'Jon & Kate' spouses say they're angry at media

[snopes]

Jon and Kate Gosselin arrived separately for their sextuplets' fifth birthday party. During the party, the spouses barely spoke to each other.

Clearly, the Gosselin marriage was under a strain as the new season started for the TLC series, "Jon & Kate Plus 8."

No wonder. The daily challenges of a super-size family with eight kids in the house have recently been overshadowed by reports that Jon and Kate cheated on each other. Both of them have denied the allegations.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090526/..._kate_premiere

[Lainie]

"Did I ever think I'd see myself on the front of the tabloids?" said Kate indignantly. "Or see those words that are there? No. It kills me!"

Well, it's too late to suggest that putting one's family life on television might lead to one's family life being exposed in other media. I'm sure she didn't anticipate their marital problems. But going forward, if she really doesn't like the attention those marital problems are getting, perhaps she should stop discussing them in interviews in the detail she does here:

"Very swiftly we turned into two different people," Kate said at one point, as she described how she has grown apart from her husband of 10 years, "and it's just hard."

While Kate has spent a lot of time on the road, making personal appearances for the show, Jon has mostly stayed home.

"So he's angry with me that he's home and I'm not," Kate said. "Yet he doesn't really feel great about me, so he wants me to travel.

"It is so involved I almost can't put it into words," she added wearily.

[TripleAAA]

"Did I ever think I'd see myself on the front of the tabloids?" said Kate indignantly. "Or see those words that are there? No. It kills me!"

Secretly, I bet she loves it.

[WonkoTheSane]

Originally Posted by TripleAAA

Secretly, I bet she loves it.

Especially since she gets to be the injured party. Once TLC spends this season milking this for all its worth, my bet is that she'll parlay this into a show for herself. Oh, and the kids, too, I guess.

My wife and I watch once in a blue moon for the road-accident appeal of the show. I really do feel for those kids, though. They didn;t ask to be a part of this mess.

Wonko

[AnglRdr]

Originally Posted by WonkoTheSane

My wife and I watch once in a blue moon for the road-accident appeal of the show. I really do feel for those kids, though. They didn;t ask to be a part of this mess.

Wonko

I have to wonder what happens when the cameras go away, because they eventually will, and the kids realize nobody is particularly interested in what they're doing anymore.

[Amigone201]

Originally Posted by Kate

"Did I ever think I'd see myself on the front of the tabloids?" said Kate indignantly. "Or see those words that are there? No. It kills me!"

Let me get this straight. You agreed to put your home/family life on a TV show, but you never thought people would talk about you?

[Christie]

Originally Posted by Amigone201

Let me get this straight. You agreed to put your home/family life on a TV show, but you never thought people would talk about you?

I'm pretty sure she means talks about her cheating on her husband and being cheated on by her husband not talk in general.

[Amigone201]

Originally Posted by Christie

I'm pretty sure she means talks about her cheating on her husband and being cheated on by her husband not talk in general.

She probably is. I still find it hard to believe that when she makes her private life the topic of a TV show, that she can't believe people want to talk about her private problems.

[Lainie]

She strikes me as someone who cares a great deal about appearances (to put it mildly). And I imagine the show is largely staged, so maybe it's given her an unrealistic idea of how much she can control her public image.

[MisterGrey]

Originally Posted by WonkoTheSane

Especially since she gets to be the injured party. Once TLC spends this season milking this for all its worth, my bet is that she'll parlay this into a show for herself. Oh, and the kids, too, I guess.

If she gets them.

A lot of Kate's actions and characteristics are straight out of an abusive spouse checklist: Writing off her abuse as something else (her "love taps" to Jon), narcissism (having her brother and sister-in-law shunted off the show when TLC wanted to pay them, getting into a spiff with her dad because he gave her cribs that didn't match), unfounded paranoia (threatening to have the women from her new neighborhood's welcoming committee arrested if they told anyone she lived there), the "poor me" victim attitude... Any judge worth his or her salt would give Jon at least primary custody of the kids.

I was joking with a friend this afternoon that Kate is the perfect meshing of Jay Gatsby and the weather-forecaster-lady from "To Die For." Then I thought, maybe she really is. After all, she did go and have herself inseminated after Jon told her that he didn't want anymore children. Maybe it's been her plan for x amount of time to turn out a crapload of kids at once, turn it into a brand, exploit the hell out of it, and then quietly saunter off to live the rest of her life in luxury with the earned profits. Jon gets the kids (whom she doesn't really seem that into), she gets half of the massive wad of cash TLC has been feeding them. Everyone wins, except the kids, who get to grow up knowing that they were pawns in a narcissistic sociopath's twisted get-rich-relatively-quick scheme.

Mister "waiting for Faye Dunaway to be cast as Kate" Grey

[Astra]

I've felt sorry for those poor children ever since I happened upon the show right at the part where Kate lost her mind over them having ice cream. I don't have kids, but even I know that giving small children is pretty much inevitably going to result in some degree of mess. You accept that, give them the ice cream, and then hose them down if necessary. You don't give them the treat and then take it away while you screech like a banshee because it's melting and someone might take a spill as a direct insult to your motherhood awesomeness.

I think the idea for the show was interesting and probably helped the family out, but the associated fame fed the monsters (though I would guess Kate was probably a control freak away from the cameras as well).

[TwoGuyswithaHat]

Originally Posted by MisterGrey

Then I thought, maybe she really is. After all, she did go and have herself inseminated after Jon told her that he didn't want anymore children.

Would you have a cite for that handy by chance? I'd love to read it.

[MisterGrey]

Originally Posted by TwoGuyswithaHat

Would you have a cite for that handy by chance? I'd love to read it.

Ironically enough*, I found an article from the Calgary Herald:

Jon and Kate Plus 8: Who's cheat on who?

Kate Gosselin, the reality TV mom who jumped to fame when she had six children through an intrauterine insemination (IUI) procedure (even as her husband made it clear he didn't want any more kids after the couple's first set of twins), has taken the high road over the last few weeks, decrying the media for 'manufacturing' dirt on the family and blaming her husband for the mess caused by his "irresponsible" ways.

(Bolding mine to highlight the pertinent info)

One of them mentioned it on the show once-- or maybe they both did, at different points. I'm more of a "Little People, Big World" kinda guy myself, anyways.

ETA: (Since the cite was asked for by a Canadian snopester, and the show is a US production; I'd have thought a US cite would come up easier)

[Spam & Cookies-mmm]

Originally Posted by Astra

I've felt sorry for those poor children ever since I happened upon the show right at the part where Kate lost her mind over them having ice cream. I don't have kids, but even I know that giving small children is pretty much inevitably going to result in some degree of mess. You accept that, give them the ice cream, and then hose them down if necessary. You don't give them the treat and then take it away while you screech like a banshee because it's melting and someone might take a spill as a direct insult to your motherhood awesomeness.

I was disgusted at her reaction to beach sand. Clean, white, beach sand. She looked down at her kids playing happily with their buckets and grumped "all I can see is the mess I'm going to have to clean up." It's the beach! Spray everything with a hose and leave it to dry on the porch!

[Il-Mari]

Yeah, I don't want to sound too cynical, but this has been great for their ratings. The Season 5 opener more than doubled the ratings compared to season 4's finale. It's a heck of a way to get more ratings.

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/...te-plus-8.html

- Il-Mari

[lord_feldon]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090529/..._investigation

In a cold dose of reality for reality TV, Pennsylvania's Labor Department has opened an investigation into whether the hit show "Jon & Kate Plus 8" is complying with state child labor laws.

The TLC series about two parents raising 8-year-old twins and 5-year-old sextuplets drew nearly 10 million viewers for its fifth-season premiere Monday — more than double the audience for its fourth-season finale several weeks ago — following media reports that the parents, Jon and Kate Gosselin, had cheated on each other. They denied it, but conceded their marriage is in trouble.

[snopes]

The TLC network says its biggest stars, Jon and Kate Gosselin, will announce a major decision on their reality show, "Jon & Kate Plus 8."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090619/...e_announcement

[rhiandmoi]

My guess is that they are cancelling their show. I highly doubt that they would announce a separation this way.

[snopes]

Maybe Kate's having more babies to help save their marriage ...

[DarkDan]

Maybe Kate's gonna adopt an African baby or ten.