More than a decade ago, Amy Duggar King was introduced to the world with adjectives she never chose: crazy, rebellious, and wild.

King, the daughter of Jim Bob Duggar’s sister, Deanna, grew up wearing pants, listening to the radio, and giving front-facing hugs—all things prohibited by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s interpretation of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), a fundamentalist Christian movement that was put under a microscope in Amazon Prime Video’s explosive docuseries Shiny Happy People.

“I was a fish out of water all the time,” King, 36, tells Vanity Fair.

King was juxtaposed against her conservative Duggar cousins in more than 100 episodes of TLC’s reality series, 19 Kids and Counting—a show that chronicled Jim Bob and Michelle and their growing brood of children. “My uncle had control over a lot of the show, [including] what happened and who was on it,” she says. King thinks the series intentionally used her as a distraction from the uglier realities of life as an IBLP family. “Why else would I be targeted like that? There was a major thing going on that could be detrimental to the wealth of the show, and the popularity of the show.”

The major problem King references is eldest Duggar son Josh Duggar, and allegations that he molested four of his sisters. King tells Vanity Fair she found out about the allegations “like the rest of the world”—on the news, when word broke in 2015.

“I was pissed,” she says, and immediately heartbroken for her cousins. “I felt like I wasn’t worth telling … that they didn’t want to protect me. They didn’t want anyone to know, [and] they wanted to keep it inside their little bubble. Secrets breed in the IBLP. Things are hidden.”

Josh released a statement admitting wrongdoing and apologized. While he was never criminally charged and was instead sent to a faith-based counseling camp by his parents, King says she confronted her cousin face-to-face about the molestation allegations.

“He was staying in a trailer and I went in there and I said, ‘How could you do this? … And I was very bold about that,” King explains, adding Josh admitted he did not attempt anything physical with her because “he knew better.” King says her cousin knew what he was doing and intentionally chose to prey upon girls who wouldn’t speak out against him. She believes the ideology behind IBLP, which preaches the superiority of men, “absolutely” empowered Josh.

“The IBLP prizes the first child, [and] it doesn’t get much better than if it’s a son. They hold the family name and the family value,” she says. “If you’re valued from the moment you’ve been born and people hide your secrets and cover up things, and you never get in trouble for the things that you’re doing, I believe you just become numb to how the world really is, and how the law really is. It’s so sad how far it was taken, where he thought he could get away with anything.”

King calls her aunt and uncle covering up Josh’s behavior at the expense of their daughters “cringe-worthy” and “evil.”

“To think that someone holds a higher value than someone else is just so disgusting,” she says. She’s had conversations with her female cousins about the alleged assault as well, but intends to keep those conversations private.

In April 2021, Josh, a father of seven, was arrested for downloading files portraying the sexual abuse of children. Later that year, a federal jury convicted him of “receiving and possessing material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.” He is currently serving a 12-and-a-half-year sentence in federal prison.

The cousin King grew up seeing almost daily, given their closeness in both physical proximity and age, is one she doesn’t recognize today—and one she has no problem cutting off entirely, in the name of exposing IBLP practices that may have led to his choices.

“My last straw was the last scandal with Josh. I can’t imagine protecting a predator. I think that is the lowest of low, [and] there’s no going back,” King says.

That’s why she decided to participate in Shiny Happy People, despite knowing her decision could permanently dissolve family ties with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. “I looked around and my mom and I were like ‘Who is speaking out? Who is saying how wrong this is?’ And really, there weren’t many who were. It was just like, ‘Do we close our eyes and act like it’s not happening?’ Or do we say, ‘It’s happening and here’s the atomic bomb,’ and let the pieces fall where they may?”

King chose the latter—alongside IBLP survivors that included her cousin Jill Duggar Dillard, the only child of Jim Bob and Michelle to appear in the project.

Shiny Happy People, which debuted June 2, 2023, is a deep dive into the Duggar family, IBLP, and its disgraced leader, Bill Gothard, who resigned from the organization after multiple allegations of sexual assault and harassment. (Gothard has denied the allegations.) The four-part series highlights the depths of manipulation IBLP has over members, which starts at a young age through techniques like blanket training, where children are required to remain on a blanket for an allotted time period. They’re physically punished for reaching for a desired object. As kids age, IBLP teachings for parents include Michael and Debi Pearl’s To Train Up A Child, a parenting method that endorses corporal punishment for children.

“If he screams too hard with the first five, gets hysterical, wait,” Debi Pearl says in a clip included in the docuseries. “You know, a little psychological terror is sometimes more effective than the pain.”

King tells Vanity Fair that she was in the Duggar home when this type of punishment was happening to her cousins, in something Jim Bob and Michelle called “encouragement.” She says she saw the tool that was used for the punishment, but in true IBLP fashion, the beating always occurred behind closed doors.

“I saw what they used, and I knew that that wasn’t a good thing,” King says.

Jim Bob and Michelle have released a joint statement calling the docuseries “derogatory.” Their response may not have surprised King, but it did anger her. “I think it’s a huge slap in the face to every person who’s had any trauma in the IBLP. It’s a slap in the face to their beautiful daughters, and it's a slap in the face to every survivor,” she says. “That was their chance to be humble. That was their chance to recognize the survivors and the trauma that has actually taken place by thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people. And if you’re not going to recognize that, they have definitely crossed the line.” (Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar did not return Vanity Fair’s request for comment.)

Despite living just twenty minutes away from them in Arkansas, King says she never runs into her aunt, uncle, or cousins around town.

“They would probably be very sweet and very kind, [but] they see me as someone that is disruptive and loud and completely against IBLP. So I am a threat,” King says. “[But] I’m never going to back down and I’m not scared.”

King tells Vanity Fair that as of now, her closest Duggar relationship is—unsurprisingly—with Jill.

“I’m just so proud of her in every way. This is her time to shine,” King says of her cousin, whose memoir Counting the Cost will uncover “secrets, manipulation, and intimidation behind the show,” according to publisher Simon and Schuster. The book is set to debut in September 2023.

Both Jill and her sister Jinger Duggar Vuolo have been outspoken about the trauma of their childhood under IBLP. But the rest of their siblings remain mum.

The Duggar’s eldest daughter, Jana, still lives on their property. “I truly hope to the good Lord above that she is happy and thriving and working through whatever she’s experienced, but I have no contact with her,” King says. “Anyone that lives at home with anyone in the IBLP, you’re under their control, so I don’t know if she’s necessarily allowed to.”

It’s difficult for her to see a way forward with other Duggar family members. King has drawn firm boundaries, particularly when it comes to her three-year-old son Daxton, whom she shares with husband Dillon King.

“If I can’t trust you, you’re not gonna get to know my child. I’m not going to sit there at a family dinner at Thanksgiving and pretend we’re a loving family. No, I’m scared to death of my child being around them,” King says. “It’s my right to protect Daxton at all costs and if that means that I cannot have a relationship with that family, then that’s fine.”

That said, King hasn’t entirely given up on Josh’s wife, Anna Duggar, who, according to a source for the Daily Mail, reportedly called those who participated in Shiny Happy People “toxic.”

“I’ve reached out in every way I know how, but radio silence,” King says, adding she would “absolutely” be a safe haven for Anna and her children if the need arose. “The fact that she thinks we were the toxic ones, because we’re speaking out on how we should protect children and how we should value our marriage … it’s just sad that she thinks that love hurts like this, that trauma is love and that abuse is love.”

While King admits her faith has been continually tested—“24/7,” she jokes—she’s building a life she is proud of. “I want to be the best wife I can be for my husband, but we’re a team,” she says. She and Dillon take a gentle parenting approach with Daxton. “There are times where I’m like, ‘Where’s my glass of wine?’ as soon as he takes a nap. Let’s be honest: toddlers are exhausting, and children are going to think for themselves. But let’s work together.”

These days, she embraces the wayward title she was given so many years ago.

“It’s okay to be labeled as a rebel. It’s okay to step out and say, ‘Yes, I’m different from you and I’m going to take a stand for what’s right,’” she says. “I kind of like being called ‘crazy cousin Amy’ now. It’s not about measuring up or self worth anymore. Now I can literally say, ‘Yeah, that’s right, I’m crazy, back off.’ Watch me protect my child. Watch me stand up for those girls. Watch me stand up for survivors. Just watch me, because I’m a force to be reckoned with.”