Although they’ve been off the air for a long time, the Gosselins of Jon & Kate Plus 8 fame are back in the news, and it’s messy. Recently, Jon Gosselin and two of the sextuplets, Hannah and Collin, participated in a Vice TV’s Dark Side of the 2000s episode. In that episode, they made some accusations against their mom, Jon’s ex, Kate Gosselin, and now she’s throwing her perspective into the mix.
Collin lives with his dad, along with one of his siblings, Hannah.
Over the past few months, Collin’s been speaking out about his mom’s alleged treatment of him, which he claims was "abusive."
Collin said in the Vice episode that he feels he was unfairly treated by his mom, saying he was a “scapegoat” for her “abuse” after she divorced his dad.
"I mean, a divorce and plenty of different things that can't be easy to go through," he said. “And, you know, I want to think that she needed someone to take out her anger and frustration on, and it was just kind of me.”
Hannah backed up his story, saying he was separated from the other siblings.
“He would be separated from us,” Hannah claimed. “He would not get to come outside and play with us. He would eat dinner at different times than us.”
Collin also alleged that Kate had sent him to a psychiatric facility in a bid to silence his claims that she was abusive. And that she didn’t speak to him the whole time he was admitted, or after Jon was able to have him released (which he said cost him $1 million).
After the episode, Mady, one of Jon and Kate’s older twins, spoke out against her estranged brother.
"I never wanted to have to speak up about this in order to allow my brother the ability to live privately after the conclusion of our family's TV show, but I've been overwhelmed by hate messages in the last few days and I feel I must set the record straight," the Mady wrote on social media.
"I do not owe my allegiance to any person(s) who has physically threatened me and every member of my immediate family (some incidents as recent as last year). Further, I will never allow someone who has exhibited hateful and even violent behavior toward others based on their racial identity, gender identity, or religious beliefs to be in my life."
Now, Kate has shared her response to the claims, disputing the accusations made by Collin, Jon, and Hannah.
"I have never wanted to have to do this, but I feel I have been backed into a corner and left with no choice. Although it saddens me to do so, I need to speak out now," she told People.
"My son Collin, whom I love with all my heart, has received multiple psychiatric diagnoses over the years. For the safety of myself, his brothers and sisters and for his own well-being, he was placed in a facility following years of outpatient treatment which proved insufficient for his needs."
“The decision to admit him was made by emergency room doctors following one of his many attacks/outbursts — this one involving his use of a weapon,” she continued.
“Fast forward to the present day, and following Jon’s removal of Collin from treatment, my son’s unpredictable and violent behavior has sadly continued regularly towards Jon, Hannah and others around him.”
She claimed Collin has a 'distorted perception of reality' and that it’s 'one of the many issues that he has always struggled with.'
She said that “all measures that were taken in our home were at the explicit recommendation of his pediatric psychiatrist and/or his team of specialists and were put into place to safeguard every member of our family, our friends as well as our family pets.”
And things haven’t changed, Kate claims.
“Unfortunately, I believe Collin remains a very troubled young man who continues to need a lot of help,”
Kate’s statement wrote.
“His brothers and sisters and I have not been directly involved in his life due to his history of unpredictable behavior and violent tendencies towards us. What his sister Mady posted on social media recently is completely accurate and I deeply appreciate her bravery in doing so.”
Collin hasn’t responded to the statement from his estranged mom, but Jon has.
“Regarding these brand new false accusations, it seems clear that even today after not seeing her son since the 6th grade, Kate is unable to control her abusive words towards him,” Jon said in a statement.
“Do not forget that a judge awarded temporary sole legal and physical custody of Collin to his father in 2018. Kate never even showed up to court and never spoke to Collin ever again."
Jon added "At this point, Collin is training to be a Marine in order to serve his country and is unable to respond to his mother’s callous lies."
But people on social media were not on Kate’s side, based on the comments.
“So if your kid is going through mental health issues you just stop communicating with him and seeing him thinking that’s gonna help?” one person wrote.
“Sickening that you would tell this tale, it’s more for YOU and your son,” someone else responded. "Backed into a corner is a joke."
“Nothing you said justifies leaving your ‘troubled mental ill’ child without any visitations!” another wrote. “Collin only started to act out after the divorce when you wouldn’t even try to act civil and coparent with their father.”
“Victim blaming a 12 year old is wild," another criticized. "He’s in the marines, soo I doubt all those ‘disorders’ are even real. You brained washed his siblings to not even talk to him.”
