We next saw Ashley standing outside the RV with the kids, who were all crying and obviously distraught. Ashley said goodbye to them with these words: “Look at me. I will see you again. Alright? I love you with all my heart and don’t let anybody ever tell you differently.”
Her choice of words was very telling…and very sad. Over the years, Ashley has probably seen and heard Kate lie to the kids about all of the family members and friends who are no longer in their lives because of Kate’s horrible behavior. Ashley was, no doubt, worried that Kate would lie to them about her reasons for leaving, so she made sure to tell them not to believe anyone who might tell them she doesn’t love them. So because of Kate’s mean, disrespectful, selfish behavior on this trip, and probably due to an accumulation of mean, disrespectful, and selfish behavior over the years, the Gosselin children lost their beloved babysitter and friend.
Kate was completely perplexed about Ashley’s negative comments and her quitting. She said she had absolutely no idea what could have made Ashley want to leave. That right there sums up Kate Gosselin’s cluelessness or straight up lack of caring about how badly she treats others. Everyone in her life leaves her and she says has no idea why.
With the same stunning lack of awareness she has always displayed, Kate said, “The funny thing about Ashley is that we’ve never even had a small disagreement in our lives.” She also said, “I’ve never had a run-in with Ashley, ever, ’til this trip, cause she has always said to me, ‘I used to think that you were, ya know, mean and yelling at me when you were stressed, but then I realized you were just yelling cause you were stressed’.”
Kate contradicted herself in one sentence. First she said that she and Ashley had never had a small disagreement in their lives, but then she quoted Ashley as saying that Kate was mean and yelled at her. Ashley said she had put up with Kate treating her badly and with terrible disrespect, for five years.
So how could Kate stand before the TLC viewing audience and tell such a blatant lie? Either she is too stupid to realize that she contradicted herself, or her mind is so warped and self-absorbed that she is unaware of how badly she treated Ashley. In the five years that Ashley cared for the eight Gosselin children, Kate was plenty mean and disrespectful to her. Given how things played out on the RV trip, it is logical to think that Ashley only put up with the earlier abuse and didn’t speak up to defend herself or fight back for the sake of the children. But everyone has a breaking point. For Ashley, Kate’s behavior on the RV trip pushed her over the edge.
At the end of the episode, Kate wrapped up the situation and tied it with a big bow of self-pity, saying, “People leave my life and I keep on going. Pretty much everyone leaves me eventually, and, most people can’t take it, but I have to take it. I can’t leave so, I wouldn’t leave if I could.”
She also said, “This has been the greatest organizational challenge of my life, and other than the exhaustion, the fact that my back hurts, my kids are screaming, my babysitter quit and all that, I actually still strangely enjoy the organization factor. I don’t know why.” What Kate doesn’t understand is that her obsession with organization is precisely why things go so badly so often. She has shown herself to be incapable of being flexible, so when something doesn’t go exactly as planned, she lashes out at those around her and makes things worse.
In the show’s finale, Kate, Steve, Jamie and Ashley each sat down separately to answer some final questions about the RV trip. When asked about Ashley leaving, Kate said this: “I think she was very angry with me, but quite honestly I think it was a little over dramatic. It’s a little dramatic – I thought.” “Jamie and I hashed it out. Steve and I hashed it out. Ashley and I hashed it out, and everybody’s fine.”
But when Ashley was asked if she and Kate had spoken, Ashley said, “We have, um, a few times. Nothing deep. Small talk. Nothing really, um, to, to fix it.”
Jamie said: “You can blame it on stress; you can blame that you treat people badly because of stress, but it’s no excuse to treat the people that love you the most and are closest to you, so poorly, because we’re the ones that support you and love you.”
That doesn’t sound like much was hashed out at all.
THE BLAME GAME
The RV episodes were painful to watch. There was constant complaining and whining, and people acting spoiled and unappreciative of everything they were seeing and doing, and everything they have. The ugly moments I have described are just the tip of the iceberg of terrible behavior that took place on that trip and were captured on film forever. You need to watch the episodes for yourselves to see all the disturbing things that occurred.
Kate had heavily promoted these episodes on Twitter, and she answered questions from her fans on Twitter while watching the RV episodes “together” with them. In reading her tweets, she just doesn’t see that anything she does is wrong, or she sees it and doesn’t care. Here is a tweet, which is also a lie, from Kate:
Ashley left without telling me :( that’s why I’m not there…
According to TLC, in capital letters across our television screens, Ashley told Kate in private that she was leaving. In her continued tweeting, Kate bad-mouthed and blamed Ashley for what transpired:
underminded, like I said! And made kids cry but u won’t see that! :(
not sure! This really perplexed me! I’ve known and loved Ashley for a LONG time! Not sure what the real issue was?!?
It was another rough one…bad attitudes got the best of some… Watch next week… For more drama… And some fun too, I hope!
Watching this, yes it looks harsh.. But you’re only seeing parts of all of it..
xxxxx @Kateplusmy8 Is everything okay between u & Ashley?
no matter what,I love her despite it all.Shes family2me&she will [email protected] hav no doubt&either does Carla,her mom,my friend!
Kate’s tweeting of blatant untruths caused Ashley to finally break her silence and check in on a Gosselin blog – realitytvkids.com – to set the record straight.
Hi everyone- as THE Ashley that you all are talking about I just have to say when I stumbled across this overview of the episode I was DYING laughing because the admin has what happen down pat. Obviously there a lot more arguments and bad behavior that they didn’t show but I truly enjoyed reading this. I appreciate the kind words as I have struggled with leaving the kids ever since it happened . . . I would ask that everyone continue to pray for the family as we can see they need it.
– Ashley Dawn Turner
During her Twitter party, Kate also tried to justify her horrible behavior on the rafting trip when EVERYONE else was having a great time splashing in the water.
I had camped for so long and had been filthy for so long, I just couldn’t get wet that day! No siree!
There were eleven or so other people on this trip, not counting the film crew, who had also “camped” for “so long.” None of them whined and complained and acted so immature – not even young children. Why was it that everyone else could have a great time except for Kate? Then because nothing is ever her fault, Kate went off on the river raft guide:
Omg this guy sent me directly over the edge! I was rude to him and he underminded my parental authority often.. UGH!
“This guy,” the river raft guide, couldn’t have been better mannered or more even-tempered. He sent Kate over the edge because he may have been the first person on the trip to not be totally intimidated, controlled and directed by Kate, and she had no idea how to react to him. (Petty Author’s Note: This was the second tweet in which Kate wrote the word “underminded” instead of “undermined.” This wouldn’t matter at all if she didn’t hold herself up as the perfect speller and grammarian and correct others when they are wrong.) Kate tweeted more about the drama of the trip:
I felt ganged up upon by all of them and felt like I had the organizational job of 1,000 ppl!
Seriously the drama was not ME!
Then someone tweeted Kate that it sure looked like it was her, and Kate respond
ed:
oh sure but over the top drama wasn’t me.
Finally, a particularly vocal tweeter really got under Kate’s skin with several critical tweets. The tweetie told Kate that it made her sick to her stomach to hear Kate talk about not having help, and that she was “appalled” at what she saw. Kate jumped in to set the record straight:
nope. Ur only seeing edited footage.
And she tweeted this to another fan:
Hard to watch and see that ppl don’t understand due to editing etc.
And here again on March 12, 2012, Kate tweeted with the viewers in the United Kingdom, who were just getting to see the final episodes of Kate Plus Ei8ht. A tweeter told her they were just seeing the RV episode; another tweeted that Kate “seemed very hard to please.” This is how Kate responded:
oh, my, remember: drama and editing work magic :) we are all still friends lol
lol. Remember editing &drama gets ratings.Sad u didn’t c the many good Xs we had :( I’m not hard2pls,lots of planning on my mind
Either Kate does not understand the concept of editing, she is stupid, or she is simply delusional. Or, she is all of the above. Anything captured on film can definitely be changed through omission or rearrangement. But the funny thing about film is that you can’t edit IN behavior that did not occur. Viewers saw Kate saying and doing all kinds of horrible, nasty, mean-spirited, narcissistic things to her family, friends and paid workers. This wasn’t some CGI-generated or special-effects-laden movie. This was the real Kate Gosselin exposed for all the world to see. She can’t deny that she said and did ALL of those terrible things, yet she still blames “bad editing.” If TLC did edit OUT Kate’s good behavior, any reasonable person would have to ask themselves “why?”
Kate continued to tell everyone over and over again on Twitter that TLC’s editing showed only the bad moments, and focused only on the times when Kate was complaining and miserable. Even if that were true, Kate Gosselin still showed more ugly, mean moments on that family trip than any normal person would display in a lifetime. It was horrible and embarrassing. Words cannot do it justice. This was Kate unplugged and unhinged. TLC finally showed the world the real Kate Gosselin.
As stated previously, Kate had final say in the editing of her show. She got a preview copy sent to her a week or more in advance to make final edits, then she spent a week hyping the episodes on her Twitter page. She gave final approval to everything the viewers saw, good and bad, because she had absolutely no idea that anything was abnormal about her behavior. This was very much like her keeping a daily journal documenting her abuse of her children to be included in her book about letters of love to her children.
Over the years, Kate has told us, ad nauseam, that her “…Kate Plus…” shows are the realist reality we will ever see. She assured us that they were just a family living their lives and being filmed. If that was true, then who was to blame for the disastrous RV trip? Whose idea was it? Did TLC force her to go on this trip? Was it a coincidence that Kate suddenly blamed all her outrageous behavior on bad editing at the same time that TLC decided to ditch her and stop protecting her?
Even while watching the RV episodes and seeing how horrible Kate Gosselin is as a person, a mother, and a human being, some people continued to give her a pass, buying into her mantra that the editing was at fault. During her Twitter party, Kate played the victim, as always. Someone tweeted that they felt sad for Kate because “She’s accustomed to people leaving, but doesn’t connect it to her actions.” Kate responded with this tweet:
I sure do but they don’t connect my actions to my unusually stressful life either..Not justifying but St goes both ways! Gnight!:)
Gnight, Kate. Everyone knows nothing is ever your fault.
Doron Ofir, who’s cast several reality shows, including Jersey Shore and RuPaul’s Drag Race, also insists that however contrived the situations are, people are behaving in an authentic way.
“Something that makes me crazy is when cast members say, ‘The edited me to be this character,’ like Omarosa’s famous line,” he says. “Ten years later, you know Omarosa is what she is.”
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-23/the-reality-tv-dissident-dave-hester-of-storage-wars
THE END?
IT MIGHT BE A CRAZY LIFE …
BUT IT’S THEIR LIFE.
Some of the following information was known by me at the time of the original book being released but withheld to protect the source(s), and some information came to light more recently.
Kate Gosselin is completely obsessed with getting back on television because of the high salaries that she sees other reality ‘stars’ being paid. She wants desperately to get a new show on a different network so that she can rub it in TLCs face that they made a terrible mistake when they canceled her and ‘abandoned’ her. She refuses to accept the fact that she was a novelty act and the television-viewing audience has lost interest in her antics and has moved on. She believes in her heart that she is more talented than anyone else on television and she becomes enraged just talking about it. She believes that she would be the best host The View has ever had and having her as a permanent member of the panel would garner the highest ratings ever for the show. In Kate’s mind, people are just too blind or too stupid to give her a chance. When Jenny McCarthy was recently given the permanent slot, Kate went into a weeks-long depression filled with binge drinking and violent outbursts toward her children. The children were very quiet and careful in that house during that time, in an attempt to protect themselves from Kate’s wrath.
Kate’s drinking though is something that the children are accustomed to. They’ve been dodging her and quietly cleaning up after her for several years. Kate once fell down several stairs while drunk in front of the children and the oldest girls helped her up and cleaned up the broken glass from her drink.
A college-age babysitter once tried to stop Kate from going out to run errands in the afternoon after seeing Kate finishing a drink and witnessing her slurred speech. The sitter confronted Kate politely at the front door and told her that she didn’t think it would be a good idea for her to drive in her condition and offered to run Kate’s errands for her. Kate snapped at her and told her not to ever question her again and to worry about watching children and doing her job and left. The sitter was fired when Kate returned later the same day.
Kate no longer identifies with Katie Kreider. She doesn’t know who she is or who she was. In Kate’s mind, there is only Kate Gosselin, television star. She can’t enjoy her children because she is so focused and consumed with trying to get another show so she can go back to the pampered lifestyle that she’s become accustomed to. She has completely lost touch with reality.
The emotional abuse and physical beatings of the Gosselin children continue to this day. Many of Kate Gosselin’s supporters refused to believe that she would ever lay hands on her children, especially babies in diapers, but the fact remains that it wasn’t an isolated period of time documented in her private journal. That journal was merely a snapshot of the Gosselin children’s permanent reality. That journal was filled with Kate’s stories of ‘loving’ her children, not the reality of their situation. The world won’t hear the true story of the children’s horror until they’re old enough to tell it for themselves.
After her divorce from Jon, Kate was caught on video violently spanking two of the boys in the driveway of their home, the moment they got out of the van from returning from an overnight with Jon. The other children just watched in fear as the spanking took place, perhaps not knowing if they were next. I later found out the reason for the beating was because the boys told Kate they wanted to stay longer at Jon’s house because they were having too much fun. Kate now promises the children presents and trips to Toys R Us for toys if they tell Jon that they don’t want to go to his house.
The paparazzo who shot the video didn’t release it because he shot it from private property. He was there at the time hoping to snap what would have been a very v
aluable photo of Kate with her bodyguard Steve Neild in a romantic moment, but that didn’t materialize.
Kate Gosselin had one babysitter who would actually administer her own beatings to the Gosselin children at Kate’s direction when she was away. The sitter was given the authority by Kate to carry out Kate’s way of ‘teaching’ the children for even the smallest of infractions. This included spanking the children, withholding meals from the children and locking the children in a room for hours at a time. This same sitter was told by Kate to lock one of the boys in the bathroom for her entire shift because he left splashes of water on the sink and floor without toweling it off.
Beating or spanking her children isn’t the only way Kate gets her message across to them. Kate recently pushed one of the boys outside in below-freezing temperatures without his coat, gloves or hat for fifteen minutes because the boy didn’t close the door all the way when he came inside from playing in the snow. The child was screaming and crying and banging on the doors all around the house. His face was bright red from being so cold when Kate finally allowed him to come back into the house.
On one occasion, one of the boys was punished for having Shoka in the basement when he was supposed to be outside. Shoka had an accident by the door and Kate was so enraged that she brought the boy down to the basement and screamed at him while showing him the mess. To show her complete domination of the child, she grabbed him by the back of his neck and forced his face down to within inches of the mess, trying to rub his face in it. He struggled and resisted and ended up with only a spanking instead of a face-full of dog feces.
KATE GOSSELIN: HOW SHE FOOLED THE WORLD - THE RISE AND FALL OF A REALITY TV QUEEN Page 70