TLC has cut ties with Derick Dillard
after he made transphobic comments about Jazz Jennings, the star of
the network's I Am Jazz, which
follows the lives of Jennings, a transgender teenager, several of her
friends and family.
Dillard is married
to Jill Duggar, one of the co-stars of TLC's Counting On, a
spin-off show of the network's 19 Kids and Counting, which was
canceled following allegations that Josh Duggar, one of Jim Bob and
Michelle Duggar's children, had molested underage girls when he was a
teenager.
Dillard has
appeared on Counting On.
“We want to let
our viewers know that Derick Dillard has not participated in Counting
On for months and the network has no plans to feature him in the
future. We want to reiterate that Derick’s personal statements do
not reflect the views of the network,” the network said in a tweet.
“TLC is proud to share the story of Jazz Jennings and her family
and will continue to do so.”
The network's
decision comes after Dillard twice tweeted abuse toward Jennings.
“What an
oxymoron... a 'reality' show which follows a non-reality,” Dillard
tweeted. “'Transgender' is a myth. Gender is not fluid; it's
ordained by God.”
Jennings responded:
“Every day I experience cyber-bullying, but I keep sharing my
story. Today was no different.”
On Thursday, Dillard responded to a
response to his original tweet.
When the commenter said that “calling
someone's identity an oxymoron is very condescending,” Dillard
replied: “I pity Jazz, 4 those who take advantage of him in order 2
promote their agenda, including the parents who allow these kinds of
decisions 2 be made by a child. It’s sad that ppl would use a
juvenile this way. Again, nothing against him, just unfortunate
what’s on tv these days.”
Jennings began appearing on television
shows to talk about her gender identity at the age of six.