Former TLC Star Kate Gosselin Reacts to Son Collin Gosselin’s Tell-All Memoir: ‘Mental Illness’
Kate Gosselin is reacting to her son Collin Gosselin’s new tell-all memoir.
Collin’s book, In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood, hit store shelves this week. In it, he describes what it was like to grow up in the public eye as part of the cast of TLC’s hit series, Jon & Kate Plus 8. He also opens up about the physical, verbal, and emotional abuse he says he suffered at the hands of his mother.
Kate Gosselin comments on Collin Gosselin’s book
As Collin, 22, has revealed more details about his dysfunctional childhood, Kate’s social media has been flooded with critical comments. But there are also some people who are taking her side.
“[Y]ou have the support of so many … it should be illegal to defame someone that way but I just wanted to say you are doing a great job keeping your head up through all of this,” one person commented on a TikTok Kate, 52, posted on October 10.
“Thank you so much,” Kate replied. “I know rational logical ppl or anyone who has dealt with mental illness understands what’s going on here :).”
In another comment, Kate appeared to defend her decision to have her son institutionalized at age 11 for what she has said were severe behavioral issues.
“Exactly! I had nothing to do with it, except for consent because it was medically necessary,” she wrote.
Collin remained in a treatment facility until he was 14, when his father, Jon Gosselin, obtained custody.
‘Jon & Kate Plus 8’ star called her estranged son ‘very troubled’
Kate and her son have been estranged for years and have not seen each other since he was 12 years old. But she has continued to insist that he is not mentally well. When he first made allegations of abuse against her in 2023, she said that he’d “received multiple psychiatric diagnoses” and that she’d placed him in a facility “for the safety of myself, his brothers and sisters and for his own well-being.” (Kate was awarded sole custody of Collin when she divorced Jon in 2009.)
“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 claimed in a lengthy Instagram statement. Kate went on to allege that Collin continued to be violent and unpredictable.
“Collin’s distorted perception of reality is one of the many issues that he has always struggled with,” she wrote. “As many people who have family members grappling with mental health issues can attest, it is rarely and sadly surprising when complete fabrications occur, and this is just another heartbreaking facet of this fight.”
“Unfortunately, I believe Collin remains a very troubled young man who continues to need a lot of help,” the Kate Plus Date star added. “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.”
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