For the most part, I've maintained that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are at least, if not more, responsible for the scandal that has engulfed their family since it emerged that their oldest son, Josh, inappropriately touched five girls during his teen years. After all, had they gotten him help sooner, at least one, and possibly two, of the incidents wouldn't have happened. Well, it's possible that America's most famous babymakers could potentially face the music after all, if events play out like I hope they do.
As many of you know, Josh has admitted to cheating on his wife, Anna. While most of the attention has been focused on his Ashley Madison profiles, another aspect of Josh's cheating is even more outrageous if possible. It turns out that Josh used the same Gmail account associated with his Ashley Madison profiles to create fake profiles on Facebook and OKCupid to troll for hookups as well. If that wasn't bad enough, Josh swiped the pictures of innocent people to use on those profiles--thus potentially putting their reputations at risk.
The Facebook profile used a picture that actually belongs to Jonathan Blankfein, a former Goldman Sachs employee who is also the son of Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankefein. The OKCupid profile used the picture of Hollywood DJ Matthew McCarthy, who actually lost at least one gig as a result of Josh's self-absorbed behavior.
McCarthy has already let it be known he's considering suing Josh for defamation of character. While Blankfein hasn't commented yet, if he decides to pursue legal action, Jim Bob and Michelle could potentially be in the hot seat as well. How's that, you ask? Well, Josh created that "Smithson" profile in 2004, when he was 16 years old. Depending on when he swiped that picture, Blankfein could potentially sue Jim Bob and Michelle for not monitoring their son's Internet activity.
The more I think about it, if Josh swiped Blankfein's picture while he was still a minor under Jim Bob and Michelle's roof, Blankfein could really draw blood from all three of them. Parents who let a child create a catfishing profile with the picture of an innocent third party would be no different from parents who twiddle their thumbs while their kids cyberbully their classmates.
Josh is finally going into rehab for his "sex addiction." But after finding out that he not only cheated, but put two innocent men's reputations at risk, I have no sympathy for him. Nada, zip, zero. Combined with the lawsuit he currently faces from the babysitter he fondled, any potential lawsuits from Blankfein and/or McCarthy would be enough to drive this self-absorbed jerk into bankruptcy. And if it turns out he swiped the picture of Blankfein while he was a minor, Jim Bob and Michelle could follow their son into the poorhouse.