“Hey, I’m Bonnie, I’m one of the editors on Jon and Kate Plus Ei8ht. You know I’ve gone through tons of footage and it’s pretty obvious to me that the kids are pretty comfortable with the cameras. They go from ignoring them completely to sometimes goofing around and wanting to see themselves in it. It’s just part of everyday life for them.”
We need to give Bonnie, the editor, a big thank you for her input. I’m sure I don’t need to say how stupid and contrived her little speech sounds, but I will anyway. It is beyond absurd that the producers would ask someone whose livelihood was so closely tied to the success of the show, to comment on the children’s supposed comfort around the cameras. What was Bonnie, the editor, going to say? That she had to edit out footage of the children crying and looking miserable? Yeah, right. That would have been Bonnie’s ticket to pink-slipsville.
Kate chimed in with one of my favorite Kate quotes about the kids:
“They’re just living. They’re not required to do anything. If they don’t like being involved in a shoot, they’re not. If they don’t feel like being around, they’re not. If they want to go to a friend’s house instead of be present for a shoot, they just are. It’s not an issue for the kids.
When talking about the show being put on hold temporarily, pending Jon’s complaint, it was pretty impressive that Kate could say the following with a straight face:
“Over the weekend I told the kids that we’re not filming at this point. And actually, times eight, there was wailing and sobbing. They love our crew, they love the interaction, they love the events. There is nothing harmful about it. They are angry.”
They were angry, all right, but it had nothing to do with the crew not being around.
I have seen no signs of any wailing and sobbing and anger from the kids because of the absence of the film crew. In fact, I have seen quite the opposite. From the first day I went to the Gosselin home to begin reporting for US Weekly, I’ve seen the kids react negatively when told they have to film. These are small children who wanted to play and run around. When the crew was at the house, and the kids had to stop what they were doing to be controlled and to film scripted segments of them pretending to do something that they wouldn’t normally be doing, their frustration was very evident.
Yes, they were angry. But not for the reason that Kate says. They were angry because they wanted to be left alone to play and do things that other kids do instead of being herded around like cattle on the family farm, from one set-up fake activity to the next.
I’ve observed the kids while filming and I’ve spoken to the kids about filming. For every minute of film TLC carefully edits to show the kids looking happy, you can bet there are 30 minutes of unseen film showing the kids being miserable about filming.
KATE DOESN’T HAVE A LOT OF CHILD CARE
Let me be clear from the very start. There is nothing wrong with someone having a nanny or others to help with childcare; however, there is everything wrong with a person who has a nanny and others to help with childcare refusing to acknowledge that those people exist because it would completely contradict a fake image manufactured for a television show.
On The Talk, with her publicist standing just off camera, Kate was asked this obviously scripted, pre-approved question: “You don’t have a lot of child care, right?” This question was given to the interviewer by Kate’s publicist to try and rebuild Kate’s tarnished image, in preparation for the upcoming season of Kate Plus Ei8ht.
Kate’s mind churned for a few seconds trying to pull out the approved, rehearsed answer, and then she said, “I don’t. I have a babysitter half the week. Three and a half days, um, and I, when I’m at home, which is most of the time, I’m hands on, I cook every meal. I know people want to say other things about me. I’m doing the math homework. I’m taking care of my kids. That is where my heart is, with my kids.”
In this situation, Kate was actually kind of telling the truth while at the same time being very misleading. I’m no genius, so I had my 8-year-old daughter help me with the math on this subject.
Kate made this statement in February, during school, when the kids are out of the house from 7 AM when the bus picks them up, until 4 PM when the bus drops them off.
Here’s how Kate’s “I have a babysitter half the week” lie breaks down:
There are 168 total hours in a week.
(24 hours in a day x 7 days a week equals 168 hours. So far, so good.)
“Half the week” equals 84 hours.
(168 hours divided by 2 equals 84 hours.)
The kids are away at school for 45 hours a week.
(7AM – 4 PM equals 9 hours a day x 5 days a week equals 45 hours)
The kids are in bed for 56 hours a week.
(8 hours a night x 7 days a week equals 56 hours.)
That leaves a possible 67 hours that the kids could possibly be at home and awake.
Kate has a babysitter for 84 hours a week. At least.
That’s not a stretch, believe me, as someone who watched the comings and goings of nannies and babysitters at the house during school and summer vacation for nearly two years. And as someone who’s spoken “off the record” to several of the “helpers” since I’ve been on this job.
There were sometimes up to three babysitters at the house with the kids at any given time during the summer months. Kate also hired a live-in, “overnight” nanny.
And for Kate Gosselin to utter the words, “um, and I, when I’m at the house, which is most of the time, I’m hands on…” is laughable. Just read through this book for the real truth about how much time Kate is actually at the house with the kids. Kate looks for any reason to NOT be at the house with the kids. I’ve seen it, on a regular basis, for nearly two years, seven days a week.
Kate tweeted this in 2011 trying to do damage control regarding a tabloid story about all the help she has:
response2article:nvr had 2bsitters-died laughing@their 'salary',sch tuition$-noteven close.hav nvr pd $ 4 Elysasuzanne clothing
THE KIDS ARE AFRAID OF THE PAPARAZZI
The Gosselin kids are certainly not afraid of the paparazzi. Far from it. I spent several months among the paparazzi that came to Pennsylvania to cover the Gosselin story. For the most part, these were a polite, respectful bunch of guys. Every now and then there would be one or two who stepped over the line and would get too close to the kids while photographing them, or worse, in my opinion, would ask Kate questions about the divorce, etc., in front of the kids. They were doing their job though, which was to engage and get a reaction, so I understood their position. They also didn’t have children, like I do, so I’m sure the thought never even occurred to them that what they were doing in front of the kids was even an issue. Your perspective on things changes greatly when you have children.
I support Kate 100% in her resolve to protect her children from strangers, including the paparazzi. I can’t even imagine how I would have handled the same situation if I were in her shoes. I’m an overly protective parent when it comes to people being near my kids, and I could never deal with that in a non-aggressive way like Kate did. Kate put up a stone wall to the paps, and I admire her for that.
The problem is that Kate told the children lies about the paparazzi and intentionally tried to scare them. Jon’s approach was completely different from Kate’s. He knew these guys were just doing their jobs and they were going to take pictures regardless of what he or Kate said, so he chose to be civil to them.
In addition to being working paparazzi, one or two of the guys became friends with Jon and, in turn, got up close and friendly with the kids. There were times when a pap or two was allowed inside the fence to hang out while Jon was in the yard with the kids. The kids loved the attention, and as far as I can remember, the paps agreed not to photograph the kids while inside the property. I was a big part of that, and it was fun. We cooked out, had squirt gun battles with the kids, and played games with them. One of the paps even took the time to teach the boys how to ride their two-wh
eel bicycles without training wheels, and on several occasions, the paps surrendered their cameras to the kids to let them experiment with photography. That’s really the only time I ever saw the kids just having fun and being kids – when Jon had custody and they were allowed to run around the property, enjoying their summer. You can do an online search for the video of two of the sextuplets coming down to the fence with their water guns and playing with and squirting the paparazzi. It was fun for them. I was there. I shot the video.
In Kate’s defense, there surely are bad paparazzi in the world. But there are also bad doctors, bad lawyers, bad politicians, bad teachers, bad policemen, bad television executives, bad priests and, yes, bad mothers. When you choose to sell your children’s privacy to the world, you have to be prepared for the consequences.
I CAN’T RUN WHEN THE KIDS ARE HOME
Kate tweeted often about going out running. She always made sure to inform her devoted fans how many miles she ran. Even Kate’s fans would sometimes ask how she could possibly be running when she had eight children at home. Kate, of course, would duck the issue by tweeting that it was a “kidless weekend” or that the kids were at their dad’s house. What about the other 95% of the time when they are not at their dad’s house, like during the summer months when they’re home all day?
xxxxx @Kateplusmy8 the fact that you have time to run for 3+ hours… Hmmm? Mysteriousmommove!
answer= kidless weekend! And I made time! So so so much to do!
xxxxx @Kateplusmy8 Who watches the kids while u run for 3hrs? Not judging just asking I’m a mom of 3 & can’t even pee alone
they r at their dads for wkend! And no I can’t run when they are home
For two years, Kate has been taking to the streets running while the kids are inside the house…alone. Mady and Cara are in charge of watching them, which isn’t a big stretch since the twins entertain the sextuplets most of the time anyway, even when Kate IS at home. The twins also bathe and feed the “little kids” as well. Kate will occasionally run around her driveway while the kids are playing outside, but usually, they’re alone in the house, or a high school girl is babysitting them. Either way, the bottom line is that every second Kate spent running around in circles is another second she could have spent with her children…and she chose not to.
Kate tweeted this on a Monday night – a school night – while the kids were in her care:
…nothing like screeching bats at dusk to make this girl run faster…Talk about motivation…
Dusk at Kate’s house on that night was around 7:30 pm. So why was Kate outside running in the dark while her kids were home alone, or with helpers, on a school night? Why wasn’t she inside with them being a mom – helping them with their homework, playing with them, reading to them, tending to their showers/baths, etc.?
GYMNASTICS
Very little of the money the children earned is being spent on them to give them a normal childhood. They want to play sports and do outside activities, but except for one of the twins playing lacrosse AT SCHOOL, Kate won’t allow it – unless it’s for filming purposes.
Kate and TLC filmed the kids doing gymnastics, but it was just a single-day experience for the girls, again, for filming only. The problem is that they wanted to do it more and begged Kate to let them. She told them no with no reason given.
When a fan asked her on Twitter if the kids still do gymnastics, Kate responded:
No.sadly.cost a lot and created per space issues-crowded there.will try to do in future tho. Vry gd for all kids I think.
THE GOOD BRA
Kate has long denied that she had a boob job. When asked about it in interviews, she has never come out and actually denied it. She just does her usual Kate word dance that allows her to lie without coming out directly with a lie. “I got a good bra” is how she responds to the question.
Does anyone besides her strongest supporters (and no, I don’t mean her good bra) believe Kate when she says she didn’t have a boob job? Go to 3:52-3:58 of part 2 of the Bald Head Island episode and pause your computer. Kate is bra-less and standing firm and looking fabulously slutty.
Kate is completely hanging out of her shirt. This was during the “Kate’s a hot mom’ experiment when they were desperate for ratings and she was dressing more and more embarrassingly provocatively. That experiment failed terribly, of course.
RUMOR HAS IT
Even though Kate has been quoted repeatedly as saying that she doesn’t pay any attention to the tabloids or the online gossip blogs, in February 2011, she sat down with the ladies on The Talk and said, “99% of what you read about me online is not true, um, it’s far from true.”
If Kate doesn’t pay attention to the stories about her online, as she stated, how would she know if what they were saying about her was true or not? Here are some tweets where Kate is, yet again, “clearing up the rumors” for everyone so that, you know, we don’t have any misinformation about her:
NOT 1 stitch of truth in radar article, once again… & radar u can’t even report my website properly! It’s: kateplusmy8.com
Let’s play clear up the rumor! Ask me CURRENT rumors and I’ll answer instead of letting tabloids write garbage! Ready, set, GO!
xxxxx @Kateplusmy8 I think twitter is great, you finally get a chance to instantly put the record straight – you go girl!
I know. I LOVE it for that… They write, I clear up their dumb lies. The end.
I'm ok 2b held 2higher standards...can expect ppl 2 live up 2 their ind potential. But hate,lies and jealousy r intolerable!
Kate has a special page calledKate + Rumors set up on her personal website just so nobody can get away with telling any lies about her. Here’s the text at the top of that page:
Great news! Instead of believing the tabloids, you can come here for the TRUTH about current issues! I'll discuss all rumors that need to be addressed! Imagine that!
Here is a classic Kate tweet from late 2011:
xxxxx @Kateplusmy8 What’s the silliest rumor you have ever heard about you…or is that impossible to choose? ;-)
everythingwritten w/o an interv fr me &/or as reported by ‘inside sources’(which there r none-inside sources don’t giv info)
Well there you have it, everyone. Inside sources don’t give info. Kate says so. For someone who insists she doesn’t spend time reading the tabloids, she certainly spends a lot of time clearing up their rumors.
Even though Kate Gosselin lies all the time, she has a problem with lies, and the lying liars who tell them. She also has a problem when people tell the truth, but the truth is critical of her. On March 13, 2012, she said as much on Twitter when she announced:
And,btw,I've now blocked the Philly paparazzi liar& I encourage ALL to do the same..whether u love or hate me,1 fact remains: he lied to u!
Kate is very angry, and it appears that she’s throwing down the gauntlet and daring someone to prove that she is a liar. The following very beautiful and positive tweet wasn’t even sent to Kate. She just saw it and re-tweeted it, and added a little bit of her own personality to it: the venom and hate.
“For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it” – Ivan Panin
‘….and for every made up lie abt someone, there’s a stupid moron to believe and spread it…’(sorry had2add my 2cents)
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?
KATE GOSSELIN: HOW SHE FOOLED THE WORLD - THE RISE AND FALL OF A REALITY TV QUEEN Page 39
