TLC sues Jon Gosselin; Gosselin Babysitter Claims Jon Said He Stole Money from Kate
HAMMER: Now, on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, Jon Gosselin plus lawsuit. What Jon is saying about being sued by the network that airs "Jon & Kate Plus 8." Plus, some shocking claims from the former babysitter about Jon allegedly stealing money from Kate. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT names the most provocative celebrity of the week. Will Jon take the prize How about Jessica Simpson? Or what about Falcon Heene, the balloon boy? And is George Clooney ready for kids? Wait until you hear what Hollywood`s famous bachelor is saying now about starting a family. Plus, more stories breaking from the "SHOWBIZ News Ticker." TV`s first most provocative entertainment news show continues right now.</s>ANDERSON: And I`m Brooke Anderson, coming to you tonight from Hollywood. Tonight, Jon and Kate plus lawsuit. Jon Gosselin is now fighting a brand-new bombshell battle today. And this time, it`s not with his estranged wife, Kate. TLC, the network that made Jon and his family famous is now suing Jon for a breach of contract after Jon pulled the plug on the family reality show. Remember when Jon claimed to CNN`s Larry King he had an epiphany about all of this?</s>JON GOSSELIN, REALITY TV STAR, "JON & KATE PLUS 8": I had an epiphany one day. I just looked in the mirror and I said I don`t want to be this person anymore. I made mistakes.</s>ANDERSON: Well, apparently that may not be the only mistake Jon made. In a brand-new interview today, Jon`s former babysitter, Stephanie Santoro, is claiming Jon bragged to her about taking $100,000 from Kate. A.J., this girl is even claiming Jon joked about going after Kate for alimony.</s>HAMMER: Well, Brooke, the truth is, nothing really surprises me about Jon or Kate. And that has been that way for a while. With me tonight from Hollywood, Carlos Diaz, a correspondent for "Extra." In New York, Megan Alexander who is a correspondent for "Inside Edition." All right. Put it up on blue paper. I have right here in my hands the lawsuit. I want to share with you some of the bombshells that are in here. Now, TLC claims that Jon breached his contract. They are citing some specific examples. Here`s some of what they say, "Defendant Gosselin set about to capitalize on his rising notoriety by selling his services to other media, in violation of his contractual exclusivity, entered a lucrative arrangement to appear regularly on other TV shows to discuss his family and the problems he was having with Mrs. Gosselin. And he routinely sold photographic rights to various media outlets." Carlos, my friend, I begin with you. Given the path that we are on, are you at all surprised that TLC, which of course is the network that made Jon famous, is now actually suing him.</s>CARLOS DIAZ, CORRESPONDENT, "EXTRA": It is the definition of biting the hand that feeds you. I mean, these guys, like you said, made him famous. And he`s going for table scraps when he was making $75,000 a week. I mean, listen, if you`re going to get divorced, get divorced. That`s great. If you guys can`t get along, you can`t get along. But find a way to continue to make money off of that with TLC because obviously there is an insatiable first for you and Kate. So maybe, like I`ve said like a thousand times before on this show, you get counseling on TLC and you turn that into a show. But obviously, Jon has done everything wrong.</s>HAMMER: Everything wrong. Yes. Biting the hand that feeds you - exactly what we were saying a few weeks ago when he started speaking out against them. Now, TLC is also alleging that Jon threatened them. The network claims that Jon and his attorney said either let Jon out of his exclusive contract or he`s going to start saying the show is not good for his kids. Well, TLC also claiming that Jon and his attorney gave them a deadline to put out a press release letting Jon go. They described how all this went down in the lawsuit. Here`s what they say and it`s a little bit of legalese here, but - "If this release was not forthcoming within one hour`s time, Defendant Gosselin would reverse his often-repeated public comments to the contrary and publicly object to further filming of the program on the grounds that it is purportedly detrimental to his children." Wow. Megan, it really seems like TLC is trying to blow the lid off of Jon`s whole "I want my kids off TV" story that he`s been telling the media. Because you remember, there was a time when he said, "I want my kids on</s>TV." ALEXANDER: Right. A.J., it just doesn`t seem like either situation is good for Jon. I really think he should be off TV completely right now. But this is his business, a deal is a deal. And I think this is showing the public that reality television is a lot more scripted when the cameras are on or off. A deal was in place. He needs to honor those commitments that he made and then, really get it together with his family. Again, I don`t think it would be a good thing for him to continue anyway. But this shows you business is business. Is he going to follow through? And what type of businessman is he?</s>HAMMER: Yes. I mean, the stakes are very high here. And nobody in the media business is afraid of lawsuits if somebody breaches a contract. We`ve seen that before very clearly. And Jon has never shied away from saying that he never really had a good relationship with TLC at all. I want you to watch what he told CNN`s Larry King about that.</s>J. GOSSELIN: I don`t get along with the people at</s>TLC. LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": You didn`t get along?</s>J. GOSSELIN: Not all along. Since January, I started getting calls from the executives which is so rare. You don`t really hear from them.</s>KING: What were they saying?</s>J. GOSSELIN: Basically that I`m in breach of contract and, you know, I can`t go out. They put me on house arrest. They give me a bodyguard for three weeks.</s>KING: House arrest?</s>J. GOSSELIN: Yes, house arrest. I had a 24/7 bodyguard.</s>HAMMER: Yes. So even if that`s true, I mean, it sounds like TLC warned Jon more than once that he would be in breach of contract with them. Carlos, I hear that and I`m thinking he doesn`t have a leg to stand on in this lawsuit with them.</s>DIAZ: He doesn`t, man. I mean, house arrest? Jon, really, are you serious, dude? Come on. I mean, it`s so like farfetched. I mean, they gave you a bodyguard. Well, that`s not a bad thing. You know, I mean, you are ripping on TLC when they were providing you with all this money. And see, here`s the thing. Jon is getting all these promises from different people. You know, "Hey, come with us. We`ll take care of you. We`ll take care of you." But you know what? It`s the grass is always greener on the other side and Jon is not going to know what he had until it`s gone. And it is this close - this close to being adios.</s>HAMMER: Yes. So you`ve got to wonder how Jon is feeling about getting sued by TLC, again, the network that made him famous at this point. Well, late today, we heard from Jon Gosselin`s attorney, Mark J. Heller who responded to the lawsuit in this E-mail to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT where he says, "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 opportunity to earn a livelihood to support his family." And they go on to say this, "Clearly this litigation is heralded in the battle of David against Goliath. And Jon Gosselin fully intends to stand firm, protect his family and defend against TLC." Brooke Anderson, let me bring you back in here. I`ve got to get your take on this. You have been watching from the sidelines while you had been out. But it seems to me they are certainly entitled to uphold his contract. TLC, you know, even though they want to sue him, they probably could have avoided this whole mess if they just let him out of this deal and said, "You know what? We`ll let you out, just don`t talk about us." And that would have been that.</s>ANDERSON: You know, A.J., I don`t know if it would have been that easy because, as we know, and by hearing Jon`s most recent statement, his middle name right now is drama. So whether he is locked into a contract or not, I don`t think he is going to make things smooth or easy. Would it make things a little less difficult maybe if he could make a clean break? Possibly.</s>HAMMER: I`m still waiting for somebody to say contractually, you need to shut up now. But I guess they have done that and it`s not working anyway. Let`s move on to the brand-new explosive claims that Jon`s former babysitter, a woman named Stephanie Santoro, is making today in a brand-new interview with "Radar Online." Now, Santoro claims that Jon told her that he took $100,000 from a family account. Take a look at this.</s>STEPHANIE SANTORO, FORMER GOSSELIN FAMILY BABYSITTER: He told me that he took $100,000. It was either out of Kate`s account or the kids` account to open his children`s foundation and that she did not know about it. He said he was going to do - he said that he was going to do anything he could to make sure he made her life a living hell.</s>HAMMER: All right. I need to point out that Jon says that this woman, the babysitter, made these claims for - you know, money, for a little payday. But the truth is, let`s face it. His credibility has long been in the toilet. So Megan, what do you think? Would you be at all surprised if this does prove to be true?</s>ALEXANDER: Gosh, unfortunately, I would not. This man got quite a bit of money - both him and Kate - very quickly, A.J. And I think this shows you that when you get that much money that quickly, if you don`t have people around you that really help you manage it, obviously, psychologically, they haven`t been able their problems. It`s just how important a support system is. And really, how sad this has become. America loved this family when they started out. I mean, this is just so sad that we`ve gotten to this point now where he is stealing from his ex-wife and you wonder where are the kids in all this? Are they getting money for their school supplies, for their health? What`s going on here?</s>HAMMER: Got to end it there. Megan Alexander, Carlos Diaz, thanks, guys. I appreciate it.</s>ANDERSON: It`s that time. As we do every Friday, tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is naming the most provocative celebrity of the week. Plenty to choose from this week. Will it be Jon Gosselin, Jessica Simpson - or how about Falcon Heene, the balloon kid? Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield together again for the first time since the infamous ear-biting. Tyson and Holyfield sat down together at length today on "Oprah." Did they pull any punches? Any biting remarks? And is George Clooney ready to have kids? Wait until you hear what Hollywood`s most famous bachelor is saying about whether he`s ready to start a family. This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on</s>HLN. HAMMER: Time now for the "SHOWBIZ News Ticker" - these are more stories from the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom making news right now.</s>TEXT: "Glee" cast will sing national anthem during game three of the World Series. Leona Lewis says punching incident at U.K. record signing was "a horrible shock."