Jon Gosselin Loves His Kids, His Girlfriend And The Jews
Categories: Divorce & Custody, Celeb Kids, Celeb Parenting, Behaving Badly, In The News, Media, Extreme Childhood, Twins, Triplets, Multiples
Jon Gosselin with his six of his eight children in happier days for the couple. Credit: Soul Brother, FilmMagic
Problem is, it's costing him.
His legal battle with his ex seems to grow exponentially every day, which, of course, sends the media frenzy on Jon-dom into the stratosphere. We called Jon for a quick chat to catch up on how this is impacting his parenting and ended up talking about everything else.
ParentDish: So, what's going on?
Jon Gosselin: I'm just trying to be as cordial as possible. I messed up at the beginning and now I want to be a nice guy, make better decisions and do the right thing.
PD: Why? What did you do that you consider bad moves.
JG: Meeting Kate Major [former reporter for Star magazine] and Stephanie [Santoro], the nanny. Those were two things.
PD: What's with you and family friend Hailey Glassman?
JG: Me and Hailey are still together. It was hard for her in the beginning. We are going to stay together. She talks to people. She's so friendly. She just goes up to people and says, 'I love your shoes.'
PD: Are you two going to get married?
JG: We don't talk about getting married. She's seen how messy my divorce has been and she says it makes her not want to get married. She laughs about it. It's so different than it was with Kate. It's so comfortable with Hailey and her family. They are so nice. They gave Kate a free tummy tuck, worth $20 grand. I mean, hello? It's free surgery.
PD: How is Hailey adjusting?
JG: I apologized to Hailey that I shouldn't have been hanging out with anyone else. I love her to death and she could've walked away.
PD: Where are you living these days?
JG: I feel like I'm nomadic. I'm in New York, Reading [Pennsylvania], L.A. I have an apartment in New York, on the West Side. I could sleep in my apartment on my 8,000-square-foot property, but that would make Kate uncomfortable. I take the high road.
PD: That must be difficult after all the negative attention coming your way.
JG: I never said anything demeaning about Kate, just that once on Good Morning America about a month ago or so, I lose track of time. I said I despised her; maybe I despised the things she does. That was the first interview in 4 ½ years by myself.
PD: Where are you right now? I hear loud music in the background.
JG: In Philadelphia in a restaurant. There are 65 paparazzi following me in Reading so I don't stay there. Our Nielsons [ratings] are 11 million. That's like the population of Pennsylvania.
PD: Let's try a happy topic. What are your plans for Halloween and Thanksgiving with the kids?
JG: Thanksgiving is tough. Kate has custody on Thanksgiving, but I will stop by to see my kids. Halloween I don't have custody. Hailey handles my schedule. It's kinda weird, but I can confide in her. She's my best friend. I lost a lot of friends; people burned me left and right.
PD: And Christmas?
JG: Christmas, yeah. This is the first year I will celebrate Chanukah. Hailey is Jewish. Everyone in my life is Jewish now, my attorney. I love it. I'm now half Jewish and half Korean. The family values are great. On Christmas, I'll see my kids during the day for a couple of hours.
PD: Then what?
JG: Hailey is so excited because we're going to go ornament shopping and I'll buy her a stocking. News Year's Eve I'll be in Vegas hosting Las Vegas Live with Eva Longoria.
PD: That sounds fun. Tell me more about your interest in Judaism.
JG: I just went through Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur and learned about the new year and every Friday is the Shabbat dinner. I love challah bread. I'm learning about Jewish food, going to Zabar's. I love that place. I'm learning about kosher and when not to order a bacon, egg and cheese and make an ass of myself. Hailey makes fun of me. My mom came to the city on Yom Kippur and asked where all the traffic was. I got from the West Side to Midtown in five minutes. She wants to come to the city every year on Yom Kippur.
PD: Are we going to see you converting to Judaism?
JG: I talked to Rabbi Shmuley a couple of times. He has nine kids. I was really nervous dating a Jewish girl. She's like the best girl ever. All my friends are like 'I'm so jealous' and I'm like, 'Stay away, she's mine.' She's the rock of my life. She's been through hell in the tabloids. They made up lies that she's a lesbian and she's doing drugs. We've both been through all this turmoil. And we just keep on loving each other.
PD: That's so sweet.
JG: Yeah, I'm not used to that. It's totally different than it was with Kate.
PD: What do you mean?
JG: I look at Kate and say, 'What are you doing? Why are you airing our dirty laundry?'
PD: Why do you think she's talking publicly?
JG: She hired an attorney that says I stole $230,000 and it's so not true and I can prove it. Who is she proving this to? No one cares. You look like the biggest ass somehow. She's throwing me under the bus. Her and TLC. They don't like me because I want to pull my kids off TV. They made $186 million last quarter, $143 million of that from Jon & Kate Plus 8. [Editor's note: A TLC spokesperson declined to verify the numbers to ParentDish.]
Jon Gosselin at a promotional event going solo. Credit: X17online
PD: How much of that do you see?
JG: $25,000 per episode. It's awfully low. They locked in a contract and we're in the 50 percent tax bracket, so it's $12,500, so each of us gets $1,250 per episode. People think I make $75,000, $100,000 per episode. My kids sacrifice their privacy for this?
PD: Some people would say you should've thought of that a long time ago.
JG: I always wanted to take the kids off the air but we would've been breaching the contract. I couldn't say that on the air because we would've been sued. They tried to fire me before I fired them. I'm stepping up to the plate. Whatever they want to do to me. Sue me. Send me to jail. I'm taking my kids off the air. What judge will say, 'Okay, your kids must be on film'? I know how it works. I'm not afraid of TLC now. God is on my side. TLC would say, 'You can't say this,' and now I'm just unleashing it.
PD: How do the kids feel about it?
JG: The kids are unanimous. They don't want to film. We filmed 152 episodes. What more can you possibly still film? You want us to go to the moon? You want us to take the kids and go to Korea? Are you crazy? They don't want to be on a four-cylinder bus in Korea. They want to be home in the pool. [Editor's note: TLC says they taped a total of 112 episodes.]
PD: How are the paparazzi dealing with you these days?
JG: Hailey and I just hung out in her parents' house for awhile because of the paparazzi. But I know that if you didn't have paparazzi, there would be no magazines, no advertising, no marketing, no nothing. If you run away from them, you're totally toast. So let them take your picture and that's it. After they get the picture then they go away. We're just like, who cares, do what you gotta do and make money for your family. I know a lot of them. I know where their parents live.
PD: Smart move.
JG: Every talk show wants us. I am the most photographed person the planet. Kate is the fifth most popular person in the world this year, and I'm the second most popular. Michael Jackson is the first. I'm like, 'Wake up, Kate.'
PD: What do you mean?
JG: She goes on Regis and The View and has no idea of women's rights. She doesn't even vote, which is disgusting. How could she go on a talk show if she doesn't know what's going on in the world? She's fed lines from TLC. I'm not bashing her -- it's wake up and get on board, take this out of the court and let's settle it.
PD: What does she need to get on board with?
JG: She needs to get on board with her own life and get away from TLC and get out of Kate Gosselin world. She doesn't want to hear it because she's so brainwashed from TLC. She should be an independent contractor and instead she says, 'Yes, I'll listen to you.' For me, you cannot take away my freedom of speech.
PD: What are you doing with yourself these days for work?
JG: I'm still building websites. Hailey wants to start a clothing line.
PD: What happened with the Ed Hardy deal? Weren't you going to do a kids' clothing line?
JG: Ed Hardy totally used us. He got a million in ad sales. He says he never sent a proposal and that's not true. I have it. [Editor's note: The Ed Hardy company was contacted for verification, but did not respond by presstime.]
PD: That's icky. What else is going on?
JG: I started the Jon Gosselin Children's Foundation to help people pay for bills for sick kids. My dad would operate on handicapped children for free and my brother and I want to continue my father's legacy and my kids will see this. We're not taking a penny from it.
PD: I heard that you may do another reality show, Divorced Dads Club with Michael Lohan, Lindsay's dad?
JG: Absolutely never. I will never do a reality show again. If I do, it's a documentary on reality TV. I thought DDC was a good idea, but then I feel I have better things to do with my time than to do another show. DDC would take time from my kids.
PD: And speaking of time with your kids, what happened at the twins' birthday party yesterday?
JG: It was the first time I saw Kate in four weeks. It was super uncomfortable because she stayed. There was that elephant in the room, you know. I was really cool. I went to a hotel last night because I know she didn't want me there. Here was a woman I was married to for 10 years and I can't be in the same room with her.
PD: That's so sad that it had to come to this.
JG: Why would she bash me? She's always quick to blame and never takes any blame. She has a media mogul behind her, TLC, a law team. I'm like, I'm gonna do what's right, whether or not it costs me my career.
PD: With all this turmoil, where do you turn for parenting advice?
JG: I have a therapist. But hanging around Jewish people you don't need to talk to anyone else. My parents and grandparents are divorced and I want to break the pattern. I have Hailey and Mark Heller, my attorney, my therapist. They're all Jewish. I watch them and I confide in them, especially Hailey. She is my best friend. She'll tell me if I do something wrong. God has put these people in my life for a reason. My inner circle is Jewish. I only care what they think. I never talked about anything until therapy. Kate never wanted to go to marriage counseling. The thing in therapy is about teaching me how to talk to my kids.
PD: So you're getting everything out in the open now.
JG: I started writing a book. My book says it all. It will teach fathers a lesson.
PD: What do you hope for the future?
JG: Kate and I were a great mom and dad. We were called America's best family. We can still be that and do the best we can as parents. There are tons of divorced people going through this.
PD: How do you handle all the nasty comments about you?
JG: Like the Italians say, 'Keep your head up and nothing will hurt you.' People who write things on blogs are just couch potatoes who have nothing else to do. They put people down because of their psychosis. I told Mady and Cara that the things in the magazines are not true. You want the truth you ask Mommy and Daddy.
PD: Would you have more children?
JG: No. But if Hailey and I got married and she wanted to, then obviously I would. But let me get through this first.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 24)
Katty 10-09-2009 @ 7:57PM
Seriously, what is wrong with that guy? He doesn't sound like a 30 something year old father, he sounds like a guy......ick. Plus, what's up with all the jewish talk, it sounds so insencere and then he wants them off tv but invites Entertainment Tonight to film him picking up his daughter's birthday cake and driving to their home in PA so that they can film whether he gets in or not....huh?
Reply
tinaraikes 10-09-2009 @ 8:24PM
I do agree with him about they should yank the kids away from this reality show. It's time for them to just be kids. And also most parents today are divorced. I really was against him at first, but now I think he is making alittle since. Kate and Jon should just let the kids live nomal, get there divorce and just live there life and always put the kids first. Divorce is awful nasty anyway (I know), being in the lime light with it has to be double the nasty. They just need to remember that they have got great kids so him and kate need to get along for them. Kids get hurt the most when parents hate each other. They need to suck it up, be nice, get the divorce and get rid of those nasty lawyers as fast as they can.
Tina
D 10-09-2009 @ 8:56PM
Good Luck Jon I say
Did anyone really ever listen to the way Kate spoke to and or about him. I could never really become a regular of the show, for everytime I attemplted to watch I would see this woemn/wife talk down to her husband and if the roles were reversed there would have been a huge stink made over a guy talking down to his wife...
I would never speak to and or take speech of such from my husband... And why should he!! AS FOR HIS AFFAIRS "UNACCEPTABLE AS WELL" Franklin I am surprised anyone cares to watch the show and continue to expLoit these children!!!! LOOK ASHAMED
Robin 10-09-2009 @ 9:14PM
Katty....I just saw the news earlier. He didn't "invite" anyone to come and take pics of him picking up that cake. Entertainment News had ordered that cake and payed the store to let them come in. They knew that that was where they ordered cakes from. Jon went in to pick up cupcakes, and instead was told a cake had already been ordered. And that's how they got him. Do you really think he would have mispelled his own kid's name?
lisa 10-09-2009 @ 9:35PM
this guy acts like a total kid. maybe his kids should teach him something. in addition he constantly repeats on how kate bashes him all the time in the media, but here he is talking all the crap about his wife. this guy needs to get a life and grow up.
Sondra 10-09-2009 @ 9:44PM
Jon is so fake. Has anyone notice he is the first one to come out whining to the media. I do not feel bad for him at all. He brought this on himself. It is sad when his much younger girlfriend has to tell him when he has done something wrong. He acts like he is a child and needs to be told what to do. And that is why Kate took that role. Now is girlfriend is is new mother. How sick/his children are more mature than he is
Brooke 10-09-2009 @ 10:25PM
i totaly agree plus he thinks he's so perfect but hes's more than likley lieing about half the things he said. it's like get a life jon. and he's more than likley trying to make kate jealous plus he thinks he's such a good father but he's causing pain for his kids he makes me sick.
Lisa 10-09-2009 @ 10:44PM
I used to be on Jon's side, but now I despise him. He makes me sick. He made the choices to get married and have children now he should stand by them rather than running around like a teenager. He is going through a major crisis in his life and he needs to wake up and realize that he has 8 kids to take care of and that he needs to be a role model for. I am glad that TLC took him off the show! I just hope that they are able to continue.
Dari 10-09-2009 @ 11:05PM
"She is my best friend. She'll tell me if I do something wrong". Why didn't Hailey tell you that cheating on your wife was wrong??? Marriage is not easy, but you just do not walk away from it! How can he compare his new girlfriend to the mother of his 8 kids??? Are you serious Jon? He sounds like a clown! I feel bad for the kids! At least Kate has some class.
blackangel 10-10-2009 @ 2:00AM
I watched this show from day one an i have always supported tha gosselins i think kate does take certain things 2 an extreme sumtimes. Jon has the right to not want his children on the show anymore because of the messy things that have happened. everything will work out for tha kids sake. I think all media should jus leave them alone an let them have their lives bk because this will follow for the rest of their lives already. i still support tha gosselins mom dad an of course tha little ones. god bless u all
ashley 10-09-2009 @ 11:20PM
Ok....let's all be honest....the real reason Kate don't want to pull the kids out of the tv show is because her and Jon have made all this money, they now have a million dollar home, she has everything she could possibly ask for......do u honestly think she wants to give all that up.....she's selfish....she's money hungry.....she doesn't want to be like every other american and have to work for a living....yea yea i know they say she has a job on TLC but come on, i'm talking about a real job for crying out loud......she doesn't want to give up all that money, so yea she's gonna sacrifice the kids' childhood for it, that's just what kind of person she is......besides if she did stop the tv show, how would she come up with the payments for the house?......This whole arguement isn't about wether or not the kids should have a childhood anymore it's about money......and kate is rolling in it and loving it......she's not going to give it up, she wants it to bad.....i think they should take the kids out and make her get a job, them kids are more important than some tv show. However, on the other hand and a different look at things (looking from kate's point of view) she has 8 kids a random minimum wage job isn't gonna feed 8 kids and house them and cloth them, etc.....if you look at it from that point of view it would seem as if she was thinking in the kids' best interest, but i honestly don't think that's the case.....
Marty 10-10-2009 @ 12:03AM
Amen to this one! I can't stand the creep. Everything is about him. Like others, I'm now curious as to why he doesn't want the kids to be filmed any more. Why did the jerk decide that NOW and not earlier?? He is a paunchy, balding and so stuck on himself; the comments he makes sound so phony. Have you seen the idiot being interviewed (or whatever)? He's disgusting! The interviewer got him when she asked about the kids & he starts in about himself - she turned that on him and asked why he was talking about himself when the question was about the kids. I use to love the "trash" show ET but, with all the crud about/on Jon, I will no longer watch that show.
asb 10-10-2009 @ 12:04AM
Are you serious??? Its funny that Jon only pulled the kids off AFTER they wrote him off the show. Why was he not worried about the kids then
Kate 10-10-2009 @ 12:04AM
PD: Would you have more children?
JG: No. But if Hailey and I got married and she wanted to, then obviously I would. But let me get through this first.___________You can't afford them moron.
lightyear 10-10-2009 @ 12:28AM
If Jon and Kate divorce...oh well. It stinks, but it happens. But for goodness sake, be a man and for once, stand on your own two feet. I told my daughter "weak women are useless, you have to be able to take care of yourself...no matter what". Maybe Jon's mom should have passed on the same advise.
Beanie 10-10-2009 @ 12:37AM
I thought under Jewish Law, you're not suppose to be with a married man. Jon is still legally married to Kate, so what's Hailey doing with Jon?
kelbel 10-10-2009 @ 12:57AM
Good one!!! Great comment girl..Jon's lost his mind. He's Jewish about as much as Kate is Polynesian...
Nik 10-10-2009 @ 1:07AM
Does anyone else notice how fake this is and how sad he seems? He is taking advantage of all his popularity and exploiting it to the extreme...he has been dating a little girl for a few weeks that has all the energy that a girl with no children has and thinks she is what his ex-wife should have been after giving birth to his children..pathetic. He is acting like a teenager who had his ego hurt after someone bad-mouthed him, and it is hurting his children, even if he doesn't realize it. His actions are doing more damage than the show is, and at least Kate is the one taking care of the kids while he is off galavanting with his new-found 'love of his life'- so convenient for him. Go ahead and seem like the good guy, I would not want my children around you simply for safety reasons- I would not trust him to ensure the children's well-being. Is TLC really all that different from a camcorder for hire?
Brittany 10-10-2009 @ 12:59AM
I think both parents (Kate & Jon) have some serious maturing to do. I do however see Jon's view on removing the children from tv to be valid. I believe that his reason for not doing it before is because he was blind to the extent it had on the children. Now that he and Kate have seperated, I think he can take a look from the outside and see how inconvienent it is for them and how they get not a moment of peace. Tabloids and morning shows as well as many others are spreading all the nasty divorce news and rumors like wild fire. Im sure that the children see what is said on tv and read magazine covers they pass on the street. This case should be no different than any other divorce. They have already seperated so now its time to suck it up (both parties), head to court and divide the assets and decided cutody and visitation. Its unhelathy for Jon & Kate to take turns living in the house. There need to be two seperate places for the childen where they can spend quality (uninterrupted) time with each parent. At the rate they are going now these poor kids are not going to ever comprehend or know the truth about the whole mess. Both Jon & Kate should be mature enough to settle this an civil as possible and then move on with their lives. Jon & Kate; think about your children! For once forget about yourselves and think about your poor children who are being put through hell because you cannot settle things between yourselves, they will thank you for it!
grannyapple 10-10-2009 @ 1:53PM
kathy, you are so right! jewish? i love all people, but what is all
this going to do to his children? weren't they attending mass with
them? Jesus was a Jew. Why doesn't he love Him anymore,
and keep teaching his children about Him. he is such a hypocrite!!!!!!
he and his live in should go back to his roots to live and leave kate
and the kids alone, all would be better off!!!!!!!!!!!