Jon Gosselin Says Netflix Documentary Will ‘Fill in Major Gaps in Timeline’
Jon Gosselin says Netflix’s upcoming documentary about his family’s reality TV show will give people a better idea about what really happened behind-the-scenes of Jon & Kate Plus 8, as well as answering questions about why he did not step in to protect his son, Collin Gosselin, from his mother Kate Gosselin’s alleged abuse.
Jon Gosselin says Collin’s abuse ‘happened way after I left’
“The abuse that Colin went under happened way after I left. So you have to look at timeline here. I got divorced. He was like four years old. I was fighting for him,” the dad of eight said during an October 21 appearance on Entertainment Tonight.
“I did film a Netflix doc along with Hannah and Collin and a few other key people. That will also fill in major gaps in timeline,” he added.
Netflix announced on Wednesday that production was underway on a documentary film about the long-lasting effects of Jon & Kate Plus 8 (renamed Kate Plus 8 after the Gosselins divorced in 2009.)
The movie will untangle “the story of what came next for the Gosselin family, featuring interviews with Jon Gosselin, Collin Gosselin, and Hannah Gosselin.”
“In the years following the Gosselins’ TV stardom, conflicting accounts have emerged from within the family itself — competing memories of the same childhood, home, and time in the spotlight,” reads Tudum’s description of the as-yet untitled film. “The new documentary pieces together the story from the perspectives of the children who grew up on camera, the adults who built a brand around them, and the audience that couldn’t look away.”
Collin Gosselin ‘is not mentally ill,’ his father says
In the meantime, people can get Collin’s side of the story in his new book, In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood.
In the memoir, Collin, now 22, describes growing up on television as one of a set of sextuplets. (He also has two older twin sisters.) While the show portrayed a fun, joyful family headed by loving, if occasionally overwhelmed parents, the truth was far darker. Collin says he and his siblings were forced to perform for the cameras, and when he began to push back against filming, he was punished and isolated from his siblings. Eventually, his mother kept him in an isolated cell in the basement, he claims, before finally having him institutionalized at age 11. He spent 22 months in a facility before he finally got a message to his father, who was able to step in and regain custody of his son, as well as Collin’s sister Hannah.
In previous statements, Kate has denied abusing her son, and in a recent TikTok comment, she suggested his account of his childhood was the product of mental illness. Jon told ET that his son’s mental health is fine.
“She needs to stop,” he said. “He is not mentally ill.”
How to get help: Call the Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 to speak to a counselor or live chat with professional counselors at www.childhelphotline.org. Visit childwelfare.org to find out more about how to report child abuse in your state.
For more news and exclusive interviews, follow Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s Instagram.
