TLC/YouTube
Quando gli spettatori sono stati presentati ai Plath nella serie di realtà “Welcome to Plathville”, la famiglia ha ricordato tante persone di un altro grande clan di fondamentalisti cristiani che un tempo avevano una propria serie di TLC: i Duggars.
But unlike “19 Kids and Counting,” the Plaths’ show has delved into the messier side of their family dynamics, from the breakdown of patriarch Barry Plath and matriarch Kim Plath’s marriage to their long estrangement from their adult son Ethan Plath. At the start of the series, viewers learned that the parents of nine tried to keep their kids who were still living at home sheltered from the outside world on their secluded Georgia farm. Per the Daily Mail, the children weren’t allowed to watch television, drink soda, or use social media. The Plaths also avoided alcohol. “When we got married and we moved in here, we had alcohol in the home. That was a big source of tension,” Ethan’s wife, Olivia Plath, said on the show (via InTouch). But according to The U.S. Sun, Kim once confessed to drinking excessively in college, even though she had found it difficult growing up with an alcoholic mother.
In front of the “Welcome to Plathville” cameras, Lydia Plath questioned her mother’s decision to separate from Barry, saying, “What she’s doing is going against everything she’s taught me.” Now, Kim is being called out for getting in trouble with the law for behavior that some fans have deemed irresponsible and hypocritical.
Kim Plath was arrested for driving under the influence
TLC/YouTube
On “Welcome to Plathville,” viewers watched Kim Plath ease her alcohol restrictions, even meeting up with her son Micah Plath at a bar to catch up over drinks. But her drinking got her arrested on October 20. There was a warrant out for Kim’s arrest in regards to an accident that could have ended very badly. In June, her vehicle rolled over into a water-filled ditch, per TMZ. Police suspected that she’d been driving under the influence, but she needed to be checked out at the hospital. It took months for the results of her blood analysis to come back, and when they confirmed that she’d been intoxicated when she crashed, the warrant was issued in September.
According to Us Weekly, Plath turned herself in at the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, but she was able to leave in a matter of hours. In addition to the DUI, she was charged with personal injury and property damage. At the time of the accident, she also got slapped with a careless driving charge.
On the “Welcome to Plathville” subreddit, some fans harshly criticized Plath’s behavior. “So she’s got this holier than thou attitude towards her children but thence she pulls out with this sh*** of her own?” one person wrote. Another Redditor referenced the tragic death of Plath’s son Joshua, writing, “You’d think someone who accidentally killed her toddler with a car would take every precaution in the world while driving.”
