KATE GOSSELIN: HOW SHE FOOLED THE WORLD - THE RISE AND FALL OF A REALITY TV QUEEN (34 page)

CAMPING EQUIPMENT

On May 20, 2009
, at 2:04 PM, good old Joni from Discovery sent an email telling Jon and Kate to be on the lookout for free camping equipment that was being delivered to their home for filming of the backyard campout episode. Joni said she wanted to give them a heads up that the camping equipment was headed their way via their Sinking Spring address.

“Jonathan – I am so very thankful for you.

Thanks for taking care of me, loving me and for

brightening my day each & every day. And especially thanks

for helping me and working together with me so we can be

a successful team … at least until we’re 100! :)

Thanks (ahead of time) for taking me to Hawaii and marrying me! :)

I love you so much!”

– Me

In looking at Kate’s writings, it would appear that Kate at one time really did love Jon, and Jon really did love Kate. Kate was still speaking lovingly about Jon in her journal as late as July 2007. Kate has said repeatedly that the filming of her family for the television show had nothing to do with their marriage falling apart, and ultimately ending, but it seems that the love stopped right around the time that the filming started.

In Kate’s journal she wrote that Sidney Portiere quoted his father as saying that “the measure of a man is how well he takes care of his children’ and that made her think of Jon!

Kate said about Jon in
Multiple Blessings
that it struck her as very impressive how he was capable of bathing, feeding, swaddling, diapering, dressing and entertaining to infants all day long and then going to work all night.

In
Eight Little Faces
, Kate wrote about Jon that he is her balance, her strength and her stability.

So what happened that got them to this point, when Kate said this to Jon? “I am not going away so you can either do the stuff I ask or live miserably!

As soon as Jon finally stood up to Kate and refused to participate in taking money from well-meaning people at church speaking engagements, the marriage was over. The moment he wanted the filming to stop, Kate no longer had a need for him. She came to view him as an enemy who threatened to destroy the rich dream world she had so carefully built.

THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT

Back in late 2007 to mid 2008, Jon went to Kate and said he wouldn’t be going along on any more speaking engagements at churches or conferences because he just couldn’t do it anymore. His conscience was eating at him (believe it or not). That’s when Kate told him that their marriage was over and that she wanted to live separate lives, except for filming the show. Kate gave Jon carte blanche to see other women and do whatever he wanted, as long as he was present and on time for filming. She told Jon that he could date whomever he wanted and do whatever he wanted on non-filming days, as long as he was in front of those cameras when the crew came to town. She used the words “open marriage” to Jon.

Kate’s brother and sister-in-law spoke about this arrangement and a “marriage contract” during interviews, but they were ridiculed and criticized as trying to cash in on Kate’s fame. I have never spoken to either of them, but here is what they said in their interviews.

“All we know is what Jon told us, that Kate came to him with a contract saying he could have girlfriends and that he can do his own thing. In exchange, Jon needs to show up for filming. But otherwise he has the freedom, certain days, to do whatever he wants.”

The actual “marriage contract” is a document that I would obviously love to get my hands on, but as of now, I haven’t seen it, so I can’t say for certain if it even exists at all. Jon told me about it as well, and described it to me, but again, I haven’t seen it. I’ll keep looking.

Kate wanted to continue to deceive the world by pretending that they were still one big happy family. Jon didn’t want that, and he begged Kate to go to marriage counseling, but in true Kate fashion, she told Jon that she didn’t want or need counseling of any kind. Jon told me on countless occasions that every time he suggested counseling to Kate, she told him “no.” She said, “If something is wrong with you, you should go and fix it.” Jon did go to counseling and therapy to try to “fix” himself. He spent a small fortune on it. I can prove this because I have copies of the invoices from the counseling sessions.

The marriage of Jon and Kate was over well before they ever moved into their new $1.3 million dollar house on Heffner Road. The house appealed to them because of the apartment above the garage. Jon’s apartment. Jon never even got to sleep in the master bedroom.

It is impossible to know how long this scheme to deceive the viewers would have continued had it not been for the
U
S
Weekly
cover of Jon and Deanna Hummel. Kate and Discovery were prepared to ride this wave of lies all the way to the bank for as long as they possibly could.

DISCOVERY BACKED KATE FROM DAY ONE

There were 34 different T-shirt ideas designed to promote
Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht.
One pictured Kate’s glowing, smiling face with the tagline “Kate Is My Role Model”.

That slogan sounds about right coming from the company that brought us such heart-warming characters as Lori, who sleeps with her blow dryer; Kesha, who eats toilet paper; Rhonda, the thumb sucker; Crystal, who eats household cleanser; Tempesst, who eats detergent and soap; Haley, who pulls out her own hair and eats the follicles; Lauren, who runs around wearing a fur rabbit suit; Davecat, who has a silicon wife; Rachel, the compulsive scab picker; Nathaniel, who has sex with his car; and my favorite, Adele, who eats couch cushions.

TLC: The Learning Channel. TLC: the network that brought us toddlers wearing Madonna-like cone bras, polygamists, midgets, circus freaks, hoarders, and yes – Kate Gosselin.

So out of 34 T-shirt designs, you would think that, if there were several for Kate alone, there would be at least one shirt devoted solely to Jon. This would not be the case, of course, if Discovery knew from the beginning that Kate was their girl and Jon was just a fringe necessity.

The first sign that Discovery was hooking their wagon to Kate dates back to the very first Discovery contract signed by Jon and Kate for the first season of
Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht
. It’s an early “red line” version of the contract; the one where they make changes. Kate has always been in control of the family “business,” and she was the negotiator for the family during this first contract signing.

Clause 3 dealing with “Compensation” on the rough draft
says that all compensation payable to the Gosselin family for their services shall be made payable to
Jon and
Kate Gosselin.

It is very interesting and telling that Jon’s name was scratched out on the compensation part of the contract, leaving Kate to control the family fortune. Was this just a minor detail, or was it something that foretold things to come between Kate Gosselin and Discovery Talent Services, LLC?

Clause 8
,
Representations and Warranties; Indemnity
, of Exhibit A, STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS, of the contract, read “Company hereby agrees to at all times defend and indemnify
Family
from any and all claims, damages, or other liabilities …” It would have been more accurate if the name “Kate Gosselin” rather than “Family” had been inserted there instead.

In 2009, once Kate and Discovery decided Jon was a “liability,” they went into a full-court press to “defend and indemnify” Kate from Jon’s claims, as well as those from the media and viewing public.

Jon wanted the show to stop to save his children, or for whatever other reason he may have had in his head at the time. It was well within his right as a parent to stop the filming; that had been agreed upon from the very beginning. Even Kate confirmed this many times. She said, “If either parent wants the filming to stop, then the filming would stop. Period.”

Still, Jon went along with Kate’s plan for awhile, as he had done so many times before. He laid low for a few months, but he couldn’t deal with the kids filming anymore. That’s when it hit him. “It’s right there in the contract,” he thought, under the heading “Termination.” Jon would get the show stopped indirectly, by his actions.
The Termination clause of the contract included wording that said that Discovery could terminate his contract for making disparaging remarks about the program, insubordination, dishonesty, intoxication or failure to perform services or for failure to conduct himself with due regard to social conventions or public morals or decency, or for actions that bring family into public disrepute, contempt, scandal or ridicule.

Reading that one clause, it would appear that Jon had clearly violated the terms of the Agreement. Jon had made disparaging remarks about the Program, Company and/or Producer. He was insubordinate in that he didn’t show up to film his interviews when he was scheduled to do so. He was at times dishonest and intoxicated. He didn’t always conduct himself with “due regard to social conventions or public morals or decency” (whatever that even means).

It would appear that Jon did everything he could to get this show stopped long before he tweeted the following in October 2010 about the show doing harm to his children:

“Due to the overwhelming amount of questions, statements, false statements in the media, I would like to clarify a few things.

“First and foremost, for people who did not watch
Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht
, I stated years ago, and on television, that I no longer wanted to film and wanted my privacy back. This is not a decision I made lightly or without weighing all the factors involved.

“The negative effects on my family was my greatest concern and far outweigh any monetary gain we received. Today, my children are much older than when we first started. They are acutely aware their life is markedly different from their peers.

“They are six, and ten, and have to deal with paparazzi! They can’t visit a public place without a crowd gathering or people snapping pictures with cell phones.

“Whether the children want to film or not is completely irrelevant.

“Children rely on the guidance of the adults to ensure their best interest. Left to their own most children would not eat properly, visit the dentist, or complete homework. Do you think a child would choose a day on the beach instead of school?

“Is this the best thing for them? Is it the child’s decision to make? Of course not.

“I am acutely aware of the mistakes I made in 2009 and I am ashamed of the choices I made. I have apologized to Kate, my family, and to my friends. Through counseling I have learned to own my actions. My goal is to move forward in a positive direction.

“Lastly, my children have experienced a lot of life changes in a short period of time; new home, new school, parents divorced, increased media attention, and much more.