Jacob Roloff stopped being a part of the show when he turned 18, and even though he lives near his parents, he stays away from the TLC show.
TLC's Little People Big World (LPBW) is all about the lovable but dramatic Roloff family. The reality TV show initially captured the lives of Amy and Matt Roloff and their brood. However, as the kids, Zachary, Jeremy, Molly, and Jacob, grew up, most of them decided to not be a part of the show anymore. Only Zachary and his family are still part of the show.
The youngest child of Amy and Matt, Jacob, 23, has been answering fans' questions for many years about his decision to leave the show once he turned 18. He has a YouTube channel but doesn't want to return to the reality TV show. In his book, Verbing, he wrote how the reality show caused him unhappiness, especially in his relationship with his family, according to Good Housekeeping. "This led to arguments and miscommunications with family, especially my parents, culminating in their decision to experiment having me see a therapist," he wrote, according to In Touch.
He has also slammed the show previously for making up scenes to create drama. "Producers have to try to get us to follow the talking points," he wrote. "For me, noticing how the agenda of the crew doesn’t work well with the health and happiness of our family is what made me decide quite a while ago that I could not be a part of it as soon as I was able," he had said, according to Good Housekeeping.
His recent revelation that an LPBW producer had molested him when he was a child explains his aversion to being in front of the camera for the family reality TV show. In a statement, Jacob said, "It is often much easier to think about things than it is to talk about them, and so this disclosure has been delayed, but through that delay, I have found the fortitude and words."
"As a child, after what I realize now was a long grooming process, I was molested by an executive field producer for Little People Big World, Chris Cardamone. I do not expect to provide details of this encounter at any point publicly. I do hope he is never allowed around children again," he said. He added that he had started thinking about revealing what Chris did to him when the producer texted him in November 2015, years after the alleged abuse.
"I choose to disclose it now as it remains a traumatic memory that needs to be exorcised of any further power over my development," Jacob said. "By revealing this, I may be more fully understood and my perspective on issues such as child sexual abuse, child exploitation, and the collateral costs of reality television may be received more clearly. Although, I would have to add that this experience has not solely defined my point of view on any of these issues, nor has it defined my worldview in general," he added.
"This may also serve as a reminder that the experience of sexual assault, in all of its iterations, can happen to anyone at any time and is a far more prevalent reality than our current social stigma allows us to talk about," Jacob said, adding that he did not speak of it earlier because "a child must process, and I needed silence and time."
In his no holds barred statement, the 23-year-old wrote that he will continue his "own contemplation on the voyeurism involved in the entire enterprise of reality television — a massive spectacle of drama and pain and argument and invasion, with a little joy sprinkled over, that viewers watch completely disassociated from the complex humans inside the simplistic 'characters' they see on TV," according to Us Weekly.
He acknowledges that there is "no inherent causal connection between reality television production and childhood trauma." But, elaborated further on how it has been hurting people. "We are still sprinting ahead with the enterprise deaf, dumb, and blind, asking for forgiveness later, instead of asking harder preliminary questions of ourselves. The profits were indeed sweet. The actual experience was more complicated," said the youngest son of Amy Roloff.
References:
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a19684583/jacob-roloff-little-people-big-world/
https://www.intouchweekly.com/posts/jacob-roloff-family-drama-137092/
