While Jon praises his son Collin for his ‘courage’ in speaking out about their estranged family members, Kate says the 19-year-old ‘remains a very troubled young man who continues to need a lot of help’
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Kate Gosselin has weighed in amid ongoing tensions in her family, alleging her son Collin received “several psychiatric diagnoses” and inpatient psychiatric treatment in response to “unpredictable and violent behavior”.
Following accusations made by Kate’s ex-husband Jon Gosselin and two of the couple’s sextuplets – Collin and Hannah – on Vice TV Dark side of the 2000s, one of the oldest children of the exes, Mady, called out her estranged brother, in particular, for his previous actions and the claims he made on the show. Now Kate, 48, stands by her daughter Mady’s initial statement while shedding light on her alleged past relationship with Collin.
“I never wanted to have to do this, but I feel like I’ve been cornered and have no choice. Although it saddens me to do this, I have to speak up now,” she told PEOPLE exclusively. “My son Collin, whom I love with all my heart, has received multiple psychiatric diagnoses over the years. For my safety, that of his siblings, and for his own well-being, he was placed in a facility after years of outpatient treatment that proved insufficient for his needs. (Read his full statement below.)
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Related: Mady Gosselin Speaks Out on Brother Collin’s Recent Accusations, Alleges He ‘Physically Threatened’ Son
Jon and Collin have not responded to Kate’s statement, but both have acknowledged in the past that Collin was hospitalized when he was 12. On their episode of Vice TV’s Dark side of the 2000s, Jon said he spent $1 million to get Collin out of treatment. He also told the Daily Mail in 2019 that Collin had no known diagnosed health conditions at that time other than common ADHD.
Kate told PEOPLE in 2016 that Collin had “special needs.” In response he said entertainment tonight last year: “It’s a shame that my mom, you know, framed me as a person. You know, I don’t see those things and I don’t think anyone else sees those things, but if that’s how she sees me then, you know, that’s her point of view.”
Jon, meanwhile, claimed on the Vice TV show that a doctor said there was “no diagnosis yet” and that they were “going to find out.”
Collin, who graduated from high school earlier this year and shared his plans to join the Marines, also told the Vice TV series that family members cut him off and claimed his mother had been abusive. Both Jon and Collin have denied that the 19-year-old engaged in violent behavior at any time.
Kate’s full statement follows:
“I never wanted to have to do this, but I feel like I’ve been pushed into a corner and have no choice. Although it saddens me to do it, I have to speak up now.
My son Collin, whom I love with all my heart, has received several psychiatric diagnoses over the years. For my safety, that of his siblings, and for his own well-being, he was placed in a facility after years of outpatient treatment that proved insufficient for his needs. The decision to admit him was made by ER doctors following one of his many attacks/explosions – this one involving the use of a weapon.
Fast forward to today, and after Jon de Collin was removed from treatment, my son’s unpredictable and violent behavior has unfortunately continued steadily towards Jon, Hannah and others around him.
Collin’s distorted perception of reality is one of the many issues he has always struggled with. As many people with family members struggling with mental health issues can attest, it’s rarely and sadly surprising that complete fabrications occur, and that’s just another heartbreaking facet of this fight. All parent-child relationships are complex, but when it comes to mental illness, it’s incredibly complicated and painful, let alone easy for others to understand.
All the measures that have been taken in our house have been on the explicit recommendation of his child psychiatrist and / or his team of specialists and have been put in place to protect each member of our family, our friends as well as our pets.
Unfortunately, I believe Collin remains a very troubled young man who continues to need a lot of help. Her siblings and I have not been directly involved in her life due to her history of unpredictable behaviors and violent tendencies towards us. What her sister Mady posted on social media recently is absolutely accurate and I deeply appreciate her courage in doing so.
That’s all I have to say on the matter and I won’t go into it any further at this time.”
Related: Jon Gosselin Says He Has ‘No Answer’ As to Why His Kids Won’t Talk to Him: ‘That’s the Worst’
In response, Jon, 46, told PEOPLE, “In regards to these brand new false accusations, it seems clear that even today, after not seeing her son since 6th grade, Kate is unable to control her abusive language towards him. At this point, Collin is training to become a Marine to serve his country and is unable to answer his mother’s harsh lies.”
Jon and Kate – who also share Cara, 22, along with fellow sextuplets Alexis, Aaden, Leah and Joel – finalized their divorce in 2009. In the aftermath of their split, the former couple, along with their many children, were at odds, even slamming each other in the press.
In the latest episode of Vice TV’s Dark side of the 2000s, titled “Jon & Kate Plus 8: Family Circus,” Collin claimed his mother “built a barrier” between the siblings. He also accused Kate of being “abusive” of him, saying: “That’s kind of the reason she fired me. I was starting to tell people what was going on at home and, you know, she got wind of it and had to put me somewhere where I couldn’t spill the secrets.”
“I don’t know who my mother was before TV but I think she was a different person,” he added. “I think she has a good heart and good intentions, but television, fame and money change people.”
And despite that, Collin has always expressed his “hope” that he and his siblings “can all reconnect and put the show behind us and be siblings again, you know, and take back that time that we didn’t have.”
Related: Kate & Jon Gosselin’s 8 Kids: Everything You Need to Know
As for Jon, he admitted, “I don’t have access to the children I’m estranged from.”
“I have no idea why they stopped coming. I have no answers. Like, none. That’s the worst,” he added. “I’d rather it be like, ‘You’re an asshole,’ or, you know, ‘I hate you, and you did this to mom,’ or something like that. I’ve got nothing. It’s like I don’t have closure.”
But Mady, 22, took issue with Collin’s comments, in particular. She opted to “set the record straight”, saying: “I owe allegiance to no one who has physically threatened me or any of my immediate family members (some incidents as recent as last year).”
“Furthermore, I will never allow anyone who has exhibited hateful and even violent behavior towards others because of their racial identity, gender identity, or religious beliefs to be in my life. Kindness, tolerance, love, and acceptance are core values in my life and I refuse to compromise them for ANYONE, even my brother Collin, who unfortunately expressed his views very clearly in private,” she continued, later stating that there was “no another conversation to have about rebuilding relationships with anyone in my life after reaching the point of physical abuse and hate speech.”
“I can’t say more why Collin did these things, just that I witnessed them,” she added, noting that she asks for “peace and privacy (and no more hate mail) in the future.”
Standing next to his son, Jon told PEOPLE, “It took courage for Collin to sit down and talk about his past. And the last thing I expected was more abuse coming his way from a brother who hasn’t seen or spoken to him since he was in sixth grade.”
“Collin has grown into a wonderful man. I love him and am proud and excited to see him grow into a young U.S. Marine,” he added.
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Noel Vasquez/Getty Images; Collin Gosselin/Instagram; Amanda Edwards/Getty Images
Mady then posted another statement on her Instagram story, saying, “I am not the authority on the trauma others have been through, but I am the authority on what I have been through (and I reluctantly shared it with you today).”
“To those of you who say my brother was a child who suffered trauma and therefore I must quickly forgive and forget, remember that I was a child too,” she continued. “I have empathy for him and what he’s been through, but that doesn’t erase the trauma I went through from him.”
She added, “We’re real people living real lives, not just characters on your TV, which means there’s so much you’ll never know about our lives. There’s no need to ‘take sides’, just be nice ❤️”
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