom Deanna, 63, in a terrifying attack; Amy seen with mom Deanna
She recalled an incident when Jimmy Lee ‘went ballistic’ after finding out that Deanna, who was 21 at the time, wanted to move in with her then-boyfriend; Jimmy Lee pictured with Amy
‘He grabbed her by the throat, carried her from the kitchen to his bed, and jumped on top of her,’ she wrote, according to an excerpt shared by UsWeekly.
‘He wrapped his hands around her neck, lay on top of her so she was unable to move, and started strangling her. … He almost succeeded in murdering my mother.’
Amy added that Jim Bob was able to stop the attack and ‘saved her life that day.’
Another incident reportedly occurred when Deanna returned home from college and saw Jimmy Lee ‘yelling violently’ at her mom.
When she tried to go to another room, he began beating her with a belt.
‘With a leather belt in his hand and the most haunting, crazed look in his eyes, he grabbed her by the legs, held her down on the bed, and began beating her, every hit harder than the last,’ Amy claimed.
‘This brutal torture lasted for more than an hour,’ she wrote, adding that Deanna was left ‘black and blue and beaten to a bloody pulp.’
‘One thing that has always stood out to me when my mom tells this story is that throughout the entire horrifying event… her mother never came to help,’ Amy noted.
Amy wrote that her grandfather was ‘hilarious’ but also ‘possibly a little insane.’
‘He wrapped his hands around her neck, lay on top of her so she was unable to move, and started strangling her. … He almost succeeded in murdering my mother,’ Amy wrote in her new memoir; Amy and Deanna seen in an Instagram snap
Amy, who is the niece of Duggar family patriarch Jim Bob Duggar (her mother’s brother), added that Jim Bob was able to stop the attack and ‘saved her life that day’; Jim Bob seen with wife Michelle Duggar
Amy claimed that in another incident Deanna was left ‘black and blue and beaten to a bloody pulp’ by Jimmy Lee; Seen in an Instagram video
She described the incidents in her new memoir, Holy Disruptor: Shattering the Shiny Facade by Getting Louder With the Truth, which is now available for purchase
The reality TV star went on to share that she and her cousins — the 19 children of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar — learned ‘to be very cautious around’ him, because he had a ‘darker side.’
Amy described Jimmy Lee’s childhood as ‘traumatic’ sharing his own father was an alcoholic who ‘often [used] his son as a punching bag.’
Amy noted that when it came to disciplining his own children later on in life, ‘There was little distinction between discipline and cruelty, and the line was often crossed.’
Deanna’s relationship with her father eventually got so bad that she warned Amy to ‘never be alone with Grandpa.’
‘The reason I was not allowed to be alone with my grandpa was because he was a predator! Underneath JL’s charming and funny personality was a true monster,’ Amy wrote.
Amy’s book examines cycles of trauma that have afflicted her extended family, including her cousin, Josh Duggar, who is currently imprisoned after his 2021 arrest for receiving and possessing child pornography.
Earlier this month Amy revealed she had ‘breakdown after breakdown’ and is still dealing with trust issue thanks to what she says are the alleged lies spread by her famous relatives to protect her pedophile cousin Josh.
Amy says she has been forced to cut ties with all almost the entire clan – besides Jill Duggar – to protect her own mental and physical health and to protect her young son, Daxton, whom she shares with her husband, Dillon King.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail she said she was ‘jittery’ and reclusive after learning about his crimes, and had no choice but to remove them from her life.
‘As long as they follow certain beliefs that they used to… unfortunately, I have to have a boundary there, so I am in no contact with any of them,’ she said.
‘There’s been no contact,’ she said of disgraced reality star, Josh. ‘Do you blame me? I had breakdown after breakdown. I was not okay.’
‘I felt jittery, like, just not even on the inside, but on the outside. I was not okay. I was not calm.
Amy was a big part of the famous family’s many reality shows, including the TLC series, 19 Kids and Counting; The Duggar family seen in 2014
However, in recent years she’s cut ties with nearly the entire clan, amid her cousin Josh’s child pornography conviction and previous allegations that he molested four of his sisters; Josh pictured in his mug shot
‘My face broke out. I cried a lot. I just stayed inside a lot. Stay inside my house, cuddled my cat, just loved on the people that are around me.’
In December 2021, Amy’s cousin Josh was convicted of ‘knowingly’ receiving pornographic images of children who were under 12 years old – including murderer Peter Scully’s video depicting the rape and torture of three young girls, one of which was an 18-month-old toddler.
His crimes were at the time labelled the ‘worst of the worst’ by a judge overseeing his case.
Josh’s earliest possible release is October 2, 2032, but he’ll then have 20 years of supervised release where can have no unsupervised contact with minors including his children.
The eldest child of Jim Bob and Michelle will also have to agree to have his online activity monitored by his probation officer.
Six years prior to his conviction, TLC canceled 19 Kids and Counting after allegations that he had molested four of his sisters and an underage babysitter between 2002 and 2003, when he was 14 and 15 years old.
