Jon Gosselin is not playing when it comes to his son Collin, warning Collin’s mom (and his ex) Kate that she will face consequences if she keeps telling people that Collin is mentally ill.
In a new interview with Us Weekly, Jon spoke out about how proud he is of 22-year-old Collin, who just released his tell-all book In The Shadow of Eight. The book details the alleged abuse Collin says he suffered at the hand of Kate as a child. For years, Kate has denied that she abused Collin, insisting that he was (and still is) mentally ill and that her treatment of him (which included sending him away to a facility at age 11) was “medically necessary.”
In the days since the release of Collin’s book, Kate has continued to write on TikTok that her son is mentally ill, something Jon seemingly warned her to stop immediately.
“Let me be very clear,” Jon said in a message meant for Kate (but did not mention her by name). “If you continue to falsely label my son Collin as ‘mentally ill,’ you will be held accountable. As you know, Collin has been evaluated by multiple independent psychiatrists, and that narrative is proven categorically untrue.”
(Collin told TMZ this week that he has had three independent psychiatric evaluations done, all of which have concluded that he does not have a mental illness.)
Jon— who has also been vocal that Collin does not have any sort of mental illness or special needs— threatened to take action if this narrative continues to be told.
“Consider this fair warning: The days of using mental health to discredit and silence my son are over,” he said.
Jon went on to state that continuing to spew lies about Collin being mentally ill is “damaging to his reputation, his credibility and his future.”
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As The Ashley told you earlier this week, Kate has not made a direct statement regarding the release of Collin’s book. However, she did respond to several of the comments left on her most-recent TikTok post. Kate chose to reply to one comment that stated that doctors— not parents— admit kids to psychiatric hospitals.
“Exactly!” Kate responded. “I had nothing to do with it, except for consent because it was medically necessary!”
She also told the fan that “rational, logical [people] or anyone who has dealt with mental illness understands what’s going on here.”
Collin told TMZ he isn’t surprised that Kate is once again trying to explain away her alleged abuse of him by claiming he’s mentally ill.
“It’s the same old thing that she’s saying…My mom has said these things time and time again,” he said, before talking about the independent psychiatric evaluations he’s had done. “I’ve passed all of them, obviously.
“All I have to say is, maybe it’s time for someone else to get one!” he stated, obviously referring to Mommy Dearest.
Collin stated that he “always knew” that he wasn’t mentally ill as Kate claimed.
“I always knew that I wasn’t the one that was in the wrong,” he said. “[Getting evaluated] was just like, ‘Here, it’s on paper now.’ But I always knew and, unfortunately, even alongside that, my mom makes these claims. If this is the only thing that she can come after me for— and I’ve gotten multiple evaluations done— then I guess she has nothing to come after me for, right?”
During his interview with TMZ, Collin made a point to give Jon a shoutout for standing up to Kate.
(As fans know, Kate got full custody of all eight kids after her divorce from Jon in 2009. Collin says Kate’s alleged abuse of him ramped up after the divorce, when Kate kept the kids away from Jon. When Kate put Collin into the facility when he was 11, she refused to tell Jon where their son was, so Jon went to court until he found out. He fought in court to have Collin released and went on to gain full custody of him.)
“I want to say thank you to my father,” Collin said. “He’s always had my back; he’s always backed me up. He’s the one who’s been there for me.”
“I couldn’t be more proud of my son’s heartbreaking memoir and his mission to help other victims of abuse,” Jon told Us Weekly on Thursday.
Collin’s book, In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood, is currently No. 3 on Amazon’s Best-Sellers book list.
Click here to order Collin’s book using The Ashley’s Amazon Associates link!
