Danielle and Adam Busby are responding to fans who have recently criticized Danielle for her harsh treatment of Adam on the Busbys’ TLC reality show OutDaughtered.
“I don’t yell at you too much, do I Adam? Tell THEM!”
Danielle—who shares six daughters with Adam— took to Instagram over the weekend to address the increase in critical messages and comments she has received recently on social media. In the video, Danielle mentioned some of the topics that she’s been attacked for—including her looks, the way she handles her marriage, and her decision to put her family back on TV.
“People who follow social media, or watch TV shows and feel that they want to put other people down, that’s called bullying and it’s mean and it’s not OK,” she told her Instagram followers.
“Social media can be good at times, and TV can be good at times… We are here [because we want] to show you real life, real struggles,” she added. “We don’t have it all together. We’re still figuring things out. We need help. We don’t know how to ask for help. We don’t know what we need.”
Danielle has been receiving a lot of criticism (particularly on her Instagram, as well as on the show’s official Instagram page) for how she speaks to and treats Adam. In the comment section of her post, some viewers reminded Danielle to “practice what you preach” when it comes to being kind.
“It’s like she can’t appreciate the effort he put into anything,” one person wrote. “Maybe this is made-up drama for the show. I don’t know. But it’s never a nice look to disparage your spouse on national TV, ratings or not.”
“Remember those kind words when you talk to Adam and stop talking down to him,” another person wrote. “I love watching your family but you come off very controlling.”
Danielle reassured viewers that she and Adam are doing fine, despite how it may appear on the show sometimes.
“I will tell you that my marriage is strong. My family is strong,” she said.
“We’re not perfect, OK?” Danielle continued. “This is why we do this; just to bring some realness into your world, and to show you that we are a family who loves Jesus, who loves our family. We’re not perfect, and that’s OK. We are trying, and we are trying to share this with you guys.”
Adam also addressed the issue by recently responding to a similar comment on his own Instagram page.
“You all realize that you are watching an edited-for-TV show right?” he wrote. “Ha! Think from the last 9-10 years on YouTube and social media that there is a little contrast by now. But here we are again.”
In another comment on his post from May 6, Adam reassured a fan who worried the Busby marriage was in trouble.
“I feel like after watching this season’s first episode, that we are watching the beginning of the end of their marriage,” the commenter wrote. “I pray NOT. I love this show but at the end of last season and now this episode, things look to be unraveling.”
“People say this every season,” Adam responded. “But then they see the contrast in the show and the day to day life in our social media and YouTube channel. Of course, the show is edited to maximize the highest level of drama.”
In her Instagram video, Danielle also spoke to the fans who criticize her for not being more put together while filming.
“I just feel like I need to remind you that this isn’t a show to be perfect and to have my hair all done, to be in the perfect outfit, to have my eyebrows perfect,” she said. “Yeah, I need my eyebrows done. I was filming a TV show and my eyebrows weren’t done. That’s OK with me because that’s not my identity. My identity is not around my eyebrows, or how my hair looks, or how I looked that day. I’m just showing you real—real me, real life in this house.. why are you wanting to follow us to bash us?”
Finally, Danielle addressed those who have criticized her and Adam for bringing their family back to TV. (As ‘OutDaughtered’ fans know, the Busbys took an extended break from filming following Season 8. They agreed to resume filming the show for a ninth season after changes were made, including adding Adam and Danielle on as executive producers of the show.)
Since bringing their family back to TV, the Busbys have been accused of exploiting their kids, something Danielle says they aren’t doing.
“I’m happy to share our family. I love sharing our family. We are not soliciting our kids,” Danielle said. “We feel called to share our family, and that is not something that every person agrees with…but this is our life and this is what we feel like we need to do to bring realness and show joy.
“We are the Busbys, and this is what we love to do,” she continued. “This is what we want to do. This is what we feel called to do.”
