Jon Gosselin is speaking out after his daughter Mady Gosselin addressed the childhood harassment she’s faced ever since gaining fame on her family’s reality series Jon & Kate Plus 8.
If you missed it, the 22-year-old clapped back at trolls on TikTok earlier this week. While revealing she’s been receiving “hate mail” since she was a child, she asked fans to stop making assumptions about her family since their comments affect her and her siblings’ real lives. She captioned her heated rant, writing:
“I’ve been getting hate mail since I was 6, but that doesn’t mean you need to keep sending it. Learn how to respect people’s boundaries and practice kindness.”
So very young to be receiving hatred of any kind. Ugh!
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In the video, she went on to address the online bullying she’s had to deal with most of her life, saying:
“This is the singular time I’m going to address this because it is sending me over the edge. The rhetoric in so many of my comments about childhood trauma and healing and whatever you want to say about my family, my life, my parents, whatever is not your business. As is the case with every other person in the entire world, it is not anybody else’s business what they are dealing with behind closed doors if they don’t want it to be your business.”
Speaking about her twin sister Cara and younger siblings, 18-year-old sextuplets Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah, and Joel, she continued:
“Perpetuating the narrative that we are damaged or that we are crazy child stars or whatever you want to say is extremely harmful, as myself and my siblings are going out into the world and will be functioning members of society with careers.”
She asked for the bullying and speculation to stop and warned haters she’d be blocking anyone who doesn’t respect her wishes. You can hear the reality star’s candid comments (below).
https://www.tiktok.com/@madygosselin/video/7196085448790281515?referer_url=perezhilton.com%2Fjon-kate-gosselin-daughter-mady-slams-harmful-online-bullying-amid-family-rift%2F&refer=embed&embed_source=121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_blank&referer_video_id=7196085448790281515
It’s clearly been very challenging for Mady to grow up in the spotlight — especially with the dramatic divorce of her parents Kate Gosselin and Jon as well as the media frenzy that has followed her family for years. But it turns out her father is having an equally challenging time hearing her clap back at haters.
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Speaking to In Touch on Thursday, an insider revealed that Jon is struggling after seeing Mady’s TikTok, they shared:
“Seeing Mady dealing with this is difficult for Jon because he learned, despite his best efforts, he had no control regarding his children’s upbringing and very little power over TLC lawyers and his children’s mother, Kate [Gosselin].”
The source went on to explain this is why the former TV personality fought so hard to stop his children from being the stars of his family’s show, adding:
“Public scrutiny is exactly what Jon was trying to avoid for his kids when he filed to have the children stop filming in 2009.”
If you don’t recall, back in 2009, the network was forced to stop filming the popular series after receiving a cease-and-desist order from Jon, per CBS. The legal issue arose just weeks after the couple filed for divorce and as the show was planning to reduce Jon’s involvement, so there was a lot of tension between the pair. In a statement, Kate said at the time:
“I’m saddened and confused by Jon’s public media statements. Jon has never expressed any concerns to me about our children being involved in the show and, in fact, is on the record as saying he believes the show benefits our children and was taping on Friday with the kids.”
Similar issues arose in 2019 when Jon told DailyMailTV he was “furious” his ex-wife and TLC had reportedly violated a court order to film the kids after a judge ruled it was “not in the best interests” of the children to keep allowing them to be filmed for reality TV in 2018.
In more recent years, the family has been split apart after two of the sextuplets, Collin and Hannah, decided to live full-time with their father while the others stayed with Kate. As Collin revealed late last year, he hasn’t been in contact with his estranged siblings for about five or six years. It’s been messy, so no wonder it’s hard for the patriarch to see how much the spotlight has negatively impacted his children’s lives. But it’s also good that Mady’s using her voice and shutting down the trolls. Thoughts? Let us know (below)!