Kanye's not the only one who knows how to start a feud. And unlike her party-hopping husband, who continued his noble quest to not be named Father of the Year last night (note to Jon: mission very much accomplished), Kate Gosselin didn't need to attend any VMA afterparties to rag on one of the attendees.
She just needed to guest-host The View this morning.
When the hot topic turned to Madonna's well-intentioned yet undeniably self-absorbed show-opening remembrance of Michael Jackson, Gosselin was quick to join her cohosts in picking on the fact that every line devoted to the King of Pop seemed to end with the words "...so did I."
The reality mom quipped that she was waiting for the superstar to say, "Michael Jackson passed away, but I haven't."
Seems like she may be getting the hang of fame, after all. Though if you take into account her admitted weekend meltdown, maybe not.
While discussing the Serena Williams' fine-invoking U.S. Open outburst, Gosselin admitted to knowing the feeling.
"She's in the public eye and she melted down. Don't we all? People in the public eye are held to a higher standard and meltdowns happen. We're all human…
"I melted down over the weekend. In the privacy of my own home, I melted down. It's difficult to wake up everyday and wonder what things are going to be thrown my way."
As for what spurred on the episode, Gosselin said her newly single domestic life and all its additional burdens, emotional and otherwise, were to blame.
"It's hard," she replied when Sherri Shepherd asked about Jon "bringing that girl around your children?" (That girl, as if you didn't know, is the photo op-loving Hailey Glassman.)
"This is definitely...I'm not gonna lie, it's difficult," Gosselin said. "This is all difficult. You have seen me react the way you have seen me react. You will continue to see me react that way. Because truly, it's not a coined little phrase, it's not a little quote that I release out there saying, 'for the sake of my children.' I know I've been mocked.
"The truth is, for the sake of my children, I am going to continue taking the high road because it's the only road for me."
As for those critics who wonder why, if life is so tough, she doesn't simply hand in her reality-star badge and opt for a life outside of prime time:
"I could pull out and I'd still have all the flack and the lack of a paycheck," she said. "I'm a single mom. I will never force them to do anything and I never have. My focus is supporting my children, and whatever way that comes in as healthy a way that is possible for my family, I'm gonna do it."
Still, Gosselin makes it clear that the show she currently finds herself ensconced in is nothing like the show she initially signed up for. Back then, she says, it was "innocent."
"We didn't go into this trying to be huge celebrities. Season one to season five is a totally different world," she said, adding that when her family signed up for the TLC show, they never expected the unprecedented scrutiny they're currently facing, as none of their fellow cable-net-chronicled families suffered the same fate.
"TLC has never had a show like ours, and you're going into it saying, 'It's a great thing.'"
Though at least one fellow reality family is starting to get a little more traction in the press: The 19-and-growing Duggars.
And don't think multiple-birth mama Gosselin is going to let that story go by without comment.
"For her, it's scary," she said of Michelle Duggar. Scary, that is, in the anatomical sense. "My own opinion is, parts wear out."
(Originally published Sept. 14, 2009, at 12:25 p.m. PT)
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Kate Gosselin had some harsh words about Madonna's VMA appearance. Relive the MJ tribute and more in our extensive coverage of the show.