Jon Gosselin accuses Kate of 'mental abuse,' 'parent alienation': 'We don’t talk'
Jon Gosselin's interview with Dr. Oz aired Monday and he didn't hold back when discussing ex-wife, Kate Gosselin. Appearing on The Dr. Oz Show, the 42-year-old former reality star said there's no hope of co-parenting with Kate and accused her of mentally abusing their eight children: 19-year-old twins Madelyn and Cara, and 15-year-old sextuplets Collin, Hannah, Joel, Alexis, Leah, and Aaden.
"We don't have a relationship right now. We don't talk, nothing. It's very nothing," Jon said. "The only time I see my ex-wife is in court because we have exhausted all opportunities to co-parent. It's just never going to happen due to personality disorders and everything else."
As for the "personality disorders" dig, Jon accused Kate of having "a narcissistic personality disorder." (Yahoo Entertainment cannot confirm that diagnosis.)
"I think she tends to think more on her level selfishly instead of for others," he claimed.
Yahoo Entertainment reached out to both TLC and Kate Gosselin for comment on the various claims made by Jon in the interview but did not receive responses.
The Gosselins starred on five seasons of TLC's popular Jon & Kate Plus 8 before announcing their separation in 2009. At the height of the show's popularity, it was reportedly attracting 10 million viewers per week. Jon said it was his choice to walk away as he was worried about the well-being of their children, a decision he claims caused Kate to ask for a divorce "out of the blue."
"Kate wanted the divorce," he said. "She did not want to be married anymore... because I didn't want to film anymore. I wasn't part of the business model anymore."
He continued, "She was like, 'I am done, I don't want this anymore. You don't want to film.' ... The network thought I was nuts. They actually hired me a therapist and a psychiatrist and psych-evaled me. Because I would give up millions of dollars not to film and just go live a normal life."
Jon alleged at one point Jon & Kate Plus 8 was bringing in "$186 million a quarter" for the network, which is owned by Discovery. "They sued me for breach of contract," he revealed. "I pretty much bankrupted myself, but I did it for moral reasons, obviously."
Jon, who now works as an IT Specialist, said he "spent $1.7 million in lawyers fees" between TLC's lawsuit and his divorce.
"Kate, on the other hand, TLC paid for her attorneys in the lawsuit and for her divorce," he alleged. "I was financed by myself and she was financed by the network. I did not understand at first why, but now I understand why. All she wanted was legal custody to film my kids, sustain her lifestyle and their lifestyle."
Kate and the children starred in the TLC spinoff Kate Plus 8 from 2010 to 2016. She also starred in this year's Kate Plus Date. Dr. Oz asked Jon if believes Kate is an "unfit mother."
"I believe that her belief system is skewed, that is what I believe," Jon replied. "I believe her intentions, in the beginning, were good intentions, bringing kids into the world. She fought to have these kids. But I think once fame and money got involved, it twisted her belief system. On my end, I've been fighting to get my kids off TV forever."
Jon brought up his son Collin, whom he claims Kate sent to live at a special needs facility despite having no special needs diagnosis.
"Kate institutionalized him without a diagnosis and then created a diagnosis," he alleged. "I pulled him out of the institution. He was wrongfully institutionalized. He did not need to be in an institution. Just because he was a difficult child did not mean he needed to be sent away against my will, against my rights. I did not know where he went. It took me two and a half years to find him. It took me another year to get him out."
"Jon, how's that possible you did not know where your son was? You had custody over these children," Dr. Oz asked.
"I had physical custody and not legal at the time," Jon replied. "The only way I knew where Collin was is Collin wrote a letter and his roommate smuggled it out."
The supposed escape letter, hand-written in crayon, was flashed on the screen. Jon said he eventually got access to the special needs facility where he saw Collin for the first time in three years.
"He was different," Jon said. "He was all doped up. He weighed 75 pounds more than what you see now because he was tranquilized most of the time."
Collin is "doing great" now, according to Jon, and is in the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC). Jon's daughter Hannah is also living with him full time.
Dr. Oz asked why he has ruled out any possibility of co-parenting with Kate.
"Because my kids will be adults in two years," Jon explained. "I think once that mindset's set, now you're going to move more into a more therapeutic role. We all go to family therapy because I have to re-parent my kids because there is a lot of stuff that happened abuse-wise, mental and physical. Even though they're 15, they might be like 12 mentally."
"What was the abuse in your mind that hurt them the most?" Dr. Oz asked.
"The mental abuse, the parent alienation," he replied. "Just the putdowns. Isolation is a huge one. I make them join clubs and go to dances and football games and all this stuff."
At one point during the interview, Jon was asked if he thinks he and Kate would still be together if it weren't for their reality show.
"I think eventually, because of personality, it would have fizzled out anyway," Jon replied. "You just don't know."
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