Jon Gosselin says his son Collin Gosselin is focused on “moving forward” following the 20-year-old’s bombshell claims about mom Kate Gosselin.
“He’s doing really well,” Jon, 47, told TMZ on Wednesday, September 25. The former reality star said that Collin has since made the decision to attend Penn State University, where he’s currently a freshman. “That was like closure for him, I believe.”
Jon also predicted that there won’t be a conversation between Collin and Kate regarding the accusations.
“There’s so much animosity,” Jon explained.
Collin spoke with The U.S. Sun earlier this month and alleged that Kate, 49, was “physically aggressive” and “verbally” abused him as a child.
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“My mother had a room built in our unfinished section of the storage basement. She had a room put up with cameras in it, a tiny window in the corner and it was bolt-locked from the outside,” Collin claimed. “It was like a containment room, literally, and it had a mattress on the floor and that’s how I lived.”
Collin further alleged that Kate “zip-tied my hands and feet together and bolt locked the door.” When leaving him in the isolation room, he claimed that she “turned the lights off and had cameras there just watching me.”
Overall, he referred to his childhood as “rough,” claiming that he “was 100 percent treated differently” than his siblings. (Us Weekly reached out for comment at the time.)
Jon and Kate rose to fame on the reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8, which aired from 2007 to 2017. The former couple, who divorced in 2009, share 23-year-old twins Mady and Cara, along with 20-year-old sextuplets Collin, Hannah, Leah, Joel, Alexis and Aaden.
“I definitely went through it a lot as a kid from my mother’s end. So, it was tough,” Collin further alleged. “I just remember being isolated from my siblings and constantly taking the fall for her emotions or the tough things going on in her life.”
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Collin claimed that the “containment” in the basement started when he was 8 or 9 years old. He was there “most of the day” and didn’t go to school.
Kate has not publicly addressed the claims, but her lawyer, Richard Puleo, told The U.S. Sun in a statement that he didn’t think Kate would ever “intentionally harm” Collin.
“She did what she did to protect herself and her family,” the attorney added, alleging that Collin showcased “troubled behavior” as a child.
Collin further addressed the allegations in a social media post.
“It has taken me a long time to find the strength needed to speak about my mother’s abuse,” he shared via Instagram Stories, in part, on September 10. “I have finally found my voice, and I hope to be the voice for children everywhere facing abuse. It is never OK. Your story can be told, just like mine.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
