Jim Bob Duggar's Niece Amy King Gets Cryptic About Cutting Off 'Toxic Family': 'Not Easy, But Necessary'

The Duggar family cousin from TLC's Counting On spelled out her message in hot pink balloons Friday on Instagram

Photo: Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty

Amy (Duggar) King is not hiding her feelings about her extended family.

The 34-year-old niece of Counting On star Jim Bob Duggar shared a cryptic message Friday on Instagram spelled out in hot pink balloons: "It's okay to cut off toxic family for your own well being."

"Amen & Amen. It's not easy, but necessary," King captioned her post.

The message was created by Portland artist Michael James Schneider, who is well-known for posting bold messages in balloons, flowers, and reader boards on his popular Instagram account under the name blcksmth.

Amy is the daughter of Jim Bob's older sister, Deanna. She married husband Dillon King in September 2015 and the couple welcomed their first child, son Daxton Ryan, into the world on Oct. 9, 2019.

TLC canceled the Duggars' show Counting On in July after eldest son Josh Duggar was arrested in April on multiple child pornography charges. In September, a family source told PEOPLE that the family has been fractured ever since.

"They aren't as close as they once were because of all of Josh's legal drama," the source explained. "It's creating a lot of stress on them — although the majority of the family is acting like nothing has happened."

Duggar family. Ida Mae Astute/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Josh's sister Jinger and husband Jeremy expressed their disgust in the eldest Duggar son in separate statements following his arrest, saying they were "disturbed" by the child porn allegations against Josh and wanted "justice."

This, of course, is not the first time TLC had pulled the plug on a Duggar project due to Josh's legal woes. In 2015, the network ended 19 Kids and Counting after a 2006 police investigation revealed that Josh had been accused of molesting five underage girls — including two of his sisters — when he was 14.

Josh was also revealed to be a dues-paying member of Ashley Madison three months later after the cheating website was subject to a massive data breach. He later admitted to his infidelities and porn addiction before spending time at a faith-based rehabilitation center in Illinois.

Josh Duggar. Danny Johnston/AP/Shutterstock

In October 2020, Jill and her husband Derick Dillard told PEOPLE that they had exited Counting On and were spending some time away from the Duggar family at large.

"Our control to choose what jobs we were allowed to accept and even where we were allowed to live was taken away from us," Jill said.

The couple cited scheduling conflicts as another major reason for stepping aside. "The first few years of our marriage, we spent time and money working towards opportunities only to hit a dead end when we'd be told, 'Well, you're not allowed to do that,'" explained Derick.