Kate then forwarded that email to Kirk Streb, a producer on Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht, telling him of the “(deeply desired) opportunity I have to work with Frigidaire!!!!” (On an unrelated note, Kate also wrote to Kirk in that email, “PS my carpet is beyond dandy and I am in love. Scott has footage of me rolling on it! Imagine!!!!!”)
Imagine.
Kirk replied to Kate and told her that he thought it was a cool offer and “outstanding!” But he gave her this caution: “The only thing that might get in the way is if the network has some deal with some other manufacturer... but, then wouldn’t they have to match it anyway?” He told her he was “Glad the carpet is groovy.”
Kate was not happy to hear that there was a possibility that Discovery wouldn’t let her make a deal to get lots of free appliances from Frigidaire. She wrote to Kirk asking him to find out more about which company the network might have other deals with. She told him “I will be thoroughly annoyed if I cannot do this. This has (don’t mention at this point to the network) a pretty decent sized monetary price tag on it for me personally so to our family this is big!!!! I am really tired of them sucking the life out of any other opp to do anything to help secure our future! Who will help to push this for me????? This is the first of many of these to come our way and this is a perfect fit!!!!”
(It’s funny that Kate didn’t say anything about that pesky Discovery “sucking the life” out of her when the network was making plans to build a new house for her family.)
Kirk then very diplomatically took Kate to task. He told Kate that he wasn’t saying that he knew for sure that there was definitely WAS another manufacturer, just that it would only be a bump in the road that might possibly, by some remote chance, come up. He sheepishly added that he had NO reason to believe that it would. Kurt sounded scared to death of Kate Gosselin.
He asked Kate to please not assume that the network was going to “suck the life” out of any opportunity, and told her that other opportunities were rolling in and getting bigger and better in part because a lot of people were working very hard to make the show a hit by promoting it and getting it into the press, etc.
Kirk told Kate that in meetings he had at the network that week he had started to understand that “they look at ad deals and even the building of a house in a MUCH BIGGER way than we do... which is good.” He said, “With the proper alliances, through the ad sales people and the deals the network has in place, etc.—there’s almost no limit to what could be comped in the building of the house.” Kirk also said that while he and Kate might look at “birds in hands”, the network was “focusing on a whole flock!”, and he thought it was to her benefit to “at least imagine that they have the ability to pull off deals that would impress you in ways you’ve yet to be impressed- by far.”
Kirk closed out his email by saying, “Above all, please remember- we truly do want to help you secure your future (I mean Figure 8 specifically). We all regard you as family, as trite as that may sound. I want every possible good thing for you and your family and that’s the truth.” He told Kate that when she gives them background information on deals like this, it helps them with their “endless behind the scenes ‘nudging and maneuvering’ that has benefitted you in ways you’ll never know.”
Duly chastised, Kate changed her tune and apologized to Kirk, telling him how very grateful they were to everyone who was working hard for the same goals. Pretending to be aware of more than she was, she said, “Oh, okay. Thanks for clearing that up. I already knew that the snag would be other appliance companies that stand in the way.”
Kate then made an excuse to Kirk that she had spoken with Wendy once about it and Wendy had not mentioned anything that would compete. Kate said she realized that ad sales handled that more than Wendy did, but initially, she got minimal but slightly somewhat positive feedback.
She apologized, saying “Sorry, if I am going beyond being ‘Kate’ in the show, but I also want to secure a ‘foreverness’ for our family (house, college etc) that goes beyond our show so that when I look back when I am old and gray (and probably STILL filming- ha ha) I know without a doubt that we did the right thing.”
In her closing paragraph, Kate did a little brown nosing. She told Kirk that they are MORE than grateful for AMP/Figure 8. She added that they have all proven that they are on her side and are working with her goals in mind, while they were busily keeping the network happy! She thanked them for their tireless work and told Kurt that she has really come to enjoy working together and she loves them all.
Before signing off, Kate repeated that she was EXTREMELY excited to work with Frigidaire not only for the obvious benefits, but because she felt it was a “big ad sales/ exposure opp for all of us- us personally and our show!!!!”
PLUGOLA/PAYOLA
Jim Ford, director of Talent Business Affairs for Discovery, sent a letter to Paul J. Datte, Jon and Kate’s attorney at the time, to inform him about a couple of issues: 1) compensation for Seasons 4 and 5, and 2) a contract issue dealing with “Plugola/Payola”. It appears that Kate may have been trying to take advantage of financial opportunities outside the provisions of her Discovery contract. Jim Ford told Paul Datte that they needed to make sure that the Gosselins fully understood the standard plugola/payola provision in their agreement, and that it was very important for a number of reasons.
In his response to Jim Ford, Paul Datte first addressed the compensation issue. He played a little bit of hardball with the network by letting them know that the Gosselins were “aware of the immense success” of their show. Datte told Ford that the episodic fee for the fourth and fifth seasons of their show had been the subject of significant discussion and consideration by the Gosselins, and that the compensation for those seasons would have to be adequate. He said that the Gosselins would need to be paid $9,000 per half-hour episode for the fourth season and $13,000 per half-hour episode for the fifth season. Datte also said that while he recognized that the final negotiation process for the contract addendum had been laborious, the Gosselins needed to wrap things up that week. Otherwise, they would need to review their options.
Datte then addressed the plugola/payola issue. He wrote that the Gosselins were aware of the plugola/payola provisions and their implications in the contract, and they had done nothing to violate those provisions. He denied any impropriety on their part and said they had directed any potential endorsement or advertising opportunities to Discovery.
He explained that if Discovery’s concern was related to a very recent opportunity the Gosselins had referred to Discovery, they recognized the obligation to address the opportunity within the bounds of the agreement, but viewed the opportunity to be significant. He said they would like to arrive at a mutually acceptable arrangement in that regard.
THE NEW HOUSE
In a not-so-subtle way, Kate hinted to Discovery that she needed a new house, and fast! OK. There was no hinting. She bypassed that and went straight to outright begging. Here are some things she wrote about needing a new house and more privacy:
“What do we do???????!!”
“Okay, I am about to move to the south of France with Brangelina...”
“On a regular basis, without asking or knocking or whatever, in the middle of the day, people pull into our driveway, drop off all manner of who knows what for the kids, hang out for awhile hoping we emerge, and leave....”
“Meanwhile, we are all sequestered in our room with the shades drawn waiting to come out of hiding when they leave!!!”
“I can’t take it ANYMORE!!!!! Leave us alone, world... We give you our whole lives on TV....isn’t that ENOUGH?!!!????”
“Really, what can we do because we have had enough!!!!!!! Someone, anyone?!!!!!!!”
“I plan on putting our house on the market next week.... So that we can rent somewhere more private...... Hope it doesnt throw off our filming plans!!!! Hope the house plans work out so that we can move 'for real' SOON!!!”
If she hadn’t put
her children out to the world like a product to be consumed, and worked so hard to keep them and herself there, this problem would probably have been far more manageable.
This is a wish-list that Kate had written, in preparation for her new house.
Driveway to pool house / guest house.
Home monitoring security system w/surround sound – centralized system.
Gated entrance with key pad and sliding or swinging gate.
Fenced in property.
Centrally located wiring closet in office.
Barn (rumble room) for kids and storage.
Tray ceilings of production lighting.
Home theatre for Friday night movie nights.
Procter & Gamble Initiative
In February 2008, Kate signed a contract to participate in Procter & Gamble’s initiative to provide clean drinking water to children around the world. Here is a description of the program from Procter & Gamble’s website:
Four-thousand children die each day from poor water around the world. In order to assist in efforts for providing children with clean drinking water, P&G has created an initiative to help. For every coupon used from P&G’s brandSAVER this March and April, P&G will donate a bottle of PUR clean drinking water to children in developing worlds.
In exchange for the right to use her approved image and voice to endorse the program, Procter & Gamble Distributing LLC paid Kate the tidy sum of $25,000. Here are some key points from the contract, which was effective from February 15, 2008, through May 31, 2008. Kate is the “TALENT,” and P&G is the “CLIENT.” Kate (the TALENT) agreed to participate in the following activities:
MEDIA TRAINING, tentatively scheduled for February or March 2008, which would entail one (1) in-person media training session, not to exceed four (4) consecutive hours, with the CLIENT to review the PROGRAM messaging and services. The CLIENT may travel to location convenient to TALENT.
MEDIA DAYS, tentatively scheduled for March or April 2008, which would be three (3) non-consecutive days, each not to exceed eight (8) consecutive hours exclusive of hair, makeup and travel. The Media days could take place in New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA; or Chicago, IL. (The final location would be determined at the discretion of the Client and would be based on the TALENT’S professional and personal schedule.)
The TALENT would be expected to deliver pre-approved branded P&G Brand Saver/PUR Charity Program Key Messages (to be provided by Client and Agency) during each media interview.
For Kate’s participation in the program, she was to be paid $25,000, which included all agent and TALENT fees. She would receive 50% of the payment within thirty (30) business days of full execution of the agreement, and 50% upon the completion of the second MEDIA DAY, but no later than April 30, 2008.
The CLIENT agreed to provide and pay for the following:
Round-trip airfare for two (if destination is Chicago or Los Angeles) or chartered bus for the family (if destination is New York) for all media-related activities;
First-class hotel accommodations for up to two (2) nights for all media-related activities (for TALENT and two suites for entire family plus two handlers if needed);
Hair and make-up stylists not to exceed $500 total per day for all on-camera activities;
A per diem of $150 per day, not including travel days;
Security by TALENT’s preferred security company for all media activities;
So for very little effort, Kate was rewarded with a huge payday. Kate didn’t even have to write her own material for her Procter & Gamble endorsement; her management did it for her.
Now, companies use celebrities to endorse their products, services or programs all the time. They try to choose people who will inspire others to donate or to just drum up publicity. Ideally, the company will get a return on their initial investment far in excess of what they paid the celebrity. A lot of celebrities do charitable endorsements for free. Kate does nothing for free, unless there is something in it for her to gain.
I don’t have information about whether Kate’s participation was worth the $25,000, plus expenses, that P&G paid her. However, based on statistics from P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water website (http://www.csdw.org/csdw/donate.shtml), which states that “$30 gives a family clean water for a year,” that $25,000 P&G gave Kate could have provided clean drinking water to about 833 families for an entire year.
THE GOSSELIN FAMILY HARDSHIPS
Kate’s sister-in-law, Aunt Jodi, and her brother, Kevin, were as close to Jon and Kate back in the early days as anyone, so they were privy to personal details that no one else knew at the time. Aunt Jodi’s sister, Julie, posted this on a blog about Jon and Kate in 2008:
“When the sextuplets were about 6 months old, an email was going around from them, asking for financial help. They were telling a tale of having absolutely no money, and not knowing how they were going to survive. I received the email, and it had very detailed information about how to contact the utilities and mortgage company to pay their bills.
“There was also a fund set up through their church. There was a huge outpouring of generosity from their community. Family and friends stepped up and gave money, offered time, tried to help in every way imaginable.
“Disbelief set in a few months later. We found out (by their own admission) that all along, they had a rather large sum of money in their savings account. Let's just say it was more than I made in a year working full time when I came out of nursing school. They had been giving everyone this story of being financially destitute, when all along, a very wealthy family member was supporting them, and they were sitting on a large sum of money. When they were questioned, their response was along the lines that they shouldn't have to use their own money to support their family. It was society's obligation. "We have 8 kids!!"
“I actually hadn’t even thought about any of that until I heard the story they were telling at the churches. The story wasn’t even entirely true; I know that from my own experience. I tried to understand why they would tell such a story and lead people to believe that was still the way they were living. Had they run that story over in their minds so much that they began to believe it? I also knew there were college funds set up for the kids. Were they lying about that too?
“To top it all off, I knew that part of their contract with the network included being paid for every ‘appearance.’ Let’s just say for about 3-4 ‘appearances,’ they could make as much as the average person makes in a year. Did they let anyone at the churches know that? So I picture kind, generous people, sitting in a church, listening to tales of financial hardship. Led to believe it’s still this way, offering plates being passed and people (who really can’t afford it) digging deep into their pockets, giving money to a family who probably makes well more than twice as much money as they do – just for the show. I’m not even including the freebies and all of the money they get from product endorsements and appearances. I find that disturbing!
“Why mislead good people? Speak at the churches, collect your money from the network, promote your show, but don’t be dishonest. Don’t tell people your kids don’t have a college fund, and don’t continue to tell tales of being financially destitute. I can hear it now, ‘who am I to say no?’ It’s my opinion that it’s their obligation to tell the truth and stop collecting love offerings.”
Jon and Kate put it another way on their website:
“We ask others to please pray for us as we go through terrible financial and family hardships. It is hard to let people into our personal lives but we are praying that people could walk in our shoes for one day and understand that God has given us these children and we are responsible to raise them the best we can. Please pray that Kate and I can do this with help of all our awesome volunteers that God has provided us. Amen.”
THE COLLEGE FUNDS
Kate had many scheduled speaking engagements at churches in 2008, where she told the same story of hardship over and over again while asking for “Love Offerings” for her children’s c
ollege funds, which she said didn’t exist. The Gosselin family website, sixgosselins.com, also said there were no college funds set up for their kids.
But Pennsylvania Lt. Governor Katherine Baker Knoll had attended and spoken at the Gosselin sextuplet’s first birthday party held at the Inn at Reading in Wyomissing, PA. She was there in person to announce that the state had made college funding available for the Gosselin kids.
This press release from that first birthday party in 2005 tells a story much different from Kate’s about college funds:
“If you would like to make a contribution to the Gosselin Family’s TAP account, you can do so by making your check payable to “TAP 529,” writing “Gosselin” in the memo portion of the check, and sending your contributions to: Gosselin Sextuplets and Twins Accounts, TAP Bureau, 218 Finance Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120. More information on the Tuition Account Program can be obtained by calling 1-800-440-4000 or by visiting the Treasury website and clicking on Tuition Account Program.”
It’s funny how Kate conveniently never mentioned that TAP account while the “Love Offering” plate was being passed around the churches for her.
UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
“All mine. All mine as far as the eye can see.”
– Kate Gosselin
There has been a great deal of speculation about how much money the Gosselins, first both Jon and Kate, and later just Kate, made by exploiting their children. The media has reported many different figures for how much Discovery was paying Kate and Jon per episode for filming Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht. When I first began digging for this information, I had heard all of the same figures from sources I thought were reliable.
KATE GOSSELIN: HOW SHE FOOLED THE WORLD - THE RISE AND FALL OF A REALITY TV QUEEN Page 18
