“First and foremost, I couldn’t be more proud of my son’s heartbreaking memoir and his mission to help other victims of abuse.” — Jon Gosselin

Jon Gosselin said those words in a statement he gave Us Weekly on Thursday, October 15, defending his son Collin after the 22-year-old accused his mother, Kate Gosselin, of childhood abuse in his memoir, In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood. In that same statement, Jon also challenged claims about his son’s mental health, days after Kate invoked “mental illness” in a TikTok comment.

“Also, let me be very clear: If you continue to falsely label my son Collin as ‘mentally ill,’ you will be held accountable,” Jon said. He said multiple independent psychiatrists had evaluated Collin and rejected that characterization. He argued that repeating it threatens Collin’s reputation, credibility and future.

Jon didn’t identify whom he was addressing. Earlier, Kate responded to a supportive TikTok commenter by writing, “I know rational logical [people] or anyone who has dealt with mental illness understands what’s going on here. I had nothing to do with it.” Kate has consistently denied wrongdoing.

Collin’s book alleges that Kate physically and emotionally abused him and that her treatment of him worsened when he resisted participating in the family’s TLC show. He also says she placed him in a psychiatric hospital without telling Jon where he was.

Collin recalled a visit from Kate when he was 12, about a year into his hospital stay. He said she stayed roughly 20 minutes and told him, “Collin, you destroyed our family.”

Jon removed Collin from the hospital in 2018 after learning his location. Collin says reconnecting with his father exposed conflicting accounts that had kept them apart: he’d been led to believe Jon wanted nothing to do with him, while Jon had been told Collin didn’t want visits. Collin said he hadn’t known his father was going to court and trying to find him.

After Jon and Kate’s 2009 divorce, Collin and his sister Hannah eventually went to live with their father. Rebuilding that relationship took time, Collin said, as both struggled to figure out how to connect after their separation.

“We worked on that, and now we’re closer than ever. Good things take time,” Collin said.

His memoir is available online and in bookstores.