Jedidiah “Jed” Duggar and his wife Katey Duggar are making headlines for a pregnancy announcement that many are calling insensitive.
On Monday, the young married couple posted a joke about COVID-19 while announcing that they are expecting their first child.
Listen to your favorite music now on Audacy
“She tested positive, but not for Covid” Duggar, 22, captioned a photo of him holding his expecting wife.
In another photo, the couple share a kiss while holding a board that reads, “And then there were 3. Baby Duggar. Spring ’22.”
The reality TV star initially posted a photo of the two holding a board that read the same COVID-19 joke along with “Baby Duggar Spring ’22,” People reports. In the no-deleted photo, Katey is seen jokingly pointing and laughing at the announcement board.
While many people celebrated the couple’s exciting baby news, many took offense to the lackadaisical attitude towards COVID.
"Arkansas is facing some of the worst with Covid right now due to low vaccination rates," wrote “Without a Crystal Ball” host Katie Joy in response to the Arkansas natives. "656,000 Americans have died from Covid since the virus hit 18 months ago."
Joy went on to say, "Katey & Jed shared this photo in their YouTube video but not on Instagram. Which I’m confident was intentional."
"I'm a nurse on the front lines..not so funny!!" said another user. Another commented, "Yeah, that's not actually funny."
"How clueless and rude. And I don't care who uses that 'joke' as an announcement, Duggar or not," one Instagram user wrote.
Jed and Katey married in Arkansas on April 3 after quietly courting, the outlet says. They couple later revealed in a pregnancy announcement YouTube video that Katey took the pregnancy test in a Walmart bathroom.
"He started tearing up. It was so sweet," she recalled Jed’s reaction to the pregnancy news. "And then we, like, started hugging in the middle of Walmart. And he was like, crying. And then we went out, and I started screaming in the parking lot."
The Duggar family rose to fame with the reality TLC series “19 Kids and Counting” (formerly “17 Kids and Counting” and “18 Kids and Counting”) that featured a devout Christian family with 19 children.
The family recently made headlines after Josh Duggar, 33, was arrested for child pornography in April. He has since pleaded not guilty.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram