Relative: 'Jon & Kate' caused "potential psychological damage" to kids

Kate Gosselin's brother claims he had several "concerning issues" with her children's participation in Jon & Kate Plus 8.


Kevin Kreider testified on Wednesday at a Pennsylvania state legislative hearing on child labor laws and outlined his eight issues with filming -- one of which was that it caused "potential psychological damage" to the eight kids.

"One very vivid example comes to mind," Kreider told the hearing panel, RadarOnline reported.

"The children were told it was Christmas morning. It was so that the camera crew could get the genuine reaction of the children. It wasn't until after, later that they were told it was not Christmas morning, they just did it for the show. Can you imagine how confused eight little kids were that morning?"

Additional concerns were that the show's "format was planned," the children were part of an "extensive professional filming schedule," that their "privacy rights" may have been violated, had a "lack of adult supervision," faced "increased professional demands" on them, had a "lack of financial security" despite their heavy involvement, and encountered "elevated personal security risks."


"Reality TV isn't always reality TV. You don't understand that. We have watched shows we liked in the past and it kind of puts a damper on it. Reality TV today really isn't reality. And that's the sad part," said Kreider, Philadelphia's WTFX-TV Fox affiliate reported.

"These kids are actually being scripted and it becomes more of a job, rather than their reality."

Kreider and his wife Jodi spoke at the hearing called by Rep. Thomas Murt -- who is looking to prevent the exploitation of children who appear in movies and television shows.

"We are in a really unique position," Kreider told the panel, WTFX-TV reported. "We did not ask for this position. We feel it is important and we need to speak out."

TLC responded to the testimony in a statement obtained by RadarOnline.


"The welfare of and respect for anyone on our network is always paramount; and these allegations are either completely inaccurate or a distorted representation for maximum attention," reads the statement. 

"In addition, we  have and continue to comply with all regulations from the Department Of Labor."

Kevin and Jodi originally made their claims on The Early Show last May -- claiming the children were being "exploited."

While Jon Gosselin originally labeled the characterization as "ridiculous," he later claimed to have reconciled with Kevin and Jodi and expressed "regret" when he demanded TLC stop filming his children because it had become "detrimental" to them.

"The allegations made today by Kevin and Jodi Kreider have not been my experience at all during the production of Jon & Kate Plus 8," wrote Jon in a Wednesday post to his Twitter account -- backing off his own previous allegations.


The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry recently ruled that while child-labor permits should have been obtained for the children for appearing on the show, no legal action will be taken over the matter.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio