Kate Gosselin found herself at the center of controversy on Sunday, June 23, when a photo surfaced on Twitter of her wearing a plastic Geisha headpiece and pulling the corners of her eyes back in what has been described as a racist gesture mocking Asians. But she says the picture isn't what it seems.
In a blog post on her official website on Tuesday, June 25, the former reality star and divorced mom of eight explained that the "personal photo" — taken from her home computer without her permission — was actually a good moment during her marriage to Jon Gosselin (who is part Korean).
"This was a happy memory of mine," she wrote. "It was a happy time for me and Jon, smiling and 'goofing off' together. Jon and I were opening fan mail together one afternoon…and when we opened up this plastic Asian dress-up wig sent from a caring fan, we smiled, each taking turns posing in it and snapping photos (on my phone) of each other."
"Naturally, I 'slanted' my eyes to show him my best Asian impression, which made him smile," she continued, noting that the fan sent the wig for her to wear so she could "be Asian" like the rest of her family. "It's normal to talk about and even 'exaggerate' the feature differences between family members of a biracial family as they are noticed by curious growing children within the family. These types of discoveries and at home discussions are a normal part of being a loving accepting biracial family and it does not make any of us prejudice!"
Gosselin, who divorced her husband in 2009, dismissed the idea that she had any malicious intent in taking the photo. "I married an Asian. I have eight biracial children, therefore I'm quite certain that I'm the last person that could be called a racist," she wrote. "I couldn't be more proud of my eight beautiful children and wouldn't change anything about them or their heritage."
"God loves each of us equally," she said. "In this family, we don't see color or preference, we see qualities and hearts."
