TLC really ended up exploiting reality families.

[Anonymous]

I watched a lot of reality TV and saw almost all the episodes of the shows with the Gosselin, Duggar, and Roloff (Little People, Big World) families. Now I feel awful having watching the shows with what has come to light:

It appears the Gosselin children have very little money after making over hundreds of millions of dollars for TLC. They were allowed to put in permanent lightening and cameras in the house, film the kids in intimate situations such as when they were potty training, the crew had unsupervised access to children all over the house including basements and tucked aways spaces, and it appears they didn't set up funding for the children for their future. Colin claims part of the reason he was sent away was he no longer wanted to film so was sullen and silent during interviews and filming.

The Duggar children never got paid for filming, Josh's sexual abuse was downplayed, etc.

The youngest Roloff child claims he was groomed was sexually abused on the set by a Little People, Big World producer.

[Anonymous]

This just in! Money makes humans do terrible things! Who knew?

Me? I'm happy with my boring life, thank you very much. I never watched those shows because they are creepy.

[Anonymous]

Well, better late than never, OP. I loathe reality TV. Ethically, it's always been terrible. I'm not sure why you're just now realizing this... unless you're 20 or so.

[Anonymous]

The parents get sucked into the fame and lifestyle. No one is forcing the adults to sign those contracts but there definitely needs to be more oversight of the minors. The kids should be receiving payment that is placed in a trust for them until they are 18.

[Anonymous]

It’s almost criminal that no money was set aside for the minors. Shows like the Gosselins were only possible because of the kids. A percentage of the earnings should have been going into individual accounts of each of the kids until they turned 18.

[Anonymous]

Wasn’t this the parents’ responsibility? Not a shock there is overlap between parents who put their children’s real lives on TV and parents who steal from their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s almost criminal that no money was set aside for the minors. Shows like the Gosselins were only possible because of the kids. A percentage of the earnings should have been going into individual accounts of each of the kids until they turned 18.

Supposedly it did, but Kate was able to drain it citing “living expenses for the kids”.

[Anonymous]

I agree these parents exploited their kids. We see the same thing happening on social media. Legislation should be passed at the federal level so a percentage of the earnings has to go in trust for the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s almost criminal that no money was set aside for the minors. Shows like the Gosselins were only possible because of the kids. A percentage of the earnings should have been going into individual accounts of each of the kids until they turned 18.

Supposedly it did, but Kate was able to drain it citing “living expenses for the kids”.

You are correct. I remember Jon saying she took $100k from the kids trust and never paid it back.

[Anonymous]

Dysfunctional families and the breakdown of a nuclear family happens all the time all across America (and worldwide).
It has nothing to do with reality tv ( and your sample size of 3 shows).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wasn’t this the parents’ responsibility? Not a shock there is overlap between parents who put their children’s real lives on TV and parents who steal from their kids.

That's the problem with shows like this that feature children -- adults can consent to this kind of thing in an informed way, kids can't. They are at the mercy of their (often? always?) selfish-at-best parents. So these shows are, arguably anyway, inherently exploitive when it comes to minors. Given the ubiquity of reality tv at this point, society should step in somehow and require that children who participate in these shows each have their own advocate to negotiate terms on their behalf; specifically: someone who 1) is not a parent or any other adult participating in the project, and 2) has no interest, financial or otherwise, in the show.

[Anonymous]

I had an acquaintance who was involved very early on in the Gosselin show. She said that at first Kate was very down to earth and nice (thus it being greenlit) but changed as the constant being on camera and "fame" went to her head. I want to say that in "Honey Boo Boo" the Mama actually did put away most of the proceeds from the show for the kids, which is why their housing and situation didn't really change those first few seasons. I could be wrong, but if so at least she had a clue there.

I think it is an issue when parents are making money off of kids without their true consent as minors. We used to see it in these reality shows but now it's on YouTube and TikTok. I read a story at one point of a teen who no longer wanted to do online stuff but she was the primary breadwinner for the family at that point and felt she had to. When she turned 18 she shut everything down and ended up being estranged from her parents. It's sad. I guess it's similar to parents who forced their kids to be child actors. It's f'ed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree these parents exploited their kids. We see the same thing happening on social media. Legislation should be passed at the federal level so a percentage of the earnings has to go in trust for the kids.

Where on social media is this happening?

[Anonymous]

I never watched any of this. Always seemed creepy and wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree these parents exploited their kids. We see the same thing happening on social media. Legislation should be passed at the federal level so a percentage of the earnings has to go in trust for the kids.

Where on social media is this happening?

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