It seems that all is not well in Gosselinland.  Jon Gosselin, dad of twins and sextuplets and long-suffering husband of shrewish Kate, apparently has been seen and photographed supposedly visiting a bar and, according to Star magazine, this isn’t an isolated incident:

On TV, he is a harried father of eight with a wife who is constantly on his case, so it’s not surprising that Jon Gosselin needs to blow off some steam.

And in recent weeks, the star of the TLC reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8 has been doing just that — slipping away from his new $1.3 million mansion to party the night away with a bevy of college cuties!

The father of twins and sextuplets has been living it up in Huntingdon, Pa., where his mom resides. He turned up uninvited at a Feb. 6 party thrown by Juniata College seniors Erin Albert and Mariel Little — and ended up playing the drinking game beer pong with members of the women’s volleyball team!

Of course, you can find out More! Juicy! Details! when you pick up the latest edition of the rag (and I emphasize that it is a tabloid).  But here’s a sneak peek:

According to the Magazine, Jon–who along with Kate and the rest of his brood recently moved into a $1.3 million dollar mansion in Pennsylvania–recently crashed a party at Juniata College in nearby Huntington, PA and played beer pong with members of the women’s volleyball team.

The following night he apparently went to a nearby sports bar, again with members of the women’s volleyball team and allegedly made out with a number of them.

The Magazine quotes a witness at the bar as saying:

“He was dirty dancing with several of them, making out, kissing them on their necks and mouths. I thought it was rather surprising for a father with his wife and so many kids at home to be acting like this. He was all over one girl, a long-haired blonde who’s nearly 6 feet tall. He left with several of the girls, including her.”

Jon is also said to be frequenting other bars close to his home, even spending Valentine’s Day away from Kate. Supposedly, he’s even tried to pick up women while out with his mother.

The details may or may not be true.  The story behind the photo?

According to a user on a Jon and Kate fan club thing on a baby site, Jon was at a bar in her town recently:

“So i live like 15 mins away from the town j and k used to live in. Well my friend was at the bar this weekend and saw jon at the bar. She said he was with some girl she didnt know, and he was buying all these girls drinks. I dont know how true this is, but if it is im gonna be really upset. I really hope he want cheating!”

Jon, for his part, has this to say about that:

In a statement issued through his rep, Jon says: “It is certainly hurtful for people to spread rumors and lies about us. It certainly makes me reluctant to live my life like the average person would. This has made it very clear that the simplest innocent gesture — such as taking a picture with a fan, can be taken out of context.

“As you can see on the show, I am not perfect, but I am a part of a loving family and couple.”

So while not specifically saying it is him in the photo, he doesn’t deny it either.  (For those who don’t believe it is Jon.)  So is Jon looking for love in all the wrong places?  Well, it sure seems like he ain’t gettin’ no home cookin’.  (Why yes, I did say that.)  And even if, as it has been claimed by Gosselin apologists (link is kind of scary, you’ve been warned), that all he did was innocently pop in for a few drinks and sweetly pose for a harmless pic that the bartender requested, what was he doing in a bar?  This family has built their fame on not only their children, but their faith…so why was he there to start with?

This whole thing makes me sad.  Not because I’m a big fan of J&K+8…oh no.  In fact, I’m far from it…I think it’s a horrible thing to do to children, making their lives the focus of a reality show.  Children need to grow up, make mistakes, and have good days and bad days far from the prying eyes of a camera and, by extension, the world.  How dare these parents put their children out for the world to gawp at like they are zoo animals.  No, I’m not a fan of whoring out one’s children for the almighty dollar.

But it makes me sad because this sorry event, true or not, is one of the expected side-effects of an endeavor such as their reality show, both for the adults and children alike.  Every move they make, every thought they think, every word out of their mouths, every right and wrong action, all are thrown out there for the salivating masses to fight over like hungry wolves, tearing and ripping to shreds any semblance of dignity with their razor-sharp fangs until there is nothing left but dry bones from which even the marrow has been sucked.

So, okay; let’s assume the above story is total hearsay and rumor and there’s not a word of truth in it.  What really gets me is the quote by Jon:  “It certainly makes me reluctant to live my life like the average person would.”  Does he not see the hypocrisy inherent in that statement?  If he, as a grown man who is free to make his own decisions and live his life any way he sees fit, feels that he can’t live a normal, average life (which apparently includes making mistakes), then how does he possibly expect his children to ever have any sort of normalcy?  The cameras have already captured potty-training, constipation problems, children in bathtubs…what is next, following along when the girls get their first periods?  When the boys are tempted to have a beer with their buddies?  When they sit down to write their tell-all memoirs of their lives in front of the cameras?  (Mark my words, they will do it.)

These children did not ask to be made stars; they really have no say in the matter.  There are labor laws in California, for example, which protect children in these situations, but those don’t exist in Pennsylvania where the show is based.  There are also questions as to how wise it is to let these kids grow up on camera (read the whole article, it’s great):

The criticism has spread beyond the ’Net. Kate’s battleax behavior has made her every husband’s nightmare and consequently the butt of pop culture jokes, too. On their syndicated radio show, the notorious Opie & Anthony called her “a capital C” and her marriage “loveless,” as men whose DVRs have been taken over by their wives’ and girlfriends’ obsession with the show lit up the phone lines. The Soup’s Joel McHale can’t seem to get over the way Kate regularly emasculates Jon, calling her “­Katezilla” while highlighting a recent episode in which she berates Jon for forgetting to use a coupon, and hypothesizing about a spin-off: Jon Minus Nine. In October, Paul Petersen, a former child actor from The Donna Reed Show who advocates for child stars, delivered a blistering attack while on CNN, arguing that “children need secrets, they need silences.” In California, Jon & Kate Plus 8 as it exists today would be highly illegal, explains Petersen, because of the state’s extensive protections for all kids on camera, scripted or reality. But Pennsylvania doesn’t offer similar protections. TLC has installed studio lighting throughout the Elizabethtown house, illuminating it, a neighbor says, so that “you could see it from space.” And while Kate contends in one episode that the kids have been living with cameras since infancy, “so they don’t think anything of it,” a recent episode showed a close-up of a child-drawn sign reading “Stay owt with camras.”

And a letter written to the parents of the McCaughey septuplets back in 1997 by the surviving Dionne quintuplets strikes deep at the heart of just what makes shows like this so distasteful:

Dear Bobbi and Kenny,

If we emerge momentarily from the privacy we have sought all our adult lives, it is only to send a message to the McCaughey family. We three would like you to know we feel a natural affinity and tenderness for your children. We hope your children receive more respect than we did. Their fate should be no different from that of other children. Multiple births should not be confused with entertainment, nor should they be an opportunity to sell products.

Our lives have been ruined by the exploitation we suffered at the hands of the government of Ontario, our place of birth. We were displayed as a curiosity three times a day for millions of tourists. To this day we receive letters from all over the world. To all those who have expressed their support in light of the abuse we have endured, we say thank you. And to those who would seek to exploit the growing fame of these children, we say beware.

We sincerely hope a lesson will be learned from examining how our lives were forever altered by our childhood experience. If this letter changes the course of events for these newborns, then perhaps our lives will have served a higher purpose.

Sincerely, Annette, Cecile and Yvonne Dionne

Google the Dionne Quints; what they endured is nothing short of terrible.  Bottom line, here’s the deal:  Children are a treasure, a precious gift from God, not a commodity to be traded for monetary gain.

I’m not posting this to point fingers at Jon, because he’ll have to deal with the ramifications of whatever decisions he makes without my sticking my fork into him.  I do think he made a mistake going into that bar…but the first mistake was to prostitute his children to the TV Johns to start with.  No, my point is rather to illustrate the unique stresses “reality” television puts on a family, and what can happen when people who aren’t playing roles in a movie decide to let cameras in on their everyday lives.

There are ripple effects that will undoubtedly have to be dealt with for years to come because of the decision to throw their pebbles into the reality show pond.  We’ve all made mistakes and we’ve all done things that we would be mortified if someone knew…but the difference is that most of us do not actively seek out the reality show spotlight.  Make no mistake, these aren’t accidental celebs; but, like most celebrities, they are learning that what you gain in money you lose in freedom.  True, this might have happened whether they were television stars or not…but at least they would have been able to deal with it in private.

To anyone considering a reality show:  You can’t have it both ways; you can’t with one hand court publicity and with the other push it away when it shows you in an unflattering light.  There are no free rides in this world…everything has a price.

[my opinions only]

Source: k