Credit: Shutterstock/ Kathy Hutchins, Instagram
While Jon & Kate Plus 8 has been off the air since 2009, the show is getting a lot of attention again as their son Collin recently released a book entitled In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood.
In it, Collin, 22, accuses his mother, Kate, 51, of psychological and physical abuse. He also dwells on being institutionalized on his 11th birthday, and he alleges that claims Kate made that he was suffering from severe psychological issues were later contradicted.
On a recent TikTok Kate posted, she responded to fans about Collin’s statements, and she made some serious accusations against her son.
One of the things Collin had said about Kate was that she only visited him once while she had him institutionalized.
A fan seemed to come to her defense, claiming that the facility restricts/bans visits, especially if a patient is showing aggression.
“Thank you for your report from the same facility that he was in and for giving some insight into it,” Kate replied. “No one wants to believe me about restricted calls and visitation. I’m glad they helped you and that you acknowledge that!”
When another person said they were a nurse at a similar facility and visits with family wouldn’t be banned for behavior, Kate questioned if they were a nurse at Collin’s facility when he was there, stating she wouldn’t know if she wasn’t.
“I doubt that he will or has released all 7,750 UNREDACTED pages of his medical record from the first facility alone, and due to HIPAA and the fact that he is now an adult, I will not be releasing it,” Kate wrote in another comment. “But suffice it to say that all of this information you are discussing is contained in there. Maybe ask him to release his complete and unredacted medical record from both facilities so you can see it for yourself?”
She also noted there is “so much documentation about his violent and dangerous behavior that he does not want you to know about.”
Kate went on to insist she’s not “cherry-picking anything” in another comment.
“I’m providing facts in response to his continued allegations of child abuse and mistreatment,” she said. “Everything I am saying can be backed up by solid evidence – photographic, document and witness accounts. There will be a time and place that I will provide that. This is not it.”
She also alleged that all of the treatments Collin received and the measures she put into place at home were done with the “ultimate goal of keeping him, his siblings, our pets, myself and those around us SAFE and thankfully I achieved that.”
“Because he’s cherry-picking – he’s releasing only segments of his medical record etc that make him make me look bad while also withholding all of his horrific and dangerous behaviors,” she added in another post. “Makes me look like I was mistreating him when I was actually trying to keep him, his brothers and sisters, myself and our pets SAFE.”
While Collin has been estranged from Kate since 2020, he has a relationship with his dad, Jon Gosselin.
Jon, 49, is estranged from six of his eight children, and in the wake of all of the news surrounding Collin, he shared a message to the children he doesn’t currently have a relationship with.
“I hope you understand that I still love you,” he said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “I hope one day you reach out to me.”
“And please read your brother’s book because I think that will explain a lot. Be your own person. You are all adults now,” he added, insisting he wants to speak to his children.