Kate Gosselin has not yet released a statement regarding her estranged son Collin‘s tell-all book. However, the former TLC reality star is talking on TikTok about the accusations her son has made about her committing him to a facility after forcing him to live in the basement as a child.
Collin has been promoting his book In The Shadow of Eight— which was released on Tuesday— via numerous interviews. During these interviews, he revealed some of the physical and emotional abuse he says Kate subjected him to as a child. One of the horrors Collin has discussed at length is Kate locking him in the basement because he would not willingly film for ‘Kate Plus 8.’
“I was kept in, essentially, what was a jail cell,” Collin stated, adding that he had to ask Kate permission to come upstairs to use the bathroom. “It was a room, not even in the finished part of our basement. I was put back there like an item, like an animal, in a room that my mom had specifically built for me, and it had two cameras. And that’s where I spent my days.”
While Kate has not done any interviews pertaining to the release of Collin’s book, she did respond to several of the comments left on her most-recent post on TikTok.
Kate chose to reply to one to one of her followers who offered support and stated that doctors— not parents— admit people to psychiatric hospitals.
“Exactly!” Kate responded. “I had nothing to do with it, except for consent because it was medically necessary!”
She later told the fan that “rational, logical [people] or anyone who has dealt with mental illness understands what’s going on here.”
While Kate is not denying that she committed Collin and that she locked him in the basement, she is attempting to justify her actions.
She “hearted” a response stating, “because [Collin] was violent towards the other kids.”
Kate also “hearted” a response that stated, “It can be the only way to keep them safe from themselves and others in the house especially at night. Mental illness in kids isn’t a walk in the park…”
“Stay strong Kate!” another fan wrote.
“I am!” Kate responded.
When it was first announced back in June that Collin was releasing a tell-all book, Kate wrote in her TikTok comments that her son’s claims are “ridiculous” and “made up.”
The last time Kate released an actual statement regarding the accusations that she abused Collin was in 2023 after Collin (as well as Kate’s ex Jon and daughter Hannah) appeared on VICE TV’s Dark Side of the 2000s. During the episode, Jon and Collin discussed some of the alleged abuse that Collin suffered from his mom, and Hannah confirmed that Collin was, indeed, kept separated from her and their other siblings.
After the episode aired, Kate took to Instagram to make a statement and defend herself. (Her daughter Mady also defended Kate online at the time.)
“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 wrote at the time. “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. My son’s unpredictable and violent behaviors have sadly continued regularly towards Jon, Hannah and others 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.
“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.
Despite the fact that she’s getting absolutely lit up on Instagram, Kate has not attempted to defend herself in the comment sections of those posts.
Stay tuned…
RELATED STORY: Collin Gosselin Claims He Was Abused & “Exploited Every Day” By His Mom Kate; Says She’s Never Apologized For “Taking Things Too Far”
(Photos: TLC; TikTok; Instagram)
