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Kate Gosselin: Brother's stirring up trouble for money

By Alan Duke, CNN
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Kate: My brother made money off lies
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Gosselin, promoting book, was a guest on HLN's "The Joy Behar Show" Wednesday
  • The reality star is also currently competing on "Dancing with the Stars"
  • Pennsylvania labor officials say Gosselins violated child labor law on "Jon & Kate Plus 8"
  • Officials agreed not to charge them if they get work permits in the future

Los Angels, California (CNN) -- Kate Gosselin really wants to talk about her new book, but questions about her children's work on her reality show kept getting in the way as she made the talk show rounds Wednesday.

The tour for Gosselin's book, "I Just Want You to Know: Letters to My Kids on Love, Faith and family," included HLN's "The Joy Behar Show" Wednesday.

"I just know that in the end the truth will prevail, so I don't honestly spend a whole lot of time worrying about it," Gosselin told Behar.

Pennsylvania labor officials recently decided that while the Gosselins violated the child labor law by not getting work permits for the kids, they were not mistreated during the taping of "Jon & Kate Plus 8." The state's Bureau of Labor Law Compliance said it would not file charges as long as the Gosselins and producers get permits for future shows.

Still, Kate Gosselin's brother and his wife told Pennsylvania lawmakers at a hearing Wednesday that they were worried about how the children were treated.

"We saw many concerning safety issues and did not see any safeguards in place to protect these children's rights," sister-in-law Jodi Krieder said.

Kevin Krieder testified that the Gosselins even faked Christmas, waking their kids up one day telling them Santa had come.

"It was so the camera crew could get the genuine reaction of the children." Krieder said. "It wasn't until after that they were told that it was not Christmas morning."

"Can you imagine how confused eight little kids were that morning?" he asked.

Kate Gosselin dismissed the charges as an example of her relatives trying to make money on her celebrity.

"My brother has made a lot of money off of saying a lot of things that are untrue about us," she said. "I've not allowed them to see my kids for two years. So, I'm not quite sure what information they think that they might have."

The Gosselins distanced themselves from the Krieders because of earlier incidents, she said.

"Every single time they were visiting my kids, they would turn around and be on some sort of a show the next day talking about, you know, what it is that they saw inside our house," Gosselin said. "With that kind of trust ruined and knowing that they have made hundreds of thousands of dollars on lies about us, I'm not sure what their goals are, because they were a part of our show and things were all fine and dandy then."

Video: Kate Gosselin's teary TV breakdown
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"They feel like, you know, I guess the money's run out, and so they want to make more money, and they want to stir up more trouble," she said. "But they don't have access to my kids."

Although Jon and Kate Gosselin reached a child custody agreement last year when they divorced, he recently filed for a new court order. Jon Gosselin's filing contends that his ex-wife is placing her career efforts ahead of the children and that she is unfairly denying him time with them.

She defended her busy show business schedule, which includes "Dancing with the Stars," her book tour and preparations for a new show on TLC.

"I'm a working mom, I'm single and I have to provide for my kids," she said. "No pun intended, but the show must go on."

If she returned to her nursing career, she would have even less time with the children, she said.

Gosselin just survived another week as a "Dancing with the Stars" contestant despite her consistently low scores.

"I'm shocked to still be there," she told Behar. "Monday was the first night I actually enjoyed the dance."

Her children will appear in her television specials, she said.

The agreement signed by her talent agency with state labor officials said she must get work permits for the children for any future TV work. Otherwise, the state could re-open the case and file charges for past offenses, the letter said.

The Gosselins and show producers have said the children -- 9-year-old twins and 5-year-old sextuplets -- did not need permits. The state said their participation was work.

At least 15 percent of the money paid to the children must be put into an irrevocable trust account that can only be spent when the children turn 18, the state said.