KATE GOSSELIN: HOW SHE FOOLED THE WORLD - THE RISE AND FALL OF A REALITY TV QUEEN (116 page)

The Gosselin saga should b
e viewed as a cautionary tale by anyone even considering putting his or her children’s lives on display to the world. There is no monetary value that can be placed on privacy, dignity and respect, but the price of
denying
children those basic human rights is without measure.

Alexis, Leah, Hanna, Joel, Aaden, Collin, Cara and Mady Gosselin will be paying that price for the rest of their lives. That is the tragedy.

TLC INTERVIEWER QUESTION:

“
Would you say that the show that we do is realistic?”

KATE GOSSELIN:

“What you see is what you get. We aren’t hiding anything.”

Kate was once asked, if she “had a crystal ball, would she have taken the fertility drugs?” It is heartbreaking to imagine how Kate’s beautiful children will feel when they one day read their mother’s answer to that question:

“If I could have looked into the future, I would not have done it.”

– Kate Gosselin

On October 16, 2012, Kate Gosselin was fired from her job as a “blogger” for CouponCabin, an online coupon service. In a scathing letter tha
t appeared on the company’s website, Scott Kluth, founder and CEO, made it very clear that Kate was not a good fit for the company. The firing led to immediate speculation about what would have caused Kluth to issue such a public rebuke. Was it Kate’s lack of professionalism? Was it that she misrepresented herself as a struggling mom who has to cut coupons, instead of acknowledging that she is a millionaire? Was it that she failed to promote CouponCabin, and its charitable endeavors, in her appearances? Was it that she used her blog to showcase personal issues and dissatisfaction with others, instead of providing information and suggestions to help people save money? I suspect it was all of the above and, quite possibly, some things we have yet to hear about. Here is the letter in its entirety.

To all our Kate blog readers:

Some nine-plus years ago, I started CouponCabin with the thought of creating a single website that had all the best coupons… no gimmicks, no fluff, just a site that was easy to use and that had great deals. Along the way, we’ve helped our users collectively save hundreds of millions of dollars.

A series of recent events have made it clear to me that Kate Gosselin and her contributions do not align with the authenticity which we set out to build almost a decade ago, and that Ms. Gosselin is simply not a good fit with the wonderful team and culture at CouponCabin.

It’s with this that I am writing to inform you of our decision to discontinue Ms. Gosselin’s feature blog on CouponCabin.com. Ms. Gosselin’s contributions garnered both positive attention and criticism, but as always, I respect and appreciate your candid opinions, which often encourage us not to lose sight of our mission — to help YOU save money.

We wish Kate, her family and her support staff all the best.

Scott Kluth
Founder and CEO of CouponCabin.com

Kate’s
October 16, 2012 did not get any better. That day, Legislation authored by Representative Thomas Murt (R-Montgomery) to address inadequate child labor laws in Pennsylvania passed the House and Senate. Murt began an investigation in 2009 in response to concerns about the working conditions and lack of work permits for the Gosselin children. House Bill 1548 is meant to protect the rights and well-being of children working in TV and film, and to ensure that children working in reality TV have the same protections. Governor Tom Corbett signed the bill on October 25, 2012.

As a personal note: Kate,
if you are the subject of Congressional hearings, and a law has been passed based on your failure to protect your children, you may want to rethink what you are doing.

Murt Child Labor Bill Goes to Governor

10/16/2012

HARRISBURG—Legislation to reform the state’s laws regulating children in entertainment is on its way to the governor’s desk, said Rep. Tom Murt (R-Montgomery), author of the measure, after the House joined the Senate in passing Murt’s reforms.

“This is a major victory for the state’s children,” Murt said. “The entire General Assembly has stated emphatically that those employed in film and television are indeed working and must have rights and protections.”

After an extensive investigation into children in films and television programs shot in Pennsylvania that began in 2009, Murt introduced House Bill 1548 to reform the state’s antiquated laws to address the changes in the industry.

“This legislation was designed to mimic the child labor laws of California,” Murt said. “I wanted to protect the health and financial wellbeing of child performers, but also wanted to provide reasonable guidelines that film and television producers could follow.”

The bill was crafted after meetings with representatives of the Motion Picture Association of America and Paul Petersen, the former child actor whose organization, A Minor Consideration, helps legislatures write their labor laws to protect child performers.

While film and TV production has nearly doubled over the last decade, the state’s child labor laws regulating entertainment were written years before color television, HBO and reality TV.

Murt’s investigation into child labor in reality TV revealed that the state laws regulating entertainment were so antiquated that children under 7 could not legally appear on a television series filmed in the state.

House Bill 1548 allows children on television, but limits the hours a child can work. The bill also makes sure a studio teacher is on set so a child actor’s education is provided for.

Under the reforms in House Bill 1548, children under 16 on a film set must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times. They can work no more than eight hours a day or 48 hours per week, and minors must finish work by 10 p.m. on school nights.

The bill also requires that trust accounts be established for minor actors, in which the employer must deposit 15 percent of the child’s gross earnings. “It’s the only way to make sure a portion of the child’s earnings are there for them when they reach adulthood,” Murt said.

The bill also defines the term “reality program” to make sure the children who appear on reality TV have the same protections as the children on a movie set.

“By updating the state’s child labor laws, I believe we will encourage more TV and film production,” Murt said. “We have created the clear legal guidelines the industry asked for and ensured child performers are paid and their health is protected.”

State Representative Thomas Murt

152nd District, Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Contact:

Rep. Murt’s Office

215-744-2600

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Thank you, Dana Hoffman,

for being a loving
, dedicated mother to our children,

and for being the first person

to publicly shine a light

on Kate Gosselin’s web of deceit.