October 2006
Kate said that their kids would be taken care of by Beth and Bob Carson in the number one position because they have kids who are older and the eight Gosselin kids probably wouldn’t be a huge burden on them. Kate also mentioned Beth’s wisdom, which will help to cover all situations and she would never hinder any other family members from seeing the kids!
When Jon and Kate started making the big money from their show, they set up a Trust fund. They gave Bob and Beth Carson the high honor of naming them as co-Trustees so they would control the family’s money in case Jon and Kate met an untimely demise. Trusting someone to raise your children and putting them in charge of your money is about as close as a person can ever get to you.
In Paragraph 12 of the Gosselin family Trust document, Jonathan K. Gosselin and Katie I. Gosselin were appointed as the initial Trustees of the Trust. It was stipulated that if both Trustees at some point became “ineligible, unable or unwilling to serve as Trustee for any reason,” then Robert Carson and Beth Carson would serve as co-Trustees.
To help you further understand the relationship between Kate and Beth, I have included the text of a file that Kate kept on her computer called Beth a true friend.doc. The file contains a written exchange between Beth and a blogger who wrote a post critical of Kate. Beth’s defense of Kate to the blogger clearly shows Beth had Kate’s back. Kate must have been very grateful to have a friend like Beth Carson. Then again, maybe not. I have found no evidence that Kate has ever expressed sincere gratitude to anyone who has helped her; she has simply always expected it.
Here is a partial excerpt of Beth a true friend.doc file. Beth’s writings are in bold.
Kate Gosselin, Time’s Person of the Year?
by Tracee Sioux on November 14th, 2007
(http://archive.blisstree.com/live/kate-gosselin-times-person-of-the-year-28/)
Beth, a friend of Kate Gosselin’s, star of Jon & Kate, Plus 8, posted a comment on a post I wrote, of questionable tone, called Sextuplets, My Sympathies. (I am working on the tone, as you can see in Tone Turtle.) The post got a much more extreme response than I expected. I meant no harm to Kate Gosselin, who should win Time Magazine’s Person of the Year Award, in my opinion. I felt our exchange was worth it’s own post. If only because I feel totally awesome that someone I’ve seen on TV took the time to write to me.
…You may ask, “How does she have the right to inform me of their circumstances?” Well, you see, I am a close friend of the Gosselins’ (if you don’t think this is legitimate, you can watch ‘Jon and Kate Plus 8′ and you will see me periodically). I frequently care for all eight of their beautiful children when they are unable to due to appointments, conflicts, or when they just need a weekend away (which we are all entitled to at some point, of course).
…Why do you think Jon and Kate decided to keep all six of their sextuplets, rather than using “selective reduction” to limit chances of health complications, budget issues, or just plain insanity? They kept the babies because they knew that those tiny gray spots on the screen would soon grow into Aaden, Alexis, Hannah, Collin, Joel, and Leah.
…No one, unless in Kate’s shoes, has the right to judge or criticize the life of her family.
…Obviously, Kate Gosselin made the choice to view her circumstance as a blessing. She had adequate grace and poise to recognize the rewards that would come of this large challenge set before her. Kate is one of the most admirable and amazing women I have ever known.
… As I’m sure you have seen on the show, it takes an amazing woman for a job like hers. And, like you said, Kate was best equipped for it. Not with money, time, space, or convenience, of course–but with faith, patience, kindness, strength, gratefulness, and devotion. And that’s what makes an incredible mother, right??! :)
I also wanted to thank you for your kind comments regarding my relationship with the Gosselins. Watching eight children for days on end may seem like a burden, but it is truly a blessing, pleasure, and privilege to be involved in the lives of the Gosselin kids…
Blessings,
Beth
So what could possibly have caused a rift between such good friends? The answer, as it so often is, is money, greed and disrespect.
MULTIPLE MESSES
Beth Carson wrote Multiple Blessings. She shared the authoring credit with Kate, of course, because it was Kate’s life and because Kate had written down her thoughts and feelings in a journal, which Beth used for source material. Kate was also present at the writing sessions, no doubt yammering incoherent thoughts from her sometimes barely decipherable notes into Beth’s ear.
The book project was supposed to be a 50/50 split between Beth and Kate. That seems fair enough. But Kate found a way to mess up that agreement thanks to her personal need for greed.
The first problem cropped up when the writing was completed and Kate demanded that Jon’s name be added as an author, thus dividing the profits from the book into thirds instead of halves. It gave the Gosselins two-thirds of the royalties and reduced Beth’s portion of the profits from 50% to 33 1/3%.
So on the initial book advance of $100,000 they received, Beth lost about $17,000 because of Kate’s last-minute change of plan. Having Jon share author credit was never part of the original deal. The book contract, parts of which appear below, clearly spells out that the project was to have been a joint effort between Beth and Kate, not Beth, Kate and Jon. The following text from the agreement with Zondervan, the publisher, confirms the 50/50 split.
The agreement with Zondervan (Agreement Number 9438-1901) was made on January 10, 2008. It listed Katie Irene Gosselin (including her address) and Beth Ann Carson (including her address) as the “AUTHOR” (collectively), and Zondervan, A HarperCollins Company (including the address), as the “PUBLISHER”. It referenced a work tentatively titled MULTIPLE BLESSINGS (ISBN 0310289025).
The contract stated: “The AUTHOR agrees that all advances, royalties, and payments shall be divided and paid fifty percent (50%) to Katie Irene Gosselin and fifty percent (50%) to Beth Ann Carson.”
The agreement stated that the PUBLISHER would pay an advance to the AUTHOR in the sum of $80,000 against all royalties and payments due to the AUTHOR for the WORK.
Kate’s attorney, Paul J. Datte, advised that the proposal should indicate that “the royalty advance is non-refundable regardless of the ultimate sales of the book.” He also said, “Kate and Beth will require an advance of $100,000.00.”
If you need proof that Beth Carson did, in fact, write Multiple Blessings, here is an interview that Beth gave to the local newspaper, the Reading Eagle, after her book had become a New York Times Bestseller.
Originally Published: 12/12/2008
Slices of life: Author's first book a best seller
Beth Carson of Leesport co-writes a memoir titled "Mutiple Blessings: Surviving to Thriving with Twins and Sextuplets" about the events surrounding the births of the Gosselin family's sextuplets.
Beth Carson of Leesport wrote her first book, "Multiple Blessings: Surviving to Thriving with Twins and Sextuplets," about sextuplets being born to Jon and Kate Gosselin. The book is a memoir of the events surrounding the births of the Gosselins' sextuplets, combined with inspirational Christian messages, representing the faith present in their daily lives. Published in October, the book quickly landed on the New York Times best sellers list, where it has been for the last five weeks.
Carson's love of children and desire to want to help out a neighbor led her to the Gosselins just a couple of weeks after their sextuplets arrived home from the hospital.
"I didn't know Kate at all, I just knocked on their door," said Carson, who had read in the newspaper that the babies were born.
At the time, Carson and the Gosselins were both residents of Wyomissing.
After hours and hours of feeding babies together over the course of approximately one year, Carson and Kate Gosselin got well acquainted. One day, they discussed the idea of writing a book. The discussion led
to Carson having an epiphany later that evening when she mulled their conversation over and contemplated writing the book.
"I thought wait a minute, I have all of the facts - I have the background - I was there and I took a leap of faith," she said.
While Carson, 42, knew writing a book was something she always wanted to do, there was some initial self-doubt.
"I'm just a mom and I didn't even graduate from college - that planted a seed of doubt and I asked, who am I to write a book," Carson said.
Ultimately, Carson decided not to let her lack of formal training as a writer get in the way of one of her goals, and the next day she shared her thoughts with Kate.
"Kate seemed relieved and happy when I offered to write the book since she knew I was so familiar with her story," she said.
After that conversation they forged ahead with their idea and secured a publisher.
The process of writing the book took about a year, and in order to accomplish the task, Beth and Kate checked themselves into a hotel in Lancaster for a few weekends in order to set uninterrupted time aside.
"Kate and I would literally stay in our room for 72 hours and our husbands would take care of the kids back at home," Carson said.
While Carson is listed as a co-author on the book, she makes each of their contributions clear.
"They lived it and I wrote it," she said.
Their shared Evangelical Christian backgrounds provided the foundation for the religious tone of the book.
"This is a miracle - I felt a responsibility to give God the glory for that," said Carson, referring to the Gosselins' having six healthy children in addition to their twins.
Carson said she felt an overwhelming responsibility to share the Gosselins' story, realizing it was a bit of a "calling" for her to write the book, and she had an objective.
"I hope the book is an honest approach to things you don't hear in the show," she said, referring to "Jon and Kate Plus 8" airing on the TLC.
Now that she has accomplished one of her life goals, being an author makes Carson feel good.
"That's what I'm really proud of," she said. "It's kind of the American dream. Put your mind to it - little by little, day by day and in a year, voila."
Money was never an issue for Beth Carson. All she wanted was to go out on the book tour with Kate to enjoy a little of the glory and great success she had earned through all of her hard work in writing a bestseller. But Kate refused her that reward. She no longer needed Beth Carson, and she wanted the spotlight all to herself. She decided that she alone would be the face of Multiple Blessings on the book tour. Once the book became a bestseller, Kate had the opportunity to thrust herself even further into the spotlight, and there was no way she was sharing it with anyone. Not even with Beth Carson, her closest friend in the world and the woman responsible for the success of the book.
In addition to Kate not wanting to share the spotlight with Beth, she very publicly disrespected Beth, as can be seen in this very interesting interview on YouTube.
Kate Gosselin signs book at Rivertown Mall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vSSoZHDWgY
NBC 8: “More than 1,500 people stood in line for hours last night, to get her (Kate’s) autograph in Grandville, MI.
KATE: “In being here in Grand Rapids reading the book this week for CD I am reading through the book again, and it is an amazing story and I still can’t believe it’s our story.”
NBC 8: “Was it hard to write the book?”
“Um that process wasn’t hard, it was the time to write the book, uh, it took us a year and a half, I started when the little kids were two. Um and uh to relive all of those things that we have been through was probably the most difficult part. As far as the book went, that was easy.”
So if you were Beth Carson, who actually wrote Multiple Blessings from Kate’s hodgepodge notes and experiences, and you were watching the news or saw this on YouTube, and you heard that question put to Kate, “Was it hard to write the book?” and you watched and heard Kate NOT MENTION YOU AT ALL, and then heard her say this about the writing, “As far as the book went, that was easy,” wouldn’t you be a little bit miffed at your good friend, Katie Irene?
There was one final nail to be driven into the Gosselin-Carson relationship, and that, too, had to do with money. Just as they had done with Aunt Jodi and Uncle Kevin, TLC approached the Carsons about paying them for filming at their house. And in predictable Kate fashion, she reacted in exactly the same way as she had when the offer of payment was made to Aunt Jodi and Uncle Kevin. Kate again went crazy and said “nobody makes money off my family except me.” The Carsons, of course, didn’t need Kate’s or TLC’s money. They were very financially well off on their own. But the idea of Kate showing such disrespect to them ended the relationship for good.
The online community speculated that something must have happened between Beth and Kate during their televised trip to Park City, Utah, because in the middle of the trip, Beth suddenly disappeared. I explored that speculation as best I could through sources close to the family, but they told me that the trip had nothing to do with the falling out, and that Beth flew back home for her daughter’s birthday, as was reported.
So that was that. No more Beth and Bob Carson. No televised explanation given. Just gone.
And Kate didn’t so much as blink. She had gotten everything she needed out of their relationship and tossed them aside. Kate was now quickly approaching her goal of acquiring every material thing that her “friend” Beth Carson had.
Now it’s as if Beth Carson never existed. But she does exist. Everyone saw her on the TLC shows and saw what a huge part of Kate’s and the children’s everyday lives she and Bob were. Kate’s insatiable thirst for wealth and fame caused two more people who loved her children to be ripped away from them.
ARE YOU THERE KATE? IT’S ME, GOD
The events and actions that led to the falling out between Kate and Beth, and ultimately destroyed their personal and business relationships, are pretty cut and dry. Things get a little blurry, however, when trying to understand the role Beth played in developing Kate’s image as a devout Christian mother overwhelmingly committed and devoted to God. Remember, it was that image that made Kate a figure to be admired among the church-going faithful; it was an image that helped her sell a lot of books.
In reading through Kate’s emails and her journal, and in seeing her up close and personal in real life, it is very hard to believe that Kate really has the deep love of God she claims to have. If she did, she never would have been able to pull off the church scams, and she never would have been as mean and deceitful as we have seen her be. What is more likely, and what I believe, is that Kate modeled her “God complex” after Beth Carson, taking it as her own.
As with most things, Kate overdid the religion angle to the point that it became unbelievable, especially since her words and actions contradicted everything in Christian teachings. (It takes a very special kind of evil to prey upon unsuspecting, generous people who are just trying to make a difference in the life of someone they believe is struggling.) And there are just too many things about Kate’s trumpeted relationship with God that don’t add up as genuine, starting with this.
Kate gave birth to the sextuplets on May 10, 2004. According to Multiple Blessings, which chronicles Kate’s first date with Jon through the birth of her six, Kate supposedly used phrases like: God will always provide for us; the God I served was loving, kind and generous. He was an almighty God who provided every breath I needed; I trusted God to see all of the details; And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Also in Multiple Blessings, through Beth Carson’s writing, Kate says that she knows her God, and knows how much he has blessed her, and has spoken directly to her, and acted through her. Why then, in November 2006, two-and-a-half years after Kate supposedly used all those phrases about God, and had those beliefs about God, would Kate write this in her journal:
If Kate’s faith in God were so strong, why would she need Beth to tell her that sometimes God provides and we don’t realize it? Why would that have not occurred to Kate on her own? If everything Kate said about her trust in God was true, why would Kate need Beth or anyone else to tell her how God operates?
The most obvious answer is that the “trust in God for all things” persona represented in Multiple Blessings is Beth Carson’s, not Kate’s. Beth somehow took the lying, narcissistic, mean-spirited, greedy, selfish, angry and controlling Kate Gosselin, and turned her into a modern day Christian heroine … to sell books. And once Kate was so viewed among Christians, she no longer needed Beth.
The upside to this sad tale is that Beth and Bob Carson are probably enjoying their beautiful family and thanking God they are no longer involved with Kate Gosselin. I see Beth quite often, playing with her children at the local playground or shopping at the local craft store or at the supermarket. She looks very happy and at peace.
KATE GOSSELIN: HOW SHE FOOLED THE WORLD - THE RISE AND FALL OF A REALITY TV QUEEN Page 43