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

by Robert Hoffman

  On the first episode of Season 1, it was “…Then, when we decided to have Just one more, we got a little more than we bargained for. We got six.”

  By Season 5, it was “We were so thrilled, we decided to try for Just one more … and ended up with six.”

  This is from Season 3 of Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht’s Viewer Email FAQ episode on the interview couch. These FAQ episodes, as well as every other Gosselin episode, were very carefully scripted, with Kate having complete knowledge of every question that was to be asked of her. Most of the time, Kate and the producers wrote the questions themselves to push whatever agenda they were going for on any given week. Here are the fake questions from that episode.

  Jon says, “Here’s one for the record books. I got an email about a woman who wants to have sextuplets” and Kate says, “I don’t think I remember this one. Is she feeling all right?”

  Jon says, “She asks, did you have In Vitro fertilization or Intrauterine Insemination?” He answers with “Uh, we had, Kate had Intrauterine Insemination” and Kate quickly chimes in with “IUI, and no, we didn’t desire multiples, but this is what God gave us and we love em.”

  Why was the last part of that answer from Kate even necessary? The question on the table was “Did you have In Vitro fertilization or Intrauterine Insemination?” It was a very simple and straightforward question, even if Kate hadn’t made it up herself. No one asked if Kate “desired multiples.” And no one asked if she loved them. Why would she not “love em”? She’s their mother.

  Here is Kate’s attempt to pretend this all caught her by surprise. She says, “We get a lot of emails asking us what did we do fertility-wise, and I always say to Jon, why are they asking us? We’re considered a fertility nightmare.”

  This exchange is from the very first Gosselin television special, Surviving Sextuplets and Twins:

  Kate says that this whole thing started of course, when she wanted a third child and Jon was happy with two. That’s the debate they always had according to Kate. “Two or three? Two or three? Then she whispers and looks down and says that she just wanted that third one… “And I bought one, got five free.”

  Jon said that life was great, and he missed the family of four and said that Kate wanted “Just one more” and he said no, no, no, no he’s happy with the twins and said that everything is perfect. He said the whole world is designed for four people, and Kate added “Let’s face it, infertility produces multiples. We all know that.”

  “We all know that.” Kate said that she truly only wanted Just one more, and yet she knew that “infertility produces multiples” and she had made it clear that she was dead set against selective reduction. Period. So it makes no sense to think she really did want “just one more” child.

  Jon said that anytime anyone decides to go ahead with infertility treatments that you should expect two or three and Kate responded, “we even agreed that going back, we had to be willing to accept twins or triplets.”

  This is from the second Gosselin television special, Sextuplets And Twins: One Year Later. Kate is already defending herself, even when nobody asked.

  Kate says that she doesn’t know anybody in the world who has walked into the fertility clinic and said “I’ve seen these people on TV and I really wanna know what sextuplets is like.” Kate adds “You’d have to be nuts.”

  They really glossed over this part. A voiceover asked, “at this point, you might be wondering how this couple ended up with two sets of multiples and Kate jumped right in and said, “we did infertility and with the girls, uh, we succeeded, the second IUI. We were so happy with them and they were so much fun.”

  That’s Kate speak again. She sounds like a robot reading from a script that she’s bored with. Why wouldn’t she be happy with her babies? Oh, that’s right, she was upset and disappointed that they were only twins.

  Kate said that when they were one actually, she started thinking about having another baby.

  Jon said no because he liked the family of four and everything was easier.

  Kate said she silently prayed, but we silently not argued and discussed.

  Jon said that he caved and they went in and had her appointment and then we had an ultrasound and that’s when he saw the satellites.

  There they go again. They just went from silently discussing trying for “Just one more” to seeing the “satellites.” I’d like Katie to tell the world the truth about what happened in between.

  Kate laughed and said …the planets. It was awful.

  And Jon said yeah, it was very scary cause you don’t go in expecting that.

  Kate said the doctor looked at me and said; well we can talk about reduction.

  And for some crazy reason, there is a close-up shot, obviously edited in, of Kate being wide-eyed and serious saying; I said we will not talk about reduction!

  Jon said we knew we were gonna take it head on, regardless of what it was and Kate said we told them that from the very beginning.

  Well there you have it. Kate said it, so it must be true. Even though nobody asked.

  Again, it was extremely important for Kate to reinforce to her Christian public that they never even considered reduction.

  “We will not talk about reduction! We told them that, from the beginning.”

  Kate learned how important that was from doing her research on Bobbi McCaughey. Kate learned a lot more from researching the McCaughey septuplets. The similarities are eerie, if not extremely suspicious.

  JON & KATE 101: HOW DID WE GET HERE?

  “How did our quiet little existence in the suburbs of Pennsylvania

  somehow blossom (or maybe explode is a better word) into a “story”

  that someone wanted to tell on national television?”

  – Kate Gosselin

  Kate has often said that Figure 8 Films contacted them “out of the blue” about filming a reality show because of their website. Kate has also said that she didn’t want news of her “unique” pregnancy to leak out. I know these things are not true.

  One of the first of many lies Kate told the public in her quest to exploit her unique situation was that the media contacted them. The fact is Kate worked very hard to make sure the media was aware of their situation, and she did everything she could to drum up interest in their story. She acted as if the media attention was unwelcome, when it was what she was seeking all along.

  In Chapter 6, “Media Mayhem,” of Multiple Blessings, Kate writes that it was “everyone’s fear” that once she had been admitted to the hospital, “the news of our unusual adventure would leak to the media.”

  She also says that, when she was in the hospital, her doctor made Jon look him in the eye and promise to do everything in his power to shield her from the press “for the sake of our babies’ well-being.”

  Now why would Kate’s doctor have to tell them that do you suppose?

  Kate said about the media attention that it was decided that when the time came, Jon would be the one to speak to the media for the both of them. She said that she and Jon had agreed to give their hometown newspaper, the Reading Eagle, an in-room exclusive interview only out of self-defense because of information that she had received several weeks earlier that someone who had worked with Kate at the Reading Hospital was threatening to talk to the press about them. Kate said it was an attempt to buy them a few more precious weeks that their doctor wanted. She said that they began to get calls for interviews and details about the pregnancy and that she was getting more and more physically uncomfortable and had no patience for the extra annoyance of media attention.

  That was a big lie. Kate was the one who contacted the Reading Eagle to get as much publicity for herself as possible. In an editorial published on March 27, 2011, about famous citizens of Berks County, Harry Deitz, editor of the Reading Eagle, wrote the following:

  Harry Deitz: Lots of fame, some fortune in our county

  “… Another example is Kate Gosselin, whose delivery of sextuplets on May 10, 2004, (around t
he same time Taylor moved to Nashville) and twins three years earlier eventually gave rise to the TV show "Jon & Kate Plus 8.”

  Before all that fame, Kate called our newspaper and offered to allow a reporter to follow the delivery of the sextuplets. It was a great story then, and it changed quickly. Enter the TLC television network, lots of fame and apparently lots of money.”

  (http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=297419)

  Harry Deitz has been at the Eagle since 1978. He was there when I started working there in 1986, so I have known him for more than 20 years. He is a straight shooter and has always stated the facts. Kate, not so much. Here is some of Kate’s additional spin from Multiple Blessings:

  “One day in August of 2005, Jon received an email he thought I should read. It was from a television production company that had heard of our family and was interested in doing a one-hour documentary of our story.”

  “Whoa,” I said. “Seriously?”

  “It was becoming more and more difficult to duck into the shadows. How did our quiet little existence in the suburbs of Pennsylvania somehow blossom (or maybe explode is a better word) into a “story” that someone wanted to tell on national television?”

  The Gosselin’s story did not reach Discovery Communications, Inc. and its TLC network by chance. The Gosselin’s quiet existence in the suburbs of Pennsylvania blossomed into a story because Kate Gosselin marketed the story. She spent countless hours contacting media outlets and pitching reality shows and doing everything she could to draw attention to herself and her “unique” story. The last thing on Earth that Kate Gosselin wanted was to “duck into the shadows.” This was part of her “masterminded” grand plan from day one, and she succeeded.

  Kate was making deals with media outlets before her babies were even born; before she knew if any of her babies would be sick, or disabled, or even survive. The risk factor was huge to bring these six babies into the world, but that didn’t stop Kate from trying to use them to get the things she cared most about: money and publicity and fame.

  A FAMILY UNDER (DISCOVERY’S) CONTROL

  “… Family … shall be subject to the instructions and direction

  of Company and its designated representatives …”

  I’m not an attorney, and I don’t have a lot of experience with reading or signing television contracts, but after giving the Discovery/Gosselin family contracts a few reads, I found it alarming that Jon and Kate Gosselin would be so driven to cash in on their children, that they would turn over TOTAL control of their family, including family photos and videos, to a television network. Jon eventually came to his senses and realized what he had signed away. Unfortunately, his family was making so much money for Discovery and TLC, there was no way they were going to let him get his kids out without a battle.

  I’ve read all of the contracts for Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht. These include a copy of the signed contract as well as the rough draft of the original contract on which changes were made and final details were ironed out. The first contract is dated October 4, 2006. It is a 17-page document filled with all manner of legal-speak. Legal considerations prevent me from including the contracts in their entirety here, so I have summarized them instead.

  These are some key provisions from the full contract. Read them and decide for yourself if this “reality” show sounds anywhere near real.

  The “Talent Agreement” defined the “Family” as parents Jonathan and Kate Gosselin and their children, Cara Nicole Gosselin, Madelyn Kate Gosselin, Aaden Jonathan Gosselin, Collin Thomas Gosselin, Hannah Joy Gosselin, Leah Hope Gosselin, Alexis Faith Gosselin, and Joel Kevin Gosselin.

  The “Company” was defined as Discovery Talent Services, LLC; and the “Program” was defined as the series of episodes up to one half-hour in length tentatively entitled, “Gosselins The Series.”

  The Family agreed to render “Services” as themselves as “featured, On-Camera Personalities”. They would be required to provide preproduction, production and postproduction “Services” that would include any necessary rehearsals; travel; auditions and pickups; on-camera shoot days; narration; voice overs; vignettes; on-air promos, “special” episodes; and “behind-the-scenes” programs.

  The Family was subject to the instructions and direction of Discovery and its designated representatives.

  The Company, Network and/or the Producer had “final and controlling” say in all matters concerning the performance of the Family’s Services (including matters involving artistic taste, quality and judgment).

  The Family’s principal photography would be performed in and around Elizabethtown, PA, and/or at other locations determined at the “sole discretion” of Discovery.

  When traveling, Discovery was responsible for providing and/or paying for airfare (coach class), ground transportation, car rental (intermediate size car), and hotel accommodations (2-star, based on the “Mobil Travel Guide”).

  Discovery and/or a designee of Discovery had complete creative control over the Program. This included, but was not limited to, approval over the Family’s make-up, hairstyle and wardrobe.

  It was stipulated that this was a non-union agreement, and that the Family’s Services were not subject to the terms of any collective bargaining agreement such as SAG or AFTRA.

  The Family was allowed to appear as a guest on news programs, and on talk shows on broadcast networks and their local affiliates, as long as the Family coordinated the activities through the Network’s press department.

  Kate gave her Parental Consent and signed on behalf of her minor children and she fully and unconditionally guaranteed the performance of each of her children’s obligations as set forth in the contract.

  Signed by Kate and Jon Gosselin

  These are some of the standard terms and conditions contained in Exhibit A of the contract:

  The Family was contracted on a “work-made-for-hire” basis, specially ordered or commissioned by Discovery. Therefore, all results and proceeds from the Family’s services, and all material connected with the program that was suggested, composed, written, performed or furnished by the Family, and all material owned or controlled by the Family that was used in the show or in connection with the show, was “owned exclusively by Discovery in perpetuity and in all languages throughout the universe.”

  Discovery had the unlimited right to “cut, edit, add to, subtract and omit from, adapt, change, arrange, rearrange, or otherwise modify the Results and Proceeds.” This included, without limitation, doubling the Family or freely “dubbing” or subtitling the Results.

  The Family agreed to release Discovery from any claim or cause of action for workers’ compensation benefits.

  Discovery had the right to secure “cast” insurance covering the Family, but the Family would have no right, title or interest in or to any such insurance.

  If Discovery determined that the Family was not able to fully render its services according to the terms of the Agreement because of any Family illness, injury or mental disability, or because of impairment of Family’s voice, appearance and/or mobility, it was considered an event of “Family Incapacity.”

  During the time of “Family Incapacity,” Discovery would not be obligated to pay or credit the Family with any compensation and would have the right to suspend the Agreement during that period. Discovery could extend the Agreement by the length of any such suspension, but was not obligated to do so.

  Discovery had the right to terminate the Agreement due to any “Family Incapacity” that lasted at least seven (7) days. If any Family Incapacity caused Discovery to terminate the Agreement, Discovery would have no further obligation to the Family except to pay them for any services they had satisfactorily completed before the termination, as long as the Family was not in breach of the Agreement.

  Discovery had the right to terminate the Family’s services for any reason with or without cause, at any time and without further obligations to the Family.

  The Family was responsible for obtaining
and maintaining any and all work permits or immigration clearances necessary at all times during the Service Term (and for any extensions).

  The Parents agreed to fully and unconditionally guarantee the performance of each of the children’s obligations.

  The Family agreed that Discovery would be entitled to seek injunctive and other equitable relief to stop or prevent any breach or threatened breach of any obligation by the Family.

  If Discovery incurred any damages as a result of the Family breaching the Agreement in any way, Discovery had the right to withhold and offset any payments they owed the Family under any agreement between the parties in an amount that would cover the Family’s indemnity obligations or any damages incurred by Discovery.

  The Family would not accept any money, services or other valuable consideration, other than the Family’s compensation, for the inclusion of any matter in the Program or for the endorsement of any company, product or service in the Program.

  The Family agreed that any information it learned about Discovery’s, TLC’s and/or any Producer’s business operations, strategies, future plans, financial affairs, or any other information about the Program, Discovery, TLC, Producer and/or their parent, subsidiary and/or affiliated companies, including the terms and provisions of this Agreement, was confidential and proprietary. The Family agreed not to disclose any information with respect to the Confidential Information to any third party.

  The Family (and any representatives of the Family) was not allowed to bring or use any cameras or audiovisual recording devices to any of Discovery’s and/or the Program’s offices, sets, or locations without Discovery giving prior written consent. If Discovery gave written consent, the copyrights in all photographs and audiovisual recordings made by the Family (or any representative of the Family) at any of those locations belonged to Discovery alone, and the Family was not allowed to display, exhibit, or distribute, or authorize the display, exhibition, or distribution of, any such photographs or audiovisual recordings publicly for any purpose.