In 2019, Theroux made another follow-up, Surviving America's Most Hated Family, completing a trilogy of documentaries based on the church.

Phelps subsequently enlarged the scope of his activities and formed protests in areas where civil rights were being debated for LGBT people.

[6] Phelps received criticism in 1998 when he repeatedly exclaimed "Matt is in hell" during the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a man murdered for being homosexual.

President George W. Bush signed the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act into law on Memorial Day in May 2006.

Groups of American Legion members formed motorcycle honor guards with the intention of safeguarding funerals of US military from the church protesters.

The US Supreme Court case of Snyder v. Phelps, heard following the suing of Westboro Baptist Church for distress caused by the picketing of the funeral of a US Marine killed in Iraq, formed the background to the new film.

Theroux was interested in the ambivalent attitude of church members towards his first film, and stated that "the new documentary feels quite different than the original – though still funny, a little darker and stranger".

AOL Television's Mic Wright said "America's Most Hated Family in Crisis proved once again why Louis Theroux is such an enduring explorer of the oddest and most awful corners of the world".