Kate Gosselin has allegedly used a slur that makes mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, and friends of anyone who knows and loves a person with disabilities–especially Down Syndrome–bear their teeth and claws and go in for the kill. She reportedly said in an email that mothers of multiples are ‘retarded.’ First of all that word should never be used. A product of the 1950s, it describes what many then believed people with Down Syndrome or other intellectually-challenging disabilities to be. The word has no business being used in any context within the English language these days.

Now before everyone starts tweeting Kate Gosselin and bashing her for her alleged use of the hereafter-referred-to ‘R-word,’ it’s very important to note that the source of this information is none other than the book written about Kate by Robert Hoffman. Hoffman’s explosive book, Kate Gosselin: How She Fooled the World, reads that a woman reached out to Kate’s ex-husband Jon Gosselin back in 2006 and asked him to become a member of a forum for parents of multiples.

“On Dec. 31, 2006, Jon forwarded Kate an email that he had received the day before from the coordinator of something called the ‘MOST’ forum (MOST stands for Mothers of Supertwins). The forum coordinator, ‘Patti. T.’, asked Jon if he would post something to introduce himself and his family on the forum,” Robert wrote in his book. “It is not clear why Patti T.’s email annoyed Kate, but her curt response to Jon about it is offensive. Kate said, ‘These people are r-tarded.’”

KATE GOSSELIN: How She Fooled The World: The… Reply w/ #AmazonCart to add this http://t.co/ZKD9Okz6J2 via @amazon

— jid517 (@jid517) July 23, 2014

Radar Online was reportedly the first site to report Kate Gosselin’s alleged used of the offensive term. They reached out to the Special Olympics who shortly thereafter issued their own statement of disappointment in the former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star’s choice of words.

.@Kateplusmy8 allegedly drops offensive slur in disrespectful email —> http://t.co/GhV2Wrq0aN pic.twitter.com/kbVxdLEFvb

— Radar Online (@radar_online) July 22, 2014

“We encourage people to go to R-Word.org and take the pledge. It’s important because it’s respect toward everyone,” a Special Olympics rep said in a written statement.

Do you think Kate Gosselin truly used this derogatory term in that email or is this something that Robert Hoffman simply made up? It’s a hideous word that sheds an unfavorable light on those who may learn differently or learn at a different pace. It’s definitely not a word anyone–but most especially any mother–should ever use.

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