KATE GOSSELIN: HOW SHE FOOLED THE WORLD - THE RISE AND FALL OF A REALITY TV QUEEN (66 page)

CIRCLE THE WAGONS

Kate was able to get away with her constant lying and deceit because her manager and the public relations teams of Discovery/TLC kept her well-insulated from criticism. They circled the wagons to protect Kate lest she stop giving them access to her children. Their approach was illustrated clearly by one situation in particular.

Former child star and current child advocate Paul Petersen spoke out on behalf of the Gosselin children. He talked about the dangers of forcing the children to work filming a reality show. Petersen’s involvement made Julie May and Discovery/TLC very nervous, so they quickly got together and came up with a few possible responses, “just in case anyone picks up the story.”

The “potential response” that Laurie Goldberg of Discovery Communications
sent to Julie May makes their strategy pretty clear. To summarize, this is what she said:

It’s ludicrous to equate being a child actor with being in a docuseries about your family; The kids are going about their lives and not working. They’re just doing what they do normally but instead of Jon filming their lives, a film crew does; This series allows Kate to stay home and be part of her children’s lives; Every decision Jon and Kate make is to better their children’s lives; The show made it possible for Jon and Kate to raise and feed their children.

             
And then the inevitable attack on Paul Petersen: Mr. Petersen is being disingenuous at best in expressing his concern for the Gosselin kids, while he’s selling his DVD of the television shows featuring himself as a child actor, and, Mr. Petersen is making a sad attempt to capitalize on the popularity of a well-loved show for his own publicity and financial gain.

It is pathetic how Laurie Goldberg and Julie May could completely disregard the opinion of a well-respected child advocate, and try to discredit him, just so they could protect their investment and continue to exploit the Gosselin children. It is even more pathetic that they would continue to trot out the lie that the kids are just going about their daily lives as they normally would. It is confounding that Kate, who obviously wants her children to work in the entertainment industry, wouldn’t want them to be protected physically, psychologically and financially. She took her kids to modeling agencies and auditions; she encouraged strangers on Twitter to send tweets to Ron Howard about using one of the twins in a movie; she mentioned more than once that one of the twins would make a great Disney star, etc. So why then would Kate be so opposed to someone like Paul Petersen looking out for the well-being of her children and defending their rights?

That’s a rhetorical question. While Kate would most certainly want laws in place to protect her children’s profitability if they were working in a traditional acting environment, she absolutely did not want any restrictions placed on her ability to exploit them herself. Petersen had been pushing for legislation to protect children working in the entertainment industry, and specifically reality TV, at the very same time that Kate Gosselin and TLC/Discovery Communications had been aggressively exploiting the Gosselin children and forcing them to work and “perform” since the day they were born.

When Paul Petersen’s name came up on Kate’s Twitter again in 2011, it absolutely infuriated her:

Final word: reality kids are NOT acting. They are living&breathing in own environments! Huge difference!Leave them all alone!

SHE WORKS HARD FOR NO MONEY

When the very wealthy Kate Gosselin appeared on the
Wendy Williams
Show
in September of 2011, she very predictably played the victim and moaned to the world that she doesn’t have enough money. As usual, Kate repeated her overused and stale mantra about how terrible she has it and how hard her life is.

Williams: “So a lot of people are under the assumption that you made a ton of money doing
Kate Plus Ei8ht
so that you should be ok for a moment.”

Kate: “Wouldn’t that be nice?

As of 2012, Kate was still pleading poverty and looking for the public’s sympathy.

“You could offer me every last dollar on the planet.

I don’t work for money. I cannot compromise my morals

and standards to get paid a ridiculous amount of money.”

– Kate Gosselin

NO LIE

What adult do you know who continually has to say “no lie”? Kate says “no lie” in just about every interview she gives and often in her tweets. Does she say “no lie” because she lies so much? Here are some examples of her saying “no lie” in her tweets:

GM!I failed 2day!Didn’t run bc did not sleep ONE wink-no lie..remem that GREAT coffee@4pm?Yep,it kept wrking all thru nite!:( TOM=game on!

that was a memory filled day! My kids STILL thank me for him EVERY day, no lie. Nearly a year later:)

NO lie. Was talking to a good friend abt that 1 hr ago—her mom was only ch and was shocked too! Lol

I drive the bbb w all 8. The large suv w 6 or less &my little car(2 carts of groceries fit in it- no lie!) when just me!saves gas!

It is very common to hear Kate say “no lie” because chances are she is, in fact, probably lying.

“I’m not out to win any awards.

I’m out to be the best mother I can possibly be.”

– Kate Gosselin

A member of Kate’s family told me that Kate had been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, but she refused to take medication to control her moods. That diagnosis was confirmed for me because of something I witnessed in November 2009. I couldn’t believe my eyes on this one particular day, especially after having watched Kate on a daily basis for six months. Was she taking medication this day? Something was dramatically different about Kate, and I have never seen it again since.

This was one of those days that I wish the Gosselin kids could have had every day. It was Kate, being a good mom and having fun with her beautiful children. I can spot a photo-op a mile away, but this day seemed different. Kate seemed at ease and relaxed, just out enjoying her family. Regrettably, I was the one who called the lone paparazzo to the playground that day. Looking back, I feel bad about that, but at the time, I was just doing my job. In the tabloid world they say, “If there are no pictures, it didn’t happen.” I wanted a photo-backup of my reporting. Plus, this particular paparazzo was a good friend of mine, and he had always been good around the Gosselin kids.

This is what I saw.

Jon and Kate Gosselin PA Reporting

November, 2009

Kate pulled the Sprinter van out of the garage at 10:00 am and loaded up the sextuplets with Judy’s help. This was very unusual and I was excited to see where they were going. No paps were on the scene yet as I followed the van along the winding country roads, going 50 in a 40 mph zone. Luckily there was a car in front of them going slow or Kate may have lost me. She has a lead foot.

They pulled into the Dunkin Donuts parking lot and parked. NO DRIVE THRU! First time ever. Judy jumped out and helped offload the kids and they all went inside and sat down. Kate went to the counter to order donuts and drinks for the group. I waited for Kate to return to the table and then went inside to order donuts. By this time the pap that I called got there and he came in to take a few pictures. Kate started screaming “Get him out of here!!!”and the manager started yelling at the pap so he left. They got into a shouting match on the way out the door and the manager got on the phone and called the police. I went out to my car and we both pulled off the Dunkin Donuts lot. Kate ordered two dozen assorted donuts and the kids dug in and had powdered sugar all over their faces and were very happy. Kate usually makes a point of saying that she only prepares organic, healthy food for the family. It was so nice to see the kids having fun with Kate. It’s been a long time coming.

A few minutes later the police came and went inside and then came out and went across the street to the pap. He told him that the owner is very upset but that he couldn’t stop him from taking pictures from across the street. I parked somewhere else to watch in the event that the police tried to detain us while Kate drove off as they’ve done in the past, just to give her a head start.

After about thirty minutes, they all came outside carrying boxes and a bag with their extra donuts inside to take home.

Instead of going back home, Kate drove to a residential neighborhood in affluent Wyomissing and took the kids to a playground. It was a picture-perfect day. The sun was shining, the leaves were falling. Kate and Judy unloaded the kids and turned them loose on the playground. They went crazy running down the hill to the various swings etc. They were yelling and screaming and having so much fun. They ran straight to the sliding boards and monkey bars. Kate and Judy walked together talking and smiling. They seemed more like friends or sisters than employer/employee. The pap kept a safe distance while shooting so as not to upset Kate while I went and sat on a nearby bench to observe. (Sounds creepy, I know. But everybody there knew who I was and who I was working for. It was business.)

Judy brought her very little dog along for the trip and the kids and Kate took turns holding the leash. At one point Kate got herself all tangled up in the leash and was struggling with it for a few minutes. She jokingly yelled “Judy, you didn’t teach me how to operate this!” It was one of those leashes that you push a button and it winds itself up. Kate was having fun like I’ve never seen before.

Kate had her large Dunkin Donuts coffee in her hand while strolling around between kids. She got on a seesaw with Leah and bounced her up and down. The kids were just having a blast running back and forth between rides.

Joel got himself stuck hanging on the monkey bars and started screaming for help. Oddly or not, he instinctively yelled for Judy instead of Kate and Judy came running and helped him down.

Four kids were riding up and down on two side-by-side seesaws and Kate came over yelling “who wants to go to the moon? Who wants to go to the moon?” The kids were yelling “Me, me, me, me.” Then Kate yelled “to the moon!!” and grabbed one end of the seesaw and slammed it down, but it bounced Collin up in the air and he came down hard and slammed his face on the handlebar. I felt so bad for Kate because she hurt her child when she was just trying to have fun with him. She was being a little overzealous, as Jon does sometimes, maybe being aware of the media watching and wanting to be supermom. She quickly scooped him up in her arms and comforted him, wiping away his tears. She gave him TLC (Ha!) and sent him back out to play.