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

by Robert Hoffman

  Anyone who has ever watched Kate on TV, or has seen or heard or read interviews with her, will probably not be surprised to hear that she lies – a lot. Kate lies to make herself look good and to make others look bad. She lies to get sympathy. She lies to get people to believe she is something she is not. She lies to excuse her bad behavior. She lies to deflect criticism. She lies to blame others for her bad behavior. She lies to make people believe that her children are always happy and are constantly thanking her and singing her praises. In 2013 on Celebrity Wife Swap to garner sympathy, Kate said “somewhere around 2011 the world watched Jon and I go through a divorce.” 2011? Jon and Kate’s divorce was finalized TWO YEARS prior in December 2009.

  Kate has lied in every way imaginable. She has lied intentionally. She has lied by mistake. She has told lies of omission. She has denied things that are known to be true. She has lied by saying she does certain things as a matter of routine when, in fact, she has only done those things once or so for filming. She has lied by exaggerating her importance and acting as if she is more experienced, skilled, successful, deserving and important than she is.

  In watching Kate on a daily basis and reading Kate’s words, both public and private, my opinion is that Kate Gosselin is not only a pathological liar, she is a hypocrite as well. By definition, hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, qualities, or standards that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a lie. Kate claims to hate bullying, but she bullies others and encourages her fans to do the same.

  To prove that Kate is a liar and a hypocrite, I have included some of Kate’s blatant lies in this book, and then given the facts. It was a difficult task, choosing only some, because the list of possibilities is so long, and it continues to grow with every television interview Kate gives and every tweet that she tweets.

  THE HOUSE

  “That’s why TLC wants us to continue to be ‘normal’ ….

  Wonder how we will explain the $2M house? :) ”

  – Kate Gosselin

  There has been a great deal of speculation that Jon and Kate didn’t actually buy their new million dollar house in Lower Heidelberg Township near Wernersville, PA, but that TLC/Discovery planned on moving them there for filming purposes because Kate complained that their Elizabethtown, PA, home was too small for them.

  Kate has always denied this and in 2011 even tweeted in response to a question from a fan about their current house. As in preceding chapters, I have omitted the names of those who tweet Kate in an effort to protect the naive, ignorant or deceived.

  xxxxx @Kateplusmy8 Just read that TLC owns your house. Is it true & do u have to move again?

  LOL. Not a penny was payed for this house other than what I paid w my hard earned $. Did the company u work for buy ur house?

  Let’s dissect Kate’s response and provide some history and facts here. Jon’s father bought them their first house in Wyomissing, PA. God bought them their second home in Elizabethtown, PA. We know this because Kate told us so when she said, “God had answered our prayer by supplying a house for us that met our every need.” (That really means they got it for free.) But Kate’s tweet above was intended to make everyone believe that the huge, new million-dollar home was paid for by only Kate and her hard-earned money.

  Never mind the fact that Jon and Kate were married at the time they bought that house, so it was Jon’s hard-earned money as well, and never mind that the only reason they had that money in the first place was because the eight Gosselin children were made to work like dogs having their every move filmed. So let’s look further into Kate’s assertion that she bought the house and “not a penny was payed” other than what she paid with her “hard earned $.”

  In August of 2008, a communication was sent from TLC/Discovery to Jon and Kate Gosselin that lists specific ideas for what would be needed in a new house for the Gosselins. The house was to be “designed with production in mind,” have rooms “big enough for film crew to film activities,” and have a “separate entrance for crew with room for equipment storage.”

  The “Overall Goal” was to build a functional and secure home for the Gosselins while filming the ups and downs of the design and building process to share with the viewers.

  The focus of the “Draft Plan” was twofold: functionality for the family and to be designed with production in mind.

  A few highlights of the plan include:

  No show entrance or foyer

  No dining room. Just a very large kitchen for the family to gather to eat and film

  Family room large enough for the entire family to gather to have their activities filmed

  Separate entrance for the film crew with plenty of storage space for their equipment, the interview set storage and a bathroom for only the crew to use to take stress away from Kate because she freaks out if any of her family, the crew, uses her bathroom

  Area for the kids to have desks and homework area for filming

  Home office for Jon to film the “working from home” angle

  Master suite that would be off limits to cameras

  Of the 7500 sq. ft. planned, the actual space that will be for filming would feel like only 4500 sq. ft. of house.

  The “Projected Expenses” highlights of the new house would be:

  The house would be approx.. 7500 sq. ft and the budget would be approx.. $1,275,000 PLUS land costs and furnishings.

  Jon & Kate are prepared to purchase the land only and to pay all taxes going forward on the house after the initial tax burden.

  The home is being designed by Jon & Kate to be very “crew/production” friendly in terms of interview set space, storage space for crew equipment, entrance for crew/crew bathroom, etc.

  Lane furnishings will provide furnishings and gross up for taxes.

  For the remaining actual house expenses, they’re looking for sponsors like Allstate, Whirlpool, etc. combinations of in-kind and funding will cover both the house and money toward the initial tax burden on the value of the house.

  Lumber is one of the major expenses so they’re hopeful a lumber sponsor will step up to reduce that cost.

  Many environmentally friendly “green” product companies would be able to highlight their products on the show (windows, heating, insulation, flooring, etc.)

  Appliances are another large expense so they’re hoping that Whirlpool or another sponsor would be interested to provide washers, dryers, ovens and ALL appliances.

  Thoughts on Show Creative:

  Picking the land and selecting the finishing touches would give the network countless decisions and great points to cover during filming.

  Jon & Kate are committed to organic foods so they would really be looking forward to learning about green building and making similar choices and sharing with the viewers what they learn. This is a good opportunity to cross-promote TLC experts/hosts and Planet Green hosts/talent.

  The show will appeal to Jon & Kate fans so it will be perfect to run with other TLC programs related to renovations, building, etc. and will migrate viewers to watch other TLC shows as well.

  These discussions about the house were a sure sign that TLC/Discovery was prepared to invest in the Gosselins for the long haul. They were also a sure sign that if TLC/Discovery was willing to go to such extremes as to get sponsors to bear the lion’s share of expenses for building a new house, and were only asking Jon and Kate to foot the bill for the land and taxes, they would be more than willing to help with the purchase of an existing home. All this points to the high probability that not a whole lot of Kate’s “hard-earned $” left her bank account to purchase their current home.

  Ever on the lookout to protect her image, and not wanting to jeopardize her speaking engagement source of income, Kate was very aware that they had to be very careful about public perception. When Jon sent her a link to a positive newspaper article about them in June of 2008, Kate said it was a good article and that’s why TLC wants us
to continue to be “normal”. She then gave one of her now-infamous quotes: “Wonder how we will explain the $2M house? :)”

  Explaining the house was actually not a problem. The easiest way to explain the new “$2M house” to people who thought the Gosselins were struggling financially and had to speak at churches with their hands out to get donations to feed their family, was to simply downplay its size and cost.

  “God had answered our prayer by supplying

  a house for us that met our every need.”

  – Kate Gosselin

  Not God, Kate. TLC/Discovery Communications. Both times.

  KATE’S BED REST

  “My kids are the reason that I laid on bed rest for 30 entire weeks.”

  – Kate Gosselin

  When talking about the amount of time she spent on bed rest while she was carrying the sextuplets, Kate has given the number “30 weeks” many times, including when she was a guest on the Ellen show on October 28, 2009. Her statement is not true.

  While this might be a bit picky on my part, and personally, it is hard to imagine anyone dealing with the physical trauma that it must have taken to carry six babies through to birth, a lie is still a lie. This particular lie is typical of how Kate plays fast and loose with the facts to make herself look like the most selfless, burdened mother who ever lived, and who sacrificed more than any other mother in history. Kate spent a lot of time creating the myth about herself that she was some kind of a superhero for dealing with her “unique situation,” as she described it time and time again. This is an example of her bed rest lie:

  “Like any mother, um, I laid on bed rest for 30 weeks, um, eaking out every minute of my pregnancy for my little kids. There is nothing I would do to put them in danger.”

  This is another variation of the lie:

  "My kids are the reason I have always done everything. My kids are the reason I laid on bed rest for 30 entire weeks. My kids are the reason that I wrote the books and it’s always about them. And, I know that it looks like it’s all about me all the time and whatever, but what you don’t see is down deep inside it’s a desperate desire to provide for my kids."

  The truth is, and this was confirmed by Dr. John Botti, Kate’s obstetrician, that Kate went on bed rest in her home at 7 weeks, and started bed rest in the hospital at 20 weeks. She gave birth to the sextuplets at 30 weeks. So that’s a total of 23 weeks of bed rest. But what’s an extra 49 days of suffering here or there? The exaggeration made for a better story though, I guess.

  It looks like the passing of a few years has given Kate some newfound clarity. On May 11, 2012, with no Ellen talk show television cameras and no millions of home viewers watching and listening, Kate was finally able to tell the truth about her bed rest. This is what she wrote in her “Happy 8th Birthday My Precious 6!” blog on her website, kateplusmy8.com:

  “I remember the 23 weeks I spent lying on my right side, first at home on bed rest and then in the hospital… Enduring all of the boredom, worry and discomfort.”

  And the truth will set you free. Better late than never.

  MULTIPLE BLESSINGS: THE ENTIRE BOOK

  I have interviewed a lot of people who were actually present in the Gosselin’s lives during the time period covered in Multiple Blessings. All those people told pretty much the same story about how Kate is made to look in the book and how totally nonfactual it is. That’s a nice way of saying that the entire book is a lie. It is a rewrite of history to wipe clean Kate Gosselin’s very ugly, erratic and narcissistic behavior.

  There’s not just one passage that can be held up as an example of the falsehoods. If you start from page 1, and read through 193 pages until the end, you will have read a work of almost pure fiction. Multiple Blessings took elements of Kate’s life that had some basis in reality, and then twisted the reality to fabricate a completely misleading account of her life experiences and actions.

  I selected the following excerpt from Multiple Blessings about Kate’s hospital stay to illustrate this point. Sources have said that Kate’s behavior was so over-the-top, that her mental capacity was checked on a regular basis. But here’s how she and Beth Carson altered history:

  “One morning in the hospital I awoke to two middle-aged men in white coats and clipboards standing over me. Clearing his throat and giving his glasses a nudge, one doctor announced that he and his colleague were there to assess my mental status. I know they were concerned because I probably appeared insanely calm and almost “glazed over” in the light of all of our very real concerns.

  I, too, was amazed that I was so calm. What they didn’t know or understand was that the peace of God, which even I couldn’t describe, had already covered over me like a security blanket. Don’t get me wrong; it wasn’t as if I was living in denial. I had a bazillion concerns: Would my babies live? Would I live? Would the babies be healthy? How would we all fit into our house? How many diapers a day? A week? A year? How would we ever go anywhere again as a family when our car only fit six passengers? What about clothes, food, and – oh my goodness – college? In spite of this overwhelming list that very well could have consumed me, I had already learned that when doubt and fear began to creep in, it was imperative to redirect my focus immediately. I sang, I prayed, and I read my verses. I repeatedly handed my fears and worries back to God. He in turn rewarded me with an extra dose of peace that enabled me to creep by, minute by minute. It was this exchange that defined my days and bewildered many around me.”

  More than five people with first-hand knowledge of Kate’s hospital stay have gone on record giving me information about how it actually went. Every one of them laughed when they read how Kate was portrayed in her book. Here is a more accurate picture of Kate’s time in the hospital, from the people who worked there and had to take care of her.

  “Kate was loud, and rude, and demanding, and unapologetic. She was a nightmare patient from the time she got here until the time she left. The nurses all celebrated the day she left.”

  The following text is from Kate’s own pregnancy journal. It sounds like the exact opposite of someone who was “so calm” because the peace of God had covered over her “like a security blanket.”

  Kate said that she felt very selfish a lot and she wants this pregnancy overwith! She said that she’s sooooo miserable and that is an understatement! She said she pees constantly at night and the ridiculous residents wake her up at dawn for stupidity!!!!

  There is one last thing that should be mentioned about Multiple Blessings. Kate and Beth Carson’s Multiple Blessings was published and released in 2008.

  On May 26, 1994, 14 years before Kate Gosselin, Beth Carson and Zondervan released Multiple Blessings: Surviving to Thriving with Twins and Sextuplets, publisher Harper Perennial released a similar book about raising multiples by author Betty Rothbart. The book was called…wait for it…Multiple Blessings – From pregnancy through childhood, a guide for parents of twins, triplets, or more.

  Kate Gosselin couldn’t even come up with an original title for her book. She had to swipe one from someone else who wrote about the exact same subject.

  Kate and Beth’s Multiple Blessings sold in excess of 523,000 copies. It was a very popular book, just not quite as popular as you might think. Because of Julie May’s creativity, the requirement to purchase copies of Multiple Blessings was included directly into the contract for Kate’s speaking engagements. The sale of 500 books was built in every time Kate went somewhere to speak.

  They forced that book on anyone who wanted to book Kate to speak. Now that’s how you pad the numbers.

  KATE CANCELED CHURCH SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

  BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO SPEND MORE TIME AT HOME

  WITH HER FAMILY

  This lie is a big one. This was a lie not only to us mere mortals, but to God as well. This is text copied from one of Kate’s original church speaking engagement solicitation forms. The actual form has a cute photo of the family behind the text. Kate sent these out before she hired her manager, Ju
lie Carson May.

  Kate Gosselin’s Speaking Engagement Info

  Here is some information for you if this is something you are interested in:

  We speak for a group of 100 or more. We typically ask that the church/organization cover our travel and accommodations (airfare, hotel, car transport to/from airport on this end and rental car if necessary). As far as a ‘speaking fee’ goes, we ask for a ‘love offering’ for church services (which averages around $1800-$2000 just to give you an idea, but is by no means a set ‘fee’—we let that up to God to fulfill our needs!!!) and for MOPS groups we set a fee of about $1800. I know that sounds like a lot, but in order to leave our kids and work, this is what we need to cover our time and babysitting! In the past, churches, MOPS groups, organizations have charged admission or provided free tickets and covered our ‘fee’ in other ways. It is up to you how it should be handled in your situation. We typically use our presentation entitled ‘Six (in honor of our 6) Lessons We Have Learned’ where we start with a video montage set to music of our family and then do our presentation. We tell our story from the beginning while we weave our points into it – including the pertinent Bible verses that came alive to us during those times and continue to be our guide today! We usually end with about a half hour of questions from the audience which brings our total presentation time to about 1 ½-2 hours in length. The only other thing we require is a $100 deposit to hold the date you have chosen! I hope this information helps! We enjoy speaking but are still surprised at the demand!