Kate Gosselin has finally spoken out, days after her estranged son Collin— as well as her daughter Hannah and ex Jon— accused her of abusing and isolating Collin and placing him in a psychiatric facility when he was 12 to cover it up.
Collin & Co.’s claims came during a “Gosselin”-themed episode of Dark Side of the 2000s, which premiered early this week. Although Kate and Jon’s daughter Mady Gosselin took to social media on Thursday to discuss some of Collin’s claims, Kate has stayed noticeably silent…until now.
On Friday, the Kate Plus 8 star used her long-abandoned Instagram account to respond to the claims made against her during the episode. (You can read all about those here.) She also doubled down on her initial claims that Collin has mental health issues, and backed up Mady’s statements from Thursday about Collin allegedly being violent with family members in the past.
Kate— who has had no relationship with Collin for many years– also claimed that she placed Collin in the residential facility when he was 12 after an attack that involved Collin using a weapon.
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“I have never wanted to have to do this but I feel I have been backed into a corner and left with no choice,” Kate’s statement on Instagram reads. “Although it saddens me to do so, I need to speak out now.
“My son Collin, whom I love with all my heart, has received multiple psychiatric diagnosis 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.”
Kate mentions that, in the time since Jon removed Collin from the residential treatment home, Collin has continued to be violent.
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“My son’s unpredictable and violent behaviors have sadly continued regularly towards Jon, Hannah and other around him,” Kate wrote, but did not provide examples. “Collin’s distorted perception of reality is one of the many issues that he has always struggled with.”
Kate called Collin’s “complete fabrications” heartbreaking.
“All measures that were taken in our home [regarding Collin] 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,” Kate added.
During his ‘Dark Side of the 2000s’ interview, Collin expressed his desire to reconnect with his siblings, as well as possibly Kate.
However, like Mady, Kate pointed to Collin’s alleged violent behavior as the reason she and his siblings have no contact with him.
“Unfortunately, I believe Collin remains a very troubled young man who continues to need a lot of help,” she 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.”
Kate claimed that what Mady posted on Instagram on Thursday— stating that Collin has threatened her and every family member in the past, with some instances occurring as recent as last year— was the truth.
“What his sister Mady posted on social media recently is completely accurate and I deeply appreciate her bravery in doing so,” she wrote.
Kate ended her statement by saying she would not be discussing the situation any further at this time.
While Kate may have expected her post to garner her some sympathy, it appears to have done just the opposite. The majority of the comments left on the post criticized the ‘Kate Plus 8’ star for her handling of Collin’s issues— and her post about it.
“So disgusting and sickening to throw a child under the bus like that using ‘mental health’ as an issue and as an excuse to abandon him,” one person wrote. “A mother should never talk about a child like that, let alone let the whole world in the alleged situation.”
“I’m actually rather shocked that a team would encourage you to just leave your son. As a licensed mental health professional, family participation in treatment is VITAL,” another person wrote. “It’s a huge part of the healing process and evidence based. So I’d be slightly concerned if your ‘team’ decided it was best to cut contact with your suffering child.”
“You just aired his personal information to the public,” another person wrote in the comments. “You have no business doing this and only added salt to the wound. Completely narcissistic. He is an adult now if HE wants the public to know this part he can share this but this is not your place to share this nor does it do anything to better the situation.”
UPDATE! Collin is reportedly at Basic Training, as he is joining the United States Marine Corp., but Jon responded to Kate’s claims—as well as Mady’s statement— in his own interview with ET on Friday.
“It took courage for Collin to sit down and speak about his past and the last thing I would have expected was more abuse to come his way from a sibling that hasn’t seen or spoken to him since he was in sixth grade,” Jon told ET.
“No child should have to endure the years of psychological and physical pain Kate put Collin through. Let alone the rejection from his own mother, or the false storyline created to alienate Collin from his siblings.
“Collin has grown into a wonderful man despite her abuse,” Jon added. “We love him and are both proud and excited to see him grow into a young U.S. Marine.”
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Jon went on to claim that Kate is spreading lies now to cover up for her poor behavior in the past.
“[Kate is posting cruel false accusations regarding Collin to “justify her inexcusable horrific past behavior toward him,” Jon said, before criticizing Kate for posting about Collin’s alleged actions on Instagram.
“True love for a child wouldn’t include a mother attacking their son to the public,” he said. “Collin had to be cleared by the Marines with a full background check including mental, physical and medical clearance through the U.S. Marine Corps. The government’s full diagnoses clearly reflects the truth.
“Do not forget that a judge awarded sole legal and physical custody of Collin to his father. Kate never even showed up to court and lost full custody of her own son,” Jon continued. “Regarding these brand new false accusations, it seems clear that even today after not seeing her son since the 6th grade, she is unable to control her abusive words towards him.”
“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.”
(Photos: Instagram; TLC)
I have been watching reruns of both series. OMG . Kates verbal abuse and antics have left me a nervous wreck after each episode!! I feel so sorry for the kids who had to endure her day to day behaviors. She was a lunatic mother to say the least. Have Jons kids persevered with this control freak “mother”. I hope all the kids can move forward without Kate “fallout”.
So I see someone saying that the miltary will take in anyone even wih menatl health issues and to look at true crime for proof… Maybe DECADES ago but I have had several friends try to get in the military and were denied because physical health/mental health related reasons, for the following: Flat footed and his ADHD (my ex husband), mental health history (My friend had been hospitalized twice in her youth for psychiatric reasons- Severe depression- and they denied her based on records and her own admission), a friend tried to go in specifically either the Marines or the Navy- can’t remember- but admitted they had done LSD and also ecstasy as a teen- denied, another friend had two DUI’s and tried to start over and went to enlist- denied because of the DUI’s and a charge he had as a juvenile, and my cousin was denied for- get this- eczema. Things have changed throughout the years and while the terms have tightened up over the years on mental health, some of the physical conditions that will disqualify you have relaxed. So, I really do not think they would let Collin in if he had SEVERE mental health issues- even as a kid. I also had a friend in the Navy that was a recruiter and they could “suggest” that those enlisting not disclose certain unfavorable information to get in, but it was a toss up if after enlisting that they would dig deeper into their records if they were unable to maintain their behavior, and were then discharged. I think Kate is just full of crap and she had maybe a challenging child but he has spoken about not wanting to be filmed and she alienated him from his siblings for a while and also beat him, so…? I think any child that withstands all of that would likely act out- especially with a mother like Kate who can’t be bothered with listening to her children, let alone respecting their wish not to be filmed. I think she was overwhelmed with the other children and just life in general and trying to stay on TV and the easiest method was to ship him off- and to those saying they insurance would have to cover it or she wouldn’t pay what it costed… Really? She had plenty of money to do that and I bet insurance covered part of it for a period of time. I can also say that as a mom with two boys with ADHD, the mental health doctors tend to go off what I say and not my sons. I’ve actually had to fight for them to listed to some of my sons concerns.
I work with the kids that are in psych holds and inpatient therapeutic treatment facilities. If Colin has extensive violence towards others in his past, the Marines wouldn’t have taken him. Typically when kids work with recruiters, they want them off their mood stabilizers and any stimulants before basic.
There’s a whole book on what exclusionary criteria exists for the military.
Why can’t you all just be happy for this young man? I believe he was abused and his mother has done a great job turning his family against him. She needs help!
Kate just made herself look even worse! Let’s lock away our troubled son. Out of sight. Out of mind. A real mother would stand by their child. Work with the Docters. What is this the 1920s?
I don’t what the truth is. But I do know that Kate hasn’t talked with Jon, Hannah, or Colin in years.
So her saying that Colin has been abusive to them is odd, since she has no proof of that.
The comment that says “some of us actually watched your show and know your personality” sums it up perfectly. Kate is an unfortunate mother, wife and human being, and it is all going to come home to roost eventually, with the other kids too. I imagine they all have mental health issues from how they were raised by that mother.
The idea of the institution is so people can get intensive therapy, and may be a danger to themselves and others so it’s best to have proper supervision. It’s not a dumping ground for your kid. You are meant to be apart of the therapy, have family sessions, and have communication with the person. The persons therapy alone and with the family members is meant to lead to the person being released, after doing healing as a family! I can’t believe she didn’t participate at all, and just left him there, and didn’t even want Jon to take him, I read that Jon had to take her to court to find out where he was but still didn’t find out, only found out when Collin sent him a letter.
Then she went to collin and Hannah’s graduation but reports said that she didn’t have anything to do with Collin or speak to him or get photos, was only there for Hannah. She’s disgusting, she shouldn’t be allowed to have children.
Kate needs mental help! She crazy!
If Collin have shown any type of violent toward his family member he will not be able to hide behind the Marines.because it will show it self with in time if he is violent.
This woman is just a POS that destroyed her family. Her kids will never have a a normal relationship after decades of manipulating them against one another and against their father. There’s a special place in hell for her
Kate and Casey Anthony should Thelma and Louise themselves and do us all a favor.
She is a vile and disgusting excuse of a “mother”. She’s already a fallen has been, but THIS should ensure that thi psycho never again sees Hollywood
The military shouldn’t be used as a gold standard in evaluating fitness for duty. The bar is low and often manipulated. My own brother has worked in recruiting and the things that would get (or be pushed) through surprised both of us.
Kate is super manipulative, which can be a sign of mental or personality disorders (that can be hereditary.) It is abhorrent that she abandoned the kid. In no way is it okay that she did that. There should be family involvement in treatment if there’s something there.
I think there’s a bit of truth in what both are saying but the situation is really awful and sad all around. Neither of those 2 are the parents those kids deserved.
Yes to all of this comment. Everyone is so busy hating Kate they don’t realize that Jon is also terrible. The military sure as hell will accept people with questionable mental health. Anyone who has listened to enough true crime could tell you that. I think like you said there is a little bit of truth all around and everyone sucks.
Jon didn’t beat the children. Jon didn’t steal from the children. Jon didn’t manipulate the children. Jon didn’t lie to the children. Jon didn’t ask the children to lie for him. Jon never said he didn’t want to be a parent. Jon never admitted to not wanting to have children, or not wanting his children after they were born. Jon has never pitted his children against each other. Jon has never been physically or psychologically abusive to the children.
Jon is NOT a bad parent.
He can be a shitty person, has been a shitty husband, and has made some terrible life choices, he may even suck at his job at times. But as a parent, he has NOT been terrible, in the least.
There is literally no truth in anything Kate says-except when she admits the terrible things she’s done and said. She has had to admit that she’s lied countless times, even in court (so it’s documented). She even admitted in her own journals that she beat, alienated, nd sidelined Collin just because she didn’t like him, never liked him, and didn’t like any of the kids but he was an easy target (again, AS A TODDLER!!!!! Under two years of age!)
Though I do agree the military isn’t necessarily the best at determining fit for duty, in this case, they are. If the things Kate claimed were ever true, had ever been documented or ever diagnosed (as she claims they all were), it’s not something they could easily sweep under the rug. We’re not talking about minor issues, minor psychological problems or issues that arose as a teenager. Kates claims are of actual violence, as a child from the time he was under 2-which would be well documented. None of what she claims happened or got him admitted, is true, literally none of it!
You forgot to mention Jon wasn’t a parent at all for most of their lifes. Don’t make him something hé is not, he is Just as awful as her.
So Kate was a parent, despite having 24/7 help since the twins were born? The woman that admitted she never wanted children at all? The woman who literally abused and admitted to abusing a TODDLER? Are you really this delusional?
Kate was never a parent, and still isn’t. She was never present and has admitted to abusing her children, stealing from them and using them for money. Even if he wasn’t present for some of their childhood (and he wasn’t, we agree there, he made some shitty choices even if he ALWAYS provided financially for everything they needed, Kate even admitted this), he was and is definitely NOT as awful as her. I don’t even know how you can compare them, at all.
A dead fly would be a better parent than Kate.
I didn’t say Kate was the better parent, I said they are both awful.
This still dont explain why on earth you would dump your child and never see him again. This was a kid, like who does that?
I dont know if he has issues, thats not really the point here, but for the love of god woman, why would you completely leave your young child like that?!
Exactly this! That’s why I think Kate is talking utter bullcrap. If you love your kid, you would visit him in the facility and bring his siblings to visit him.
She has visited him I believe.
What were her options when Colin contacted Jon to get him out of the facility?
Colin was old enough to have a say in the matter. If she would have fought for 50/50, Jon would have fought to get Colin of treatment and then what? Should she have taken him back into her home, with all the risks that involved for his siblings and her? The other kids would not have had a safe home anymore and Colin would take up most of her time, which wouldn’t have been fair to his siblings. It was better for his siblings and probably Colin, that Colin stayed in treatment and would have moved into supervised/ supported living when he got older.
He was almost ready to live outside the facility perhaps but he attacked Jon physically at least once so his issues are not over or under control.
The marine is good at hiring anyone who wants to and can serve them, not psychological/ psychiatric testing.
Some of the fair better on a good schedule and strict rules plus correctional punishment when they break them.
Might not be the worst place for him, until they take him to war or he has severe issues with someone.
I’m scared for his future and for those around him.
Collin says she did not visit. She also refused to tell Jon where he even was. And she failed to even appear in court, so your theory about why she abandoned Collin sounds like fiction.
And he has to provide medical records when enlisting. If he had actual behavioral health diagnoses, like Kate is claiming, the military is not going to accept him.
Did Kate type this up? It sounds like her.
I read the big “unauthorized” bio on Kate Gosselin. The man no rwrote it has her old journals (she threw them out and he retrieved them from her garbage on the street). In those journals, she admits to beating Collin brutally, when he was a very young toddler because she just hated him and he knew how to push her buttons. A 2 year old who “could push the parents buttons”?!? That’s a problem with the parent, not the child.
Now, I believe what Kate said with one major change. Replace Collin with Kate, and I think we had a pretty accurate description of life in Kate Gosselin’s home.
I do believe there were incidents of arguing/sibling rivalry/fighting in Kate’s home. All siblings fight, especially siblings close in age, and some physically fight. If Collin was constantly being made the scapegoat for everything, and bore the brunt of Kate’s anger, along with being isolated from his siblings, then I’m sure he was an angry young man. None of this is an excuse for Kate dumping him off at an institution and never visiting him, never participating in his therapy, not informing his father of his whereabouts or about the problems that have been going on.
I know kids who have behavioral and mental health issues, some who have been hospitalized, and none of them were abandoned by their parents. Their parents visited them, they did therapy as a family, and the parents worked with their child’s therapists and doctors. Kate will hide behind the excuse that she had 7 other kids at home to take care of, but if she truly loved Collin, she would have been on the horn to Jon to tell him what is going on so he could help. If Collin was truly a danger to his siblings, sending him to live with Jon should have been the first solution; not locking him up and pretending he never existed.
I believe there may have been incidents of physical violence in Kate’s house. I believe Collin had some emotional issues. But *nothing* excuses walking away from your 12 year old child, and turning the rest of his family against him.
He wouldn’t be able to pass the mental evaluation to enter the us military if what Kate is saying was true.
Did everyone forget the Collin called the cops on Jon a couple of years ago and said he was being abused by him
No one forgot that. But how does that explain Kate not visiting her child even once since he was 12 years old? That shows a serious level of callousness. And it’s not surprising that a child whose own mother can’t be bothered with him has some issues.
Nothing came of that. Collin retracted his statements even, iirc. Also, Hannah said it never happened.
Didn’t this kid beat up Jon? All these people are crazy but Jon has always been a man baby who blames everything on Kate. He’s not a good dad himself. Passive aggressive and abusive as well. He abandoned all of those children for edd hardy
None of that is true.
How ironic, Kate saying someone has a skewed perception of reality. Reality left her in the dust when she was pregnant with the twins. It sent her a Taylor Swift mixtape years ago.
She has had to admit to a lot of things over the years that I think some have forgotten. Have people really forgotten she admitted that Jon did in fact pay her child support, she did in fact steal the children’s money, she did in fact act abusively towards Collin long before he had any issues at all…or the countless other shitty things she’s said and done over the years?
Do I think Collin might have had some, perhaps many even, issues that started when he was a TODDLER being mistreated by a parent and only escalated? Yes, I do-but I think 99% of them were brought on by her inability to be a good person, much less parent, and not all present during his toddler years.
I have a child with similar behavioral and mental health issues whose sibling-lived in the same house for years, raised by the same parent at the time, did not (neither lives with her anymore, ftr). This is what happens sometimes when a parent is abusive, not all of the children in the house will have the same problems, or experience the same abusive treatment.
Kate is a POS, always has been, always will be. Narcissistic personality would be a compliment to her and I do think most of the kids actually see this now-even if all of them don’t. The twins, for quite a long time, couldn’t stand her and were actually afraid of her. Anyone remember the tv show where she reprimanded them on live tv for embarrassing her for not wanting to talk and both girls looked like they were about to piss their pants and cry? Oh, yeah, mother of the year right there! Behind closed doors was definitely much worse.
Family going off his behavior when he was in 6th grade?
Don’t believe a word Kate says. Collin have gratuated from a regular high school in time without getting arrested or anything. And now he is in the military…Shut up, Kate.
It’s sad to say but Kate has plenty of kids her sending one away she anit missing nothing she still has the rest of them to continue making her money that’s all her kids have been to her is a meal ticket she is controlling and rude and feels entitled one day the rest of her children will see the light and leave her to!
She is a piece of shit! And Irish he could go after heron court.
But why not visit Collins as much as she says she loves her son. Collins seems so forgiving. I don’t live with them but that’s just what I feel. I know families are like that now days not forgiving. They can go yrs without talking. That’s not what my family does.
Unless you have dealt with the kind of mental health issues that a psychiatric facility takes inpatient long term patients for you really can’t judge. These facilities don’t have beds for parents who just don’t like their children. These facilities are extremely expensive and are typically not covered by insurance beyond a 30 day stay even if the patient needs longer. Many of these facilities don’t even take insurance since they want your money up front. The amount of time he spent in there would have been 100s of thousands of dollars. So you can’t have it both ways – she’s all about the money for herself or she earned every penny possible to support 8 children who’s father never paid child support on. Maybe the real story is Kate ran out of money and that’s how Jon was able to get the facility to release him. I seem to remember a story not long ago about Collin being violent with Jon but then it was quickly reminded so they could keep their own money coming in from these new interviews. For someone crying how they wanted privacy so bad the minute Jon could talk he’s never shut up again about this. Leave this story in the archives. Let these kids move on in their own lives. Fueling these old claims is hurtful to these children more than the mother that raised them all – she’s been vilified for nearly 2 decades now.
When a facility has a small child saying one thing and a parent and siblings saying another they will not believe the child. Kate is a bully and for should could find a facility somewhere in this country to fall for her scheme (probably why he was in a facility far from home). She abandoned him, full stop. If your child has mental health issues to work through you stay by their side. I believe the military evaluation over Kate’s word any day.
1-They didn’t need insurance, there were no issues paying for the facility. Kate used the children’s money for that and Jon also covered some of it up to the point he was able to get him out. She didn’t earn jack, she wasn’t working at all outside of her being on the show(s). She literally admitted to taking the money the children earned and using it however she wanted, for herself mostly-she claimed it was her right as their mom. She DID receive child support, she lied about all of that and had to admit it in court. Clearly you haven’t seen the numerous stories about her, her spending, her not wanting a job, her pretending she couldn’t get a job, her lying through her teeth about financials, her getting sued, the court cases, etc.. etc..
I do agree they need to just leave the kids, now young adults, alone and let them live their lives. But you have a very weirdly rose colored perception of Kate that even she doesn’t have and has had to admit was a whole lot of bullshit during the court cases.
she has already admitted he paid child support and he has fought for his kids since the start! she emasculated him from the start–I hated watching how she spoke to him on the show–always like he was less than-have no use for this person in any way! to have her kids dislike one another is so abusive it makes me sick! then making them hate their own father—scum of the earth1
This is untrue… I have two sons with severe ADHD and they are pre-teens… the doctors rarely goes off what they tell him. The doctors typically ask me so I can completely see how she’d manipulate them into thinking he had severe enough issues to be locked away. And a child normally doesn’t get sent off for that long WITHOUT money even if they were diagnosed with something very serious so I absolutely believe she was paying from the start. The only reason Kate has been “Vilified” is her own actions. She is a sh*t mother who alienated one child from his siblings, made him film even when he didn’t want to, threw him into a psych facility FAR away from his family, didn’t visit him while he was there and makes no attempt to have any relationship with him now that he’s an adult. Even if he did have some issues, that was YEARS ago. People change. What is stopping her from attempting to have some sort of relationship with him? Her appearance! She’d have to admit she’s a crappy mom and she’d rather stick to this ridiculous story instead of doing the right thing. Him verbally threatening her or his siblings YEARS ago is a ridiculous reason. My kids verbally threaten each other on a regular basis just like me and my brothers did- just like 95% of people do when they have a sibling. And a “weapon” is a loose term- what weapon was it? Did he threaten or did he use the weapon? She doesn’t really say. I just don’t buy her story at all. She failed her son- on purpose!
Jon had spoken out now and says that there was no diagnosis and that’s backed up by the fact that Collin has enlisted.
Meanwhile, even if we assume that Collin did have serious mental health issues and that he was violent, that doesn’t explain why Kate didn’t visit that child even once in the literal YEARS he was institutionalized. That doesn’t explain why she refused to tell his father where he was.
Oh and if your child spent years in therapy and exhibited disturbing behavior, why the eff would you force him to participate in a reality tv show where he gets followed around by cameras all the time?
If it is true that Colin was exhibiting dangerous behaviors then why not get the father involved in order to help shoulder the responsibility of getting Colin the help he needed?
Also, why was Kate not part of the process of any of Colin’s treatment plan? How much harm could he have caused her while she visited him in the facility she put him in?
There is so much that doesn’t make sense.
His own sibling acknowledge his abusive behavior. So clearly there is more than people think.
No his own sibling said what mommy told her to say, what mommy told them was happening, what mommy said drove Collin to be angry.
The reality is, she was abusive when he was a TODDLER, making him eat, play, sleep, basically live separately from his siblings. Is there any wonder at all why he possibly had issues since everyone was told, again, when he was a TODDLER that he was a bad boy and they had to treat him like a bad boy? That’s an awful lot of strength you’re expecting out of a toddler to come out of that kind of treatment early on unscathed. She didn’t like him, she didn’t like any of them (still doesn’t), but he took the brunt and it caused bad behavior at times. This isn’t remotely unexpected behavior. It was compounded by mommy dearest.
because they were taught to say he was abusive! I had 4 brothers–they picked on each other and me–part of being in a family!!!!!
Kate has always been manipulative. I don’t buy this for a second. What a horrible mother. I feel for her children.
So where’s the police reports?
Seems like if he were violent, he would have had multiple police run ins.
Hi MN,
I did a quick google search and only found one instance where Colin had called the police on Jon. However as you mentioned, no other issues with law enforcement.
If he does have any anger issues and is violent, it will come out during basic training, and he will be processed out.
Good checking.
He called on Jon? Huh. Weird.
If he had problems, they would have surfaced around other areas, I believe, when he went to school or military.
Maybe he’s good at hiding it or maybe Kate is a POS.
My money is on the history, not her story.
What I don’t get is if all this is true how would be be off in Marine basic training right now they do psych evals.
Damn Kate that’s cold-blooded. A simple I love my son and please respect our privacy as we heal would have sufficed even it was a lie.