Hours after Kate Gosselin broke her silence following son Collin‘s claims that she had him institutionalized to conceal her alleged abuse, her ex-husband, Jon Gosselin, has spoken out.
“Kate posting cruel false accusations regarding Collin seems to be just another way for her to justify her inexcusable horrific past behavior toward him,” a rep for Jon, 46, told The U.S. Sun on Friday, July 21. “True love for a child wouldn’t include a mother attacking their son to the public. … Do not forget that a judge awarded sole legal and physical custody of Collin to his father.”
Jon — who received custody of Collin and Hannah, both now 19, in 2018 after they moved into his home — further noted that Collin needed to be “cleared by the Marines with a full background check including mental, physical, and medical clearance” before enlisting in the armed forces. The statement concluded, “The government’s full diagnoses clearly reflects the truth.”
Kate, 48, told People hours earlier on Friday that she felt “backed into a corner and left with no choice” but to address Jon and Collin’s allegations. The Kate Plus 8 alum — who shares sextuplets Collin, Hannah, Alexis, Aaden, Leah and Joel as well as twins Mady and Cara, both 22, with Jon — claimed that Collin received “multiple psychiatric diagnoses” over the years and she admitted him at a treatment facility in 2016 after several alleged “attacks/outbursts” following a psychiatrist’s recommendation.
“Collin’s distorted perception of reality is one of the many issues that he has always struggled with,” Kate claimed to the outlet. “All parent-child relationships are complex, but when mental illness is involved, it is incredibly complicated and painful, let alone easy for others on the outside to understand.”
While Kate noted that she still loves Collin with “all my heart,” she insisted that he remains a “very troubled young man” and “continues to need a lot of help.” She concluded: “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.”
Jon, Hannah and Collin went public with their allegations against Kate during the Wednesday, July 19, episode of Vice’s Dark Side of the 2000s. During his interview, Collin alleged that his mother was “abusive” towards him, which was the primary reason that he was sent to the Fairmont Behavioral Health Institute.
Jon, for his part, further claimed that he had no idea where Collin was at the time, since Kate had full custody of all the kids.
While Jon and Collin have since denied that the 19-year-old is violent, Mady accused him of physically threatening her and “every member of my immediate family” as recently as “last year.”
“I will never allow someone who has exhibited hateful and even violent behavior towards others based in their racial identity, gender identity, or religious beliefs to be in my life,” Mady wrote via her Instagram Story on Wednesday. “For me, there is no further conversation to be had about rebuilding relationships with anyone in my life after reaching the point of physical violence and hate speech. I cannot speak any further on why Collin has done these things, just that I have witnessed them.”
Kate further told People that she supported Mady’s decision to share her story publicly, calling it a “completely accurate” account of events. “I deeply appreciate her bravery in doing so,” the TLC matriarch added. “This is all I have to say on the matter and I will not be discussing this subject any further at this time.”
