'Jon & Kate' Where's the rest of the money, Kate?

Kate appeared on NBC's Today for a Monday morning interview and alleged that Jon "took $230,000 of the $231,000 that we have liquid. I have a stack of bills in my purse I can't drop in the mail." "I have the accounting over the last few months and it's exactly $230,000 beginning on August 10 and his last withdrawal was September 29," she said.
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During a Monday appearance on The Insider (watch a clip), Jon -- who previously stated the family was paid "maybe a million dollars" for Jon & Kate Plus 8 last year during an appearance on Larry King Live last Thursday -- said the family has netted about $2.25 million during the show's four years and added that he's withdrawn $177,500 from the couple's bank accounts over the course of the last year. Jon -- who was awkwardly accompanied by Mark Jay Heller, his recently-hired new divorce lawyer, on The Insider's discussion panel -- described it as his "paycheck" for the show. "I took it out in small increments. This is the first time in my life that I've taken money out of any account," he said on The Insider. "If you look over the course of my 10 years [married to Kate], I let her handle the banking and I never, ever took any money out of the account." In addition, Jon said he has a receipt that showed he withdrew $22,000 last Thursday -- not the alleged $230,000 he repeatedly claimed Kate has alleged but she does not appear to have actually publicly stated -- and told The Insider the family has 14 bank accounts.

When asked why they have so many accounts, Jon said it was because FDIC insurance only has a coverage limit of $250,000 so they needed to split up the funds. "I literally took my paycheck out of the bank account. I have a bank receipt for $22,000," he said. When The Insider panelist Niecy Nash asked how how all of the public arguments between himself and Kate will impact their eight children, Jon began to reiterate his previous statements that he had been "passive and an avoider" before being cut off by fellow guest panelist Nancy Grace. "Why is this always about you? Why are we talking about you?" asked Grace. "[Nash] asked you about your children." "Because he's an important part of his children's..." Heller -- who had previously attempted to jump to Jon's defense several times during panel disccusion -- began to respond before being interrupted by Grace. "Can he even speak without you piping in," she told Heller. "How's it always get back to you?" she asked Jon again. "I don't know," he sheepishly responded. "I guess you just needed insight."

Jon was also asked why he decided to live in New York City during the divorce proceedings while his kids continue to live in Wernersville, PA. "I have business in New York, I have contacts in New York," he explained. "I'm proceeding to do other career things. If I had to buy a hotel room, no one's flipping the bill for that. It's expensive enough. I have to move forward with my career to support my kids as well." Jon followed his The Insider appearance by going on Entertainment Tonight -- The Insider's sister show -- for an interview with anchor Mary Hart, where he reiterated he has proof that he only withdrew $22,000 and considers it to be his "paycheck." In additional, he also alleged that the couple has made at least a million dollars from Kate's book deals. "She claims that we don't have money? She has 11 other banks accounts. She made $1 million dollars off her book," he said on Entertainment Tonight. "Let me also say I pay $7,500 per month for the kids, utilities, two mortgages and everything else that needs to be paid. She's not even talking about that account." When asked about Kate's claims that he's making "erratic purchases," Jon declined to comment on what that might entail. "She doesn't know what I purchase. I'm not going to disclose what I purchased," he said. "I live in New York, my rent is $5,000 a month -- so right there there's $60,000 a year in rent." Jon also responded to questions about why he had his lawyers demand last Tuesday that TLC "cease and desist" any television production on his family's property or face potential criminal charges.

Jon claims filming Jon & Kate Plus 8 has become "detrimental" to his children. "I'm not the bad guy here. I'm the one trying to protect my children. That's called being a parent, I'm protecting my children," he said on Entertainment Tonight. "I need to pull them off of television so we can work this out. I don't care what TLC says, let them sue me [and] do whatever they got to do. Let them say I'm in breach of contract, they've said it before. I don't care. Kate plays to TLC. Kate's worried about the contract. Kate's worried about the money. Kate's worried about all the other stuff." Jon added he's making the media appearances so he can "defend" himself against Kate's claims he wiped out their bank account. "It's gotten so ridiculous and it's he said, she said," he explained. "Now she's thinking that the American public is going to believe her over me? I had to defend myself." In addition, Jon said his assertion that his kids "don't want to be filmed anymore is the truth." "You can go to past episodes where Mady is running away from the camera. They've come to me and said we just want a normal life," he explained. "Do you believe Kate's claims that kids were upset about filming stopping?" asked Hart. "No. You know why? Because when we told them we were going to get divorced the 5-year-olds said, 'What's for lunch?' and the only two people that really cared were Mady and Cara," said Jon. "Cara broke down and Mady was like, 'Oh, I saw this coming.'

You know what [Kate] probably said to them? She probably said, 'Daddy's put a halt to filming, you're friends are going to go away.' She probably worded it in a way that was a violation to them, their sense of security." While he has been claiming to speak for the kids recently, Jon also questioned how Kate could be doing the same. "How can she speak for the kids?" he asked. Jon also responded to Kate repeated comments that she still hopes the "old Jon" will eventually come back and call her one day, telling Hart she shouldn't hold her breath. "The old Jon is not coming back. She wants a slave," he said. "It wasn't a partnership." Jon also questioned the genuineness of the tears Kate has been crying. "I absolutely don't believe the tears," he said. "She can turn them on when she wants. She turned them on on Regis & Kelly, she turned them on the Today show twice, she's turned them on on Larry King, she's turned them on on television -- I've lived with her, I know her... Maybe you should put those tears away."

In addition, Jon claimed that he's been locked out of his bedroom at the family's Pennsylvania home where he and Kate take turns sharing custody of the children. "I came home one day and my contractor called me and goes, 'Sorry Jon, I had to put a deadbolt on the door,'" he explained. "I don't have key or access to that room. All the banking, financial, safe -- everything is in that room. My clothes are in that room. I just want access to that stuff." Jon's interview with Hart continued during Tuesday's Entertainment Tonight broadcast and once again began with Jon presenting "proof" he didn't withdraw the alleged $230,000. "She's making claims that she can't back up. If she said I took $230,000 where's the bank statement to prove it? I'm bringing you guys the bank statement saying I did not take $230,000. I took $22,000," said Jon before presenting a receipt that showed he had made a $22,000 withdrawal -- not an overall account statement. "I'm laying it out there today. I have nothing to hide." Jon admitted to making withdrawals from his "corporate account" before describing them. "I've made $177,500 worth of withdrawals this year -- first time ever," he said. "I haven't even taken 10% of my pay.

We've made $2,250,000 collectively and I've only taken $177,500 -- in the course of four and half years. Not in one day!" "The kids have money. The kids have money set aside for them," he added. "You have to understand TLC pays for everything. They pay for landscaping, they pay for craft services -- which in normal terms is a chef. Ironing, dry cleaning, wardrobe. All that other stuff." Hart asked if TLC follows through with his request and permanently halts production, will the kids then have enough money. "If the show ends there's enough money. There's enough money," he said. "I know there's enough money." Jon added he's simply following through on Kate's pleas for him to not be passive and instead take initiative. "She wants me to come back and do as I'm told and I want to be a man, I want to take initiative for myself," he said. "She asked me for 10 years to be a man, to take initiative for myself, to stop being an avoider, to stop being passive.

When I finally do those things, she's bashing me." Jon described the current conflict as "embarrassing" to his kids and said he instead wants to set a good example. "In the beginning when we did Jon & Kate Plus 8, we were role models as parents having eight kids. Now I think we should be role models as... we're still parents -- we're divorced parents, but I'm showing America how it works," he said. "I want to be an example for other fathers that, 'Hey, you don't have to listen to what the big guy says, you listen to your heart and do what's right.'" Jon said Kate could follow that advice as well. "She needs to break away from TLC, be her own person, speak from her heart," he said. "Be the kind person I know she can be and let's work this thing out." Not surprisingly, the interview returned to the issue of the money. "Where's the million dollars from the book? Where's the $1.25 million from the show?" he asked Kate as he looked into an Entertainment Tonight camera. "I know how much we paid for the house, I know how much the mortgage is,

I know all that stuff. Where's the rest of the money Kate? What'd you do with it? I mean I only took less than 10% -- less than 10% -- since March til now. Less than 10%. Where is the $2 million? Two million dollars!" Despite being passionate when asking Kate about the money's whereabouts, Jon said he's "not angry" because he has "all the proof." "You know I've been harboring all this stuff to save Kate the embarrassment," he explained. "Why would she go on national television, why would she call an emergency Today show appearance? Maybe she doesn't know that I have all the proof, I have no idea. But I have nothing to hold back, I'll produce everything you want me to produce." While he failed to produce additional evidence backing his claims concerning the money, Jon did claim to have evidence as to why his kids want to stop filming.

He referenced an incident in which the kids decided to go in the pool rather than continue being filmed playing backyard games during a 96-degree day as a "perfect example" that kids don't want to be filmed. "That's also a great example of kids being tired and wanting to do something else, which is a very typical reaction on a very hot day, but that doesn't mean they're miserable with every day of filming," replied Hart. "No, that does not mean that they're miserable every day of filming," said Jon before backtracking. "Maybe I made a mistake filming the show. I don't know. I didn't know then, it was four years ago. We needed money... Now it's gotten to the point where it's comfortable enough." Jon also said he's not worried Kate will receive sole custody of the kids. "It will never happen," he said. "I'm an on-the-task father when I'm there on custody." Jon returned to The Insider's studio panel for the show's Tuesday night broadcast -- this time sans his lawyer -- and relayed a "public message" to his kids after he was presented with a paparazzi photo of his son Colin being scolded by a nanny hired by Kate. "I really miss you guys. \

I really wish I could be there all the time and help out with all the work at home and take you to school like I used to," said Jon to his kids. "But I can't this time. I'm looking forward to coming home." Jon then presented his "proof" that he didn't withdraw $230,000 from the bank last week, presenting the same withdrawal receipt he had shown Entertainment Tonight. "I have to defend myself!" said an animated Jon. "To who?" asked The Real Housewives of New York City star Bethenny Frankel, another guest panelist on The Insider. "To Kate, to everyone!" he said. "I use the public to force her into mediation, to pull us off television, to pull my kids off television, so we can settle the divorce in private. Then she goes [and] hires another lawyer, goes on the Today show, accuses me of stealing money out of the bank. I mean I'm going to defend myself." Jon was then asked directly about the withdrawal statement for a "single transaction" and why he hasn't been able to produce an actual bank statement. "Because I have to go in person because [Kate] didn't sign-off on Internet banking," he replied. (http://bit.ly/20qxS1)