Cousin of America’s ‘most inbred family’ opens up about them being ‘terrorized’ by people who would ‘bust their windows’
The Whittakers live in Odd, West Virginia, and their story has been documented by Soft White Underbelly's Mark Laita
The cousin of America's 'most inbred family' has shared what it's like for them and the abuse they've experienced.
The Whittakers shot to fame with the help of photographer Mark Laita, who started documenting their lives and posting the clips on YouTube.
Mark's videos on them have generated millions of views over the years, but he had a fall out with the Whittakers after they lied to him about money.
Mark then washed his hands of the family, but has now reconciled with them after receiving an apology.
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In a new video posted to his YouTube page earlier this month, Larry Whittaker shakes Mark's hand and says: "It's been a long time. I'm sorry for what they've done to you and I want to tell the whole world that I'm sorry for what they done."
Elsewhere in the hour-long video Mark chats to the Whittakers' cousin John who revealed how the family have been treated over the years.
"When I was younger and growing up, people would come here and they would throw eggs at the house and they would throw stuff at the house," he shared.
"They would scream and shout at all hours of the night. I mean, people were just rude," John went on.
"They've had windows busted out and everything. People terrorized them."
He further explained that he returned to the area when he was 15 and 'put a stop to a lot of stuff'.
John and his brother Jason are very protective of the family, so much so that Mark had a gun pulled on him by Jason the first time he visited the family.
But he's now seen as a friend of the Whittakers as they know he poses no threat to them.
As well as John, the Whittakers' grandsons has opened up about what it like growing up in the US' so-called 'most inbred family'.
Brandon and Luis, BJ's sons and Larry Whittaker's grandchildren, grew up in and around the now-famous family.
While they largely seemed to enjoy their childhood with the Whittakers, Luis said it 'got pretty rough at around five or six' because he was placed in foster care when he was six.
He left foster care after his seventh birthday but was 'not allowed' to come back to see his grandpa because his grandpa 'tried to shoot one of [their] stepdads' who had allegedly been 'beating on' their mom.
Elsewhere, Brandon said that he 'couldn't ask for a better childhood'.
Niamh Shackleton