She left the property followed by a host of paps and went to Dunkin Donuts first for a coffee drink. After coffee, she went to Planet Nails and tans for a two-hour manicure/pedicure session. The paps were fighting with each other outside in the parking lot while they waited. On the way inside Planet Nails, the pap who’s here every day videotaped Kate and said to Kate “You know Kate, if we didn’t have such a complicated relationship, I’d give you a big hug right now.” Kate responded “don’t bother.”
This is a funny story that is so very typical of Kate’s behavior.
Back in December of 2010, Kate had not been photographed locally for more than ten days because her pap was out of the country shooting a couple of A-List celebrities. Kate had gotten used to coming and going unnoticed for a few days, so she was out and about running errands, looking a hot mess – no makeup, hair unkempt, shabby-chic clothes. Not her best look. But on this day, the pap was back in town and he surprised her by showing up at the tanning salon where she was taking care of some important Kate business. When she came outside and saw him there, she seemed horrified that she looked, well, like a mother of eight from Berks County, Pennsylvania, which was something of an atrocity to Kate Gosselin, though. She quickly jumped in her car and made a bee-line back to her house, a 20-minute drive, where she stayed for 30 minutes, only to come right back out and drive to approximately the same location she had just come from. She went to Planet Nails to get her nails done.
So what was so important that she had to race back home? The pap was back in town. Kate had rushed home to fix her hair, put on makeup, change her clothes into something glamorous, and put on high heels – just for him. And you. Kate is so consumed by her public image and appearance that she wasted an hour driving back home to change, just so she would look good for the tabloids – the ones she says she doesn’t pay attention to. Meanwhile, Collin and Alexis were sitting at home with a babysitter.
After leaving the nail salon, she went straight back home for the day.
By the end of the summer of 2009, the Gosselin frenzy had died down and the hordes of paparazzi had gone away. For more than 2 years after that, except for a day in April 2010, and on a special occasion here and there, there was only one lone paparazzo who would come by to photograph Kate. But Kate needed to keep up the illusion that she was in demand. She continued to give her fans the impression that she was still being hounded constantly by throngs of photographers.
It was usually one pap, once a month. Maybe.
As of this printing in 2012, having been off of television for over a year, Kate has taken to posting photos and videos of her children on Twitter and her own Kate + My 8 website for all the world to see. She is so desperate to get herself and her children back on television that she tweets every detail of their private lives to strangers, trying to keep interest in them alive. Kate Gosselin has become her own paparazzi. While other celebrity mothers go to great lengths to ensure their children’s privacy, Kate Gosselin does the exact opposite. She shares their thoughts, their secrets, their words and, worst of all, their private photos, with the world.
In June of 2011, rock singer, Pink, posted this on her website:
“Here’s the bottom line: we don't want you to take our little girl's picture. We don't want you to one day follow our little girl home from school. We don't want our little girl's picture in a magazine or on a blog. If you take or publish her picture, it is against our wishes, and without our consent as parents, as people.”
Pink sounds like a normal parent trying to protect her child.
Recently, Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner successfully lobbied for and got into law an anti-paparazzi bill 606, making it illegal in California for paparazzi to photograph celebrity’s children without their consent. “We’re moms here who are just trying to protect our children,” Berry told the legislators. “These are little innocent children who didn’t ask to be celebrities. They didn’t ask to be thrown into this game and they don’t have the wherewithal to process what’s happening. We don’t have a law in place to protect them from this.”
Kate has obviously never felt the need to protect her children from the prying eyes of strangers, nor has she ever respected their privacy. On the contrary, she has done everything in her power to prevent her children from having any privacy. She has purposefully trotted her kids out in front of the cameras to entertain others, thus inviting the attention of the paparazzi. So, when Pink tweeted that “Paparazzi stalking children should be illegal,” Kate had the absolute nerve to tweet this in response:
@Pink I totally agree! My kids (or any kids stalked) shouldn't even have a word ('P-ppl') for paparazzi or know they exist!
Kate is the only one stalking her children. She is the one putting them at risk and constantly tweeting and posting photographs of them online to the world of strangers, stalkers and pedophiles.
KATIE’S MEN IN BLUE
Kate Gosselin acts as if she is above the law. I have seen her use the local police force as her own personal security company and sometimes as her bellhops/baggage handlers as well. The officers never appeared to mind. It is perfectly understandable that when there was a media circus surrounding the family, the police would need to be involved to make sure the family and community were protected. But their involvement sometimes extended far beyond protection. What is most troubling is that I have witnessed local police officers allowing Kate to break the law, right in front of them without any repercussions. Here are some examples of Kate’s personal relationship with the local men in blue.
Kate almost always parks the wrong way, on the wrong side of the street at her UPS store, directly beneath a sign that reads “NO PARKING FIRE LANE” – sometimes while having a conversation with the local police who stop by to say hello and make small talk.
While the police drove the speed limit next to me and the paps to detain us (back when the paparazzi/paparazzo were still interested in Kate), they watched as Kate sped off at speeds over 80 mph.
Kate called the police to carry her bags and escort her from a hotel to her car.
Here are my notes detailing a few instances of Kate interacting with the local police.
Jon and Kate Gosselin PA Reporting
August 2009
1 am – On the way home I drove by the Days Inn where Kate had been spotted earlier in the day. Her car is in the parking lot so I decided to park nearby and hopefully get a look at she and Steve leaving the hotel together. (Just wishful thinking. I had no idea if Steve was with her or not.)
2:20 am – A Wyomissing policeman knocks on my window and asks what I’m doing and takes my license and runs my plates. I told him the truth about what I was doing there. He asked who I was following and I said Kate Gosselin and he said “That poor family.” I said that she’s not really a great person and he said “so I’ve heard.” He was ok with me being there and recognized that I was just doing my job and I thanked him.
15 minutes later he came up to me again and told me that the hotel doesn’t want me anywhere on the property. I went across the street, which was ok with him.
3 am – There are now 4 police cars patrolling the small hotel parking lot shining their spotlights in car windows etc. looking for any other paparazzi. Two of the cars stay parked on either end of the row where Kate’s car is. I continue to watch the front door through binoculars.
4 am – Both police cars go around to the lobby and the officers get out and go inside. The one officer is standing in the doorway and keeps looking out into the lot.
4:05 am – Kate emerges alone from the hotel followed by the police officer who was pulling her suitcase across the lot for her, believe it or not. She is wearing her pink newsboy hat and is aware of my presence from the officers. She stares at me across the lot. I stare back through high-powered binoculars.
Right at the moment that Kate gets into her car, another police car pulls up along side of me, across the street from the hotel and up in the Olive Garden parking lot. He approaches me and
tells me that he knows who I am and there aren’t any problems. He just has to detain me while Kate gets escorted out of their jurisdiction.
You’re kidding me, right? I ask, and he tells me he just doing his job.
The police give her an escort out of the lot and up onto the highway where I begin to follow. She immediately gave it everything she had and was off to the races.
Jon and Kate Gosselin PA Reporting
August 2009
…1:30 pm – Kate and the two oldest come out of the house and walk to the garage where they get into the black Land Cruiser and start down the driveway. Paps are running for their cars and fans are all abuzz. Kate sits at the top of the driveway as a police cruiser pulls up to the gate and clears the area for her, yelling at people to move back. Kate now slowly drives down the driveway, pushing buttons on her phone or some other device while she’s driving. She stops next to the policeman and I can hear her yell “Thank You” out the window to him and then they chat for about 30 seconds. He follows her down the road and then comes back and now he’s screaming mad. Apparently a new paparazzo was taking his picture helping Kate out of the gate and he caught him and he was livid and screaming at the ‘senior’ pap. He yells “I don’t mean to take it out on you but this is getting very old!!!” The officer gets in his car and sits in the driveway for awhile. I went to talk to him and he was fuming that this guy was sneaking pictures of him.
Jon and Kate Gosselin PA Reporting
November 2009
… At 7:20 am, Steve left the property in his SUV. He just looked at me. He didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure if Kate was stuffed in the back somewhere and they were sneaking out to hit the Black Friday sales but I didn’t think Kate would let herself be seen out shopping locally banging elbows with the large crowds of regular people.
A nanny came to the house at 8:55 am to start her crossover shift as Kate is leaving and Jon is set to return sometime today.
Kate loaded up her bags and left the house in her Land Cruiser at 9:30 am. The Neilds were still inside minus Steve who was out somewhere.
… Kate went to Dunkin Donuts first and then drove to the UPS store. When she got into the parking lot, there was a police car parked near where she parks at the store. She rolled up to him and they talked out of the window for a few minutes, then went around the side of the building in their cars and talked for a few minutes more. The paps backed off and watched from across the parking lot and across the street. Kate started leaving the lot – she didn’t go in UPS – and the police car was following her. When she got out of the lot to the intersection, the police car stopped and held up traffic including the paps while a second police car had traffic to the on ramp blocked from the other direction. The paps were held back for about two minutes before they were allowed to follow.
The paps drove all the way to the Park City Mall in Lancaster and looked for her there but couldn’t find her. That’s the direction that she goes when she leaves town but we haven’t been able to figure out where she stays when not at home.
Steve came back to the house at 9:45 am, fifteen minutes after Kate left, and picked up his family and loaded up their things and left. That was it for the visit. It was a very well organized getaway for Kate. Well planned.
Jon and Kate Gosselin PA Reporting
December 2009
… We slowly crept along the country roads until we got to the main roads where she was free to be herself and speed. She led me into the shopping center with the UPS store and she parked out front, illegally under the no parking sign and facing in the wrong direction. I stopped close by to observe. I could see that the UPS store was closed and I could also see that she was turned completely around in her seat staring at me through the back window as she was talking on the phone. I knew what was coming and I was on the phone with the pap at the time, and within ten minutes a Spring Township police officer pulled into the parking lot and parked right behind her. Kate got out and walked back to talk to him. This was a repeat of the last time she left town mysteriously and had the police block the paps in the lot so she could escape. I anticipated her next move and drove out of the lot and across the highway and got on Rt. 222 heading toward Lancaster. As I was leaving the lot I could see in my rearview mirror that Kate was driving now with the policeman following right behind her.
I just started driving and within a minute I saw Kate and the officer coming behind me. I stayed at the speed limit because I knew this guy would be looking for any reason to pull me over. As Kate passed me, she kept her eyes straight ahead. She didn’t look at me or smile or anything like that. Just drove past. The policeman looked me up and down as he passed me and all I could do was follow now. The policeman drove 55 with me behind him but Kate was allowed to pull away at high speed. He stayed on the highway for about two miles till he was well past his jurisdiction, and then he pulled onto the center divider and headed back. By this time Kate was about a mile ahead of me and I knew I had my work cut out for me. She’s almost impossible for me to follow if I start out right behind her but with a mile head start forget it. I went the next thirty-five miles on the highway going between 85 and 95 mph and never was able to catch up to her. The only place she could have gone that would allow me to find her would be the Park City Mall but I drove the parking lot three times and couldn’t find her. The mall was the end of the line for the chase and Kate successfully got away from us again with the help of the police.
Jon and Kate Gosselin PA Reporting
February 2010
… She left the property and again was driving very fast over the highway and toward her UPS store. When she pulled in there was already a Spring Township policeman sitting there waiting for her so the paps took off across the highway. She stayed there for about ten minutes talking to the policeman before getting on 222 heading toward Lancaster. The policeman drove next to me so I wasn’t able to follow Kate but the paps were up ahead waiting for her. Kate sped off at blinding speed, right in front of the police as I was left behind. When the policeman got to the end of his jurisdiction he pulled off and I joined in the chase, already several miles behind.
No wonder Kate acts like she’s above the law. Apparently, she is.
HIGH-SPEED PURSUIT
“When it is my time, the time that God has chosen to take me,
I will go no matter what!!!! There is no changing His plans for me.
It all comes back to the fact that He is in charge and in control, not me!!!!
And actually, that is comforting to me!”
– Kate Gosselin
Kate Gosselin is a dangerous driver. I know this because I have witnessed her doing all of these dangerous things:
Driving the wrong way on a one-way street through a residential neighborhood.
Driving with no headlights at night.
Driving at very high speeds.
Swerving across three lanes of traffic to exit…at high speeds.
Making U-turns across two lanes of traffic.
Speeding through residential neighborhoods.
Running stop signs.
Running red lights.
Driving while talking on the phone and drinking coffee. With her kids in car.
Some will excuse Kate’s dangerous driving by blaming it on the horrible paparazzi that were following her to see where she was going or to photograph what she was doing. That is a terrible excuse. The paparazzi’s presence may have annoyed her, but being irritated was no reason to put herself or her children in danger. There was nothing forcing her to drive so carelessly. Also, Kate’s dangerous driving did not only occur when she was being followed.
One of my greatest fears for the Gosselins is that this story is going to end in tragedy – for one or more of the kids – because of Kate’s driving and her belief that God has a time in mind for her and everyone else to die, and that time and place is predetermined. If she believes she can do nothing to alter that plan, she will continue to think nothing
of driving erratically at speeds over 100 mph – with kids in the car – while talking on her cell phone. The phone is always in her hand when she’s driving, as is her coffee cup. I have seen her driving at very high speeds while talking on her phone with her left hand and holding a coffee and the steering wheel with her right hand.
100 MPH + Cell Phone + Coffee + Children screaming = DISASTER
Kate drives in and out of traffic at high speeds, switching lanes and cutting other drivers off without signaling. She has driven at night without headlights to lose the paparazzi. Worst of all, she speeds through residential neighborhoods where other people’s children are outside playing, sometimes driving the wrong way on a tight one-way street. I have seen it many times. Back when there was still interest in Kate Gosselin, that maneuver was always her sure-fire way to lose anyone following her because she knew that the paps would back off when she hit the neighborhoods. Nobody wanted to be responsible for helping Kate injure or kill herself, her children, or anyone else.
I have taken photos and video through the windshield of my car, and the paps have done so as well, showing the speedometer along with Kate’s car in view in front of me – driving in excess of 100 mph, often just to get to the post office or tanning salon.
The paparazzi, which she says she hates so much, were even concerned about her driving habits and couldn’t understand why she would take such risks. When I was in Las Vegas with Jon, one of the paps called to tell me to please pass on to Jon that they had followed Kate at 110 mph that day with three of the sextuplets in the car. They didn’t report her or release their video. They only wanted me to tell Jon so that maybe he could talk to her about it. When even the aggressive, low-life paparazzi are concerned for you, you have a problem. Even they know when to back off and be safe.
KATE GOSSELIN: HOW SHE FOOLED THE WORLD - THE RISE AND FALL OF A REALITY TV QUEEN Page 50
