Meredith Viera asked Kate Gosselin a few semi-difficult questions during her interview on The Today Show yesterday, but she didn’t press the issue when Kate was vague and refused to say whether she had broken it off with Jon before he started seeing other women. If anything it was a softballed interview and Viera moved on to other questions once Kate proved that she was unwilling to give a straight answer or take responsibility for her part in severing the marriage. I did find Kate’s demeanor somewhat convincing, but as Kaiser wrote it was like she was throwing a pity party and refusing to accept any role except the victim. At some points she seemed very determined like she could only grieve so much before the nastiness took over.

According to an NBC source quoted by Bill Zwecker in the Chicago Sun Times, Gosselin was one of the worst celebrities to ever appear on The Today Show and she was rude both before and after the interview. Zwecker sometimes runs tabloid-esque stories but he also has some decent scoops, so this could be true:

She was ‘‘a total b—-’’ to almost everyone, said a longtime NBC staffer. ‘‘We get virtually all of the world’s biggest egos coming through here,’’ added the source. ‘‘But Kate was one of the most unpleasant I’ve seen in working here for many years.’’

That is strongly disputed by a “Today” spokeswoman who said Monday night that Gosselin “is always welcome at ‘Today,’ and it is unfortunate that anyone would make these accusations, which couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Another staff member said that when Gosselin learned there was a chance the cameras might catch sight of the large entourage accompanying her (likely to illustrate how much her life has changed by becoming a celebrity on ‘‘Jon & Kate Plus Eight’’), ‘‘she strongly hinted she would walk off the show” before the interview.

As Gosselin was departing the “Today” set at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Center headquarters, she was overheard trashing Vieira — ‘‘which is even more crazy,’’ added the second source. ‘‘Meredith very clearly, and in a straightforward way, asked exactly the questions you’d expect. She asked about the alleged affair with her bodyguard — which really seemed to p— [Kate] off — her relationship with Jon [Gosselin], how her kids were doing and whether ‘if you could do it over again, would you?’ ’’

‘‘She was swearing like a drunken sailor as she stormed out,’’ added the insider.

The “Today” spokeswoman, who was not with Gosselin after she left the studio, stressed that from her perspective, “Kate Gosselin was a gracious guest on ‘Today,’ and anyone within 1,000 feet of her at the show this morning could tell you that.”

[From The Chicago Sun Times, thanks to Oxa for the tip]

So which was it – was Kate gracious or did she throw a fit? I would bet that it was somewhere in between and that she was cold and bossy as usual, but not as God-awful as this article is making it seem.

In the second part of her interview that aired yesterday, Kate explained away the rumors that she’s moving to Maryland and said she’d never looked at a condo in that building or even inquired about one. She also said she wasn’t having an affair with the security guard. The rumor that she was renting a condo got started when she had lunch near that area with the security guard’s wife. Kate explained that she’s good friends with that security guard’s family and that the rumor that she was having an affair was just to sell tabloids. Would she say the rumor that she’s a piece of work is just made up to sell tabloids too, or is there an element of truth to it? If you watch the show, you can certainly see how people would come to that conclusion about her.

Here’s the second part of Kate’s interview yesterday:

Kate Gosselin is shown with her bodyguard Steve Neild after a shopping spree at FAO Schwartz in NY yesterday. Credit: CWNY/Fame Pictures