TLC Sues Jon Gosselin

TLC filed a lawsuit against Jon Gosselin Friday, accusing the Jon & Kate Plus 8 star of breach of contract.

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The suit, filed in Maryland, claims that Gosselin violated his contract by making paid TV appearances and making unauthorized public disclosures about the TLC show, according to The Associated Press.

"The network has been trying privately and patiently for months to get Jon to honor the contract he signed and to comply with his obligations relating to public appearances and statements," TLC said in a statement. "Those efforts have been unsuccessful."

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The suit seeks unspecified compensatory damages from Gosselin and demands that the 32-year-old return money made from other TV appearances, as well as abide by the terms of his contract, according to the AP.
"Apparently, TLC has elected to initially litigate this case in the Court of Public Opinion, rather than the Circuit Court for Montgomery County Maryland because neither Jon nor I have been served with legal pleadings or informed by TLC of the instant litigation," Mark Heller, Gosselin's attorney, said in a statement. "Remarkably, instead, I read the alleged Complaint on the internet, since it would appear that Discovery and TLC chose to pander and publicize their weak, feeble and baseless claim to the media rather than providing the Defendant with appropriate notice through the traditional judicial process."

Heller's statement went on to say that Gosselin will "vigorously defend against this baseless action" and should they choose to legally serve the notice, it will be made clear that "Discovery and TLC exploited, manipulated and abused" the family's vulnerabilty and financial hardships.

"Discovery and TLC has treated Jon Gosselin like a dog by attempting to keep him on a leash and muzzle him and deny the father of eight the opportunity to earn a livelihood to support his family," the statement said.

Last month, TLC announced Jon & Kate Plus 8 will be renamed Kate Plus Eight and would feature less of Jon Gosselin. Production on the show has been halted after Gosselin requested the network stop filming his children. TLC said Thursday Kate Plus Eight will not launch Nov. 2 as planned, but the show has not been canceled.