KATE GOSSELIN: HOW SHE FOOLED THE WORLD - THE RISE AND FALL OF A REALITY TV QUEEN (76 page)

After reading Kate’s journal, it is also apparent that Steve is an enabler, and his silence while Kate abuses her little children is unconscionable. In my opinion, he is complicit with Kate and has demonstrated his lack of class and lack of integrity by not coming forward to help those children.

So why would Steve Neild remain silent about Kate’s treatment of the kids, and even lie for her on television? Here’s a thought: for the money. And not just the $800 a day plus expenses money.

THE TRUST FUND

In the summer of 2009, Kate started removing large amounts of money from the Gosselin’s joint bank accounts to protect or hide it during the upcoming divorce battle with Jon. She didn’t open a bank account under her name to keep the money safe until things were worked out in the courts. Instead, she did the next most logical thing she could think of, and what most people in her shoes would probably do. She took the family’s money and put it into a trust fund, so if something happened to herself or Jon, the children would be taken care of financially. That makes sense.

That is where logic ends and things get interesting when considering who Kate chose to be the family trustee. The trustee is the person who would make financial decisions for her children about the millions of dollars she had from all their hard work. The person Kate chose for that important duty was Steve Neild. The bodyguard. The family friend who silently stands by Kate hiding her lies and her secrets. The friend who turns a blind eye while she abuses her children.

The trust fund is real. Kate
was asked to produce documentation about it during the divorce proceedings. Kate’s best friends Beth and Bob Carson were the co-Trustees of the original Gosselin family trust fund, but after they were banished from the Gosselin’s lives, the next best choice was, of course, the hired family bodyguard.

Jon’s divorce attorney, Charlie Meyer, sent
emails about the trust fund to Kate’s attorney, Cheryl Young. At the very least, the emails confirm that there is a new trust fund that Jon didn’t have access to, and it was a concern to him. After all, it was Jon’s money, as well, from those years of filming.

Charlie said that when Kate returns, they were going to need access quickly to the following documents because Jon did not have any of them:

1.  Trust Documents and financial records for the trusts

2.  Formation documents and records for JKIG

3. 
Business and personal bank and other account statements

4.  All contracts other than the TLC documents
they already had.

5.  Tax Returns

Charlie sent another email to Cheryl Young c
onfirming their brief call. He reminded Cheryl that she had told him earlier that day that Kate had moved money because she was upset about Jon’s spending, including his purchase of a $40,000 car (which really was $32,000). Charlie said it was Jon’s understanding that Kate was going out that day to purchase a car, and Charlie could not understand how Kate could rationalize that action.

TRAVELS WITH
STEVE

Only time will tell what was really going on between Kate and Steve, and how his presence affected Kate and Jon’s marriage. It could have been a cleverly orchestrated ruse by Discovery to keep some interest and mystery alive while the show’s ratings continued to plummet. After all, starting with the first episode of
Kate Plus Ei8ht,
there was Steve, front and center on the interview couch yapping away. Then in the “Alaska Episode” of
Kate Plus Ei8ht
, when they were panning for gold with the kids, Steve gave Aaden a gold ring to bring to Kate to tell her that he found it in the stream. It seemed like a shabbily contrived effort to get people talking and wondering about what it meant.

Another thing I found strange about their relationship is the photographic evidence I came across during my research. I have seen hundreds and hundreds of pictures that Kate took with her iPhone and her own camera. During their family beach vacation to the Outer Banks in the summer of 2008, which was documented in the TLC episode, “Gosselins Head South,” there is no evidence that Steve Neild was even on that trip. The fact that he was there was well hidden from the viewing audience. But Kate’s photos tell a different story. She took many photos of Steve Neild alone, or Steve and the kids. But you know what? I did not find one single photo taken by Kate of Jon. Her husband. This was at a time when they were supposedly happily married.

Also, when Jon took Cara to Utah for a skiing vacation in January 2009, guess who else was there? That’s right. Steve Neild. Kate sent Steve along to keep an eye on Cara because she didn’t trust Jon. It seems an odd thing to do when Jon and Kate were supposedly still happily married at that time.

I read many, many emails back and forth from Pennsylvania to Utah, and there wasn’t one from Kate to Jon. Kate was emailing Cara at Jon’s email address, but she never
wrote so much as one word to Jon. She did, however, communicate constantly with Steve, asking questions about what he was doing and how Cara was.

On Jan 5, 2009, at 12:03 AM, Steve wrote to Kate
that he had dinner with Jon and Cara and the ski guy and his wife. He said that “Cars” was having a good time and was proud to show him all the ski trails she had done. He then told Kate that he had a meeting with Jeff and he would tell her all about it the next day. He signed the email “S”.

Kate replied that she couldn’t wait to hear about the meeting and that it was killing her that she couldn’t see Cara succeeding and enjoying the challenge. She told Steve she would talk to him later and let him know that she would have her phone with her all day to await updates.

Here are some other circumstances involving Steve. I have separated the different occurrences by spaces.

Producer Jen Stocks sent an email on the morning of May 20, 2008, asking Kate about going out to dinner after visiting “The NICU” and, if interested, whether Kate had any ideas where they could go. She told Kate they would like to film it. Early that evening, at 5:57 PM, Kate replied that it was possible, and suggested that they go to Applebees in Hershey, PA, because that restaurant had been very good to them. Kate told Jen to look into it and she would check with Jon. But Kate then added that they would only go “if we have Steve.” About 20 minutes later, at 6:18 PM, Jen replied to Kate with the bad news that they didn’t have Steve for Friday, just Sunday and Monday, so they would skip shooting dinner.

Kate made a snippy comment about it being an example of “let’s do what’s easiest!” all because her bodyguard and rumored love interest could not join them. There were several other bodyguards available, but Kate needed Steve there.

On May 12, 2008, Steve sent an email to Jon and Kate to let them know that he would not be sending them a security invoice for being with them the day before. He said that they all had a great time and that his security services should be considered a birthday present for the kids and a Mother’s Day present for Kate. Steve thanked them very much for getting lunch and said he appreciated it. The signature line on the email said Steven K. Neild, Executive Vice President Prudential Associates.

Kate was so overwhelmed with gratitude that Steve had so generously waived his exorbitant fee for an evening that she fell all over herself gushing her thanks. “Oh Steve …. Are you sure? Thank you so much.” She told him that they had also enjoyed lunch, and that it was the least they could do.

Kate sent a note to Julie May to let her know that the dates for the San Diego trip were March 12-17, not March 13-17. She sounded
pretty excited when she told Julie that the “Parkesburg event” had been changed to “Kate and Steve”. She told Julie that the contract for the Ontario event was signed, sealed and delivered, and expressed great excitement about going on her first out-of-country event. She did not express a hint of sadness about being away from her family.

Before they left for their trip to Charleston, South Carolina, Kate emailed Steve a list of TEN restaurant options for Asian cuisine and included their phone numbers and web addresses. This sounds like perfectly normal behavior between a bodyguard and his client.

Kate emailed Angela from Zondervan to make sure that Steve would be comfortable on their upcoming trip to Charleston on January 12 to January 17. She asked Angela if the hotel had a conference room where they could write, and she wanted Steve to be able to check in and out, or hang out there if he wanted without feeling uncomfortable.

Kate sent Julie May an email about making a plastic surgery consultation for her “dent leg” sometime in the middle of February. She said she would be in Nyack, New York, an “affluent area” about 45 minutes outside of the city and asked Julie if they should “throw it out to Karen/Angela” about planning a book signing while she was up there. Kate said she would cover the expense of Steve traveling with her the day of her appointment if “they” would cover the hotel and car service home. She asked Julie whether it was worth asking. Kate also told Julie that it would make her feel better about traveling 4 hours by car for a 1-hour doctor’s appointment.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

These are partial excerpts taken from my
U
S
Weekly
reporting:

Jon & Kate Gosselin PA Reporting

Kate & Steve General Reporting

• Kate and Steve spent six days together in Charleston, SC to write book Three.
  
• Kate and Steve spent six days together in San Diego, CA. Only two of those days was Steve paid for by TLC. Kate paid for the rest.
  
• Thanksgiving 2008 was the first holiday that Steve spent with the Gosselins.
  
• Jon never confronted Steve about his suspicions but Steve accused Jon of spreading lies to Gosselin bloggers, Kevin and Jodi Kreider.
  

This was handwritten by Kate and circled with a big heart on her calendar:

Leave for S.D. here

Kate, Mady & Steve

An arrow went from March 13-18 of 2009. This text was below that, also in Kate’s writing:

TLC-SD