Trashy Celeb Dirt: Kate Gosselin Speaks Out on 'Today'

Enough with the stories about which twentysomething is Jon Gosselin dating today. Now Kate Gosselin, his soon-to-be ex-wife, has taken hold of the PR nightmare that is their divorce and went on the Today Show to provide her side of the story. And the Today Show pulled out all the stops to try to get Kate to cry because crying makes for good TV.

When Meredith Vieria asked Kate why she was still wearing her wedding ring, Kate said, "For them," meaning her children, who she said she's trying to gradually ease into the new situation. Her eyes welled with tears that didn't quite fall down in a shower, though Meredith did pointedly, dramatically, hand her tissue. "I don't want to upset them."

"This is not what any mother sets out for for her children," Kate said of the divorce. "This does not feel like the best for my children, but it's necessary."

Vieria asked Kate about a post-break-up interview Jon had given in which he said Kate was the one who gave up on the marriage last year. To her credit, Kate replied, "Clearly, we both have completely different takes on what happened between us but I feel like the details of that, for the sake of my kids, need to remain private."

"Clearly, his goals are not my goals," she added.

However the heartless Vieria kept pressing -- trying to get Kate to full-on weep perhaps? -- asking Kate how she felt about the fact that Jon was dating the daughter of the plastic surgeon who did Kate's tummy tuck which was televised on Jon & Kate Plus 8. How the heck do you think she felt Meredith? "It's got to be hurtful," Meredith goaded. She then proceeded to ask Kate what she did to contribute to the downfall of the marriage saying, "Marriage is a two-way street. Divorce is a two-way street. What role do you think you played, if any, in what happened?"

I actually felt badly for Kate while watching this interview and got the distinct impression that she was being used to goose up Today's ratings, as the words "Exclusive" were plastered on the screen. This is one reason (among the many) why I stopped watching the Today Show. The interviews started to feel too exploitative.

But certainly Kate knew that this would happen before she set foot on the set. Her live interview had been promoted for days. So perhaps she was simply trying to eek out some sympathy, acquire more people to side with her on Team Kate, as opposed to with her immature husband. Meanwhile, their children are the ones who'll really suffer the most.

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Trashy Celeb Dirt: Jon . . . Plus Galpals, Jack Bauer is Free, Mouthin' Off May Make Izzie Sick Again & Arnett Channels Judy Blume

Jon . . . Plus Galpals

I tried to give Jon Gosselin the benefit of the doubt. Really I did. I tried to sympathize with him and his soon-to-be ex-wife Kate Gosselin and the terrible predicament they're in. I imagined that, years ago, the money dangled in front of them by the cable network to follow them and their eight children with cameras must've been a lot, must've offered their family with some financial security in an insecure world. I imagined that the Gosselins thought the TLC folks would be kind to them, treat them like family, not exploit them or any difficulties that might crop up in the future. (Jon and Kate likely never imagined when they started this thing that they'd be getting divorced.) Then I further tried to put myself in their places -- marriage falling apart while the world is watching and judging, the paparazzi in ruthless pursuit -- and that Kate realized that if she and Jon divorced, they'd still need an income to support all these kids.

Then Jon "I'm only 32 and I just want a life so I can screw around and act like I'm not the father of eight," started appearing in public with different, much younger women, including a woman who says she wants to work with him to launch a children's clothing line and who told People Magazine about the cool, fun things she and Jon do together. The New York Daily News has even taken to calling the new Gotham resident, the "octodad playboy."

Jon Gosselin, man, you're freakin' tryin' my patience. Is it too much to ask that you just be discreet for a little while? For a guy who didn't seem to like being in the spotlight, it doesn't appear as though you're doing much to turn off those klieg lights.

Jack Bauer is Free

Assault charges against Kiefer Sutherland for head-butting of a fashion designer in New York were dropped this week. Jack Bauer fans -- who feared the probationing Sutherland could do more jail time following the months he spent incarcerated after his DUI conviction -- breathed a sigh of relief. However fashion designers were left quaking in their boots, forewarned never to commit any wrongdoing in the presence of Jack Bauer.

Mouthin' Off May Make Izzie Sick Again

*Spoiler alert for Grey's Anatomy's new season*

Kathering Heigl will be back as Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy, after a 12-hankie, manipulative season finale that left it unclear whether she and T.R. Knight's character George O'Malley had died. It appears as though Izzie did not die. And Heigl -- whose famous complaining about the lack of juicy, Emmy-worthy material for her character was believed to have led to her character developing a near-fatal case of skin cancer -- was on David Letterman this week complaining about her first day back on the Grey's set. "It was -- I'm going to keep saying this because I hope it embarrasses them -- a 17-hour day, which I think is cruel and mean." She was snarky about the working conditions and joked that they're "very Oliver Twist." Apparently Heigl's angling for Izzie to be massively disfigured in a sudden, brutal car crash. No wait, that was Knight.



Arnett Channels Judy Blume

I don't know how Jimmy Fallon convinces celebs to do these things, but he got comedian Will Arnett -- hubby to the awesome Amy Poehler -- to read aloud a section of Judy Blume's classic, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (Reminded me of when he got Michael Emerson -- aka, Ben Linus -- to recite an ominous rendition of Little Boy Blue.)



Image credit: INF photo via ABC News.