KATE GOSSELIN: HOW SHE FOOLED THE WORLD - THE RISE AND FALL OF A REALITY TV QUEEN (29 page)

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 Agenc
  y) 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 p
  er 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 college 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.

“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.

Originally, reports surfaced that the family was being paid $75,000 per episode for Season 5, which was the season being filmed when I started reporting about the family.

An online search for the actual amount of compensation turned up the following dizzying array of figures:

“Jon Gosselin confirmed the family was paid $22,500 per episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8.”

“CNN reports that the Gosselins are paid approximately $50,000-$75,000 per episode.”

“Matt Lauer of the Today show reported the family is paid $25,000-$50,000 per episode.”

“The Gosselins make up to $75,000 per episode on their TLC hit.”

“$70,000 per episode.”

“The correct answer is $75,000 per episode.”

“They make appearances on TV shows and talk shows for about $1,000-$2,000.”

“Depending on the show, anywhere from $5,000-$40,000 per episode.”

“$60,000-$90,000 per show.”

“They make $45,000-$65,000 per season.”

“$65,000 an episode.”

“Some sources have said $5,000-$65,000 per episode.””

“The Gosselins make $75,000 per episode. So that figures between three million and four million per season.”

“In previous seasons, Jon and Kate were paid $40,000 per episode or about $1.48 million per season (about $3 million per year).”

“It is estimated between $25,000 and $50,000 per episode.”

It turns out the Gosselins were not making as much as a lot of people thought – at least not from just filming the show. After investigating further, I was told that the figure was actually about $22,000 per episode, much lower than the $75,000 amount originally reported.