After Split & 'Kate Plus 8' Show Rename, Jon Now Finds TV Unhealthy for His Kids
Over the past four years, a television show about Jon and Kate Gosselin’s family life with their eight children–now 8-year-old twins and 5-year-old sextuplets–have made them a household name.
But after a separation and divorce filing announced in June that put them on the front page of supermarket tabloids for weeks and reduced his participation in the program, it was announced Tuesday that the name of the TLC reality series would be changed to Kate Plus Eight from Jon & Kate Plus Eight, reports CNN. And now Jon Gosselin is seeking to eliminate the couple’s children from the show, too.
“The reason I don’t think it’s healthy for them is that we’re going through a divorce right now, and I don’t think it should be televised and I think my kids should be taken off the show,” he told Larry King in a Thursday evening broadcast. “They’re 5 and 8 now; let them experience a normal childhood.”
Legally, it appears that he may have some cards to play:
Although her lawyer, Mark Momjian says a separation agreement gives the custodial parent–Kate Gosselin–decision-making power over the children’s television appearances, his lawyer, Mark Heller, says authorities are investigating whether TLC violated child-labor laws by not paying them directly and failing to get required permits. Jon Gosselin tells King that the family was paid $22,500 for each episode, but none of the money was specifically earmarked for the kids.
Heller also argues that TLC’s exclusive contract to film the family is now null and void because his client was effectively eliminated from the program.
Related coverage:
New York Times: “Now It’s Kate Minus Jon Minus 8?”
Updated on Oct. 6 to link to subsequent New York Times article.
