Jon Gosselin Urges His and Kate Gosselin’s Kids to Speak out Amid Allegations of Physical Abuse

Jon Gosselin is urging his children to speak out publicly amid allegations of physical abuse against him and ex-wife Kate Gosselin. The former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star appears on Tuesday’s episode of The Dr. Oz Show, and in a preview shared by Us Weekly, said his children need to speak out and come together to help his family heal.

“I think the kids need to talk,” Jon tells Dr. Mehmet Oz. “I mean, I’m giving them the outlet of, ‘If you want to talk to the public because you’re public [people], you have every opportunity to do these things.’” Jon is father to eight children with ex-wife Kate, from whom he split in 2009. Son Collin and daughter Hannah, both 16, live with their father, while their fellow sextuplets Aaden, Joel, Alexis and Leah live with their mom and have been estranged from their father for years. The former couple also shares twin daughters, Cara and Madelyn, now 20, who have also distanced themselves from Jon.

In September, the Berks County Children & Youth Services in Pennsylvania investigated a claim Collin made in a since-deleted social media post that his father had punched him in the face and kicked him in the ribs. After its investigation, CYS wrote in a letter obtained by Entertainment Tonight that claims of child abuse against the former TLC star were “unfounded,” despite Kate’s public allegations that her ex is a “violent and abusive person.”

Jon told the outlet there was an argument between him and his son that led to the teen calling the police. “It escalated into something, you know, I had to restrain him and I’ve done that a couple times,” Jon said in September. “I didn’t think he would call the police but he wanted to get his way and the police did their investigation and there were no charges or citations filed.”

On Tuesday’s The Dr. Oz Show, Jon said he thought “an intervention” from the kids would be the only way he and Kate could ever get along again. “I have no idea if they’ll reach out in that way,” Jon told Dr. Oz of his hopes for a response from his six estranged kids. “I’ve let that in their court and I’m just focused on the two that are living with me because there’s so much going on with therapies and work and COVID and everything else.”