Jon Gosselin has apparently gone from trying to parlay his children's broadcast rights into a financial settlement from TLC to just hoping to use them to get the network off his back.
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The former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star has decided to allow TLC to resume filming his eight children if the network agrees to drop its breach of contract lawsuit against him, RadarOnline reported Thursday.
Last fall, Gosselin followed through on a threat to end Jon & Kate Plus 8 by suddenly claiming it was "detrimental" to his children after TLC refused to release him from an exclusivity contract clause that he claimed was preventing him from earning "substantial" money by appearing on other television shows.
TLC then sued Gosselin and accused him of committing "numerous breaches" of the exclusivity clause and violating several other provisions of the April 2008 Jon & Kate Plus 8 contract the family had most recently signed with the network.
Gosselin subsequently filed a $5 million counterclaim lawsuit against the network -- claiming TLC hindered his ability to make money by preventing him from working with other media outlets due to an exclusivity clause in his contract with the network.
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A judge granted TLC's request for a preliminary injunction preventing Gosselin from making media appearances and endorsements in December, after which Gosselin lawyer Mark Heller boasted that his client "holds the key to the Jon & Kate Plus 8 brand" and the network should be anxious to reach a settlement so the reality show could resume filming.
However Gosselin apparently changed his tune once he reportedly began to encounter subsequent financial problems and is now no longer interested in paying additional legal fees for a lawsuit he does not believe he can win anymore, according to RadarOnline.
"Jon, and his family, has been hurt badly in terms of money he has had to spend," a source told RadarOnline in a Monday report.
"A trial will be very, very expensive for him."
While the preliminary injunction was granted pending the outcome of a trial that is set to begin in April, settlement talks between Gosselin and TLC are expected to begin in two weeks, according to RadarOnline, which added the network "doesn't trust him" anymore and isn't guaranteed to settle the case.
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"For TLC this lawsuit wasn't about getting the show back on the air," a source told RadarOnline. "And they don't want it to appear that it was."
And if TLC's cameras do resume following the Gosselin family, Gosselin reportedly wouldn't have any involvement in a potential revival of the network's original plan to relaunch Jon & Kate Plus 8 as a Kate Gosselin-focused Kate Plus 8 show that would still feature Jon Gossselin on a "less regular basis."
"You can be sure that if the kids come back to TLC it will be only with [ex-wife Kate Gosselin], not with Jon. And there's no guarantee that will happen either," a source told RadarOnline.
"That bridge is burned," another source said.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio