Rivers defends 'Apprentice' blowup

NEW YORK, April 28 (UPI) -- Melissa Rivers says she showed real emotion when she lashed out at her former teammates on this week's edition of "The Celebrity Apprentice" in New York.

"That had been brewing for a while," Rivers told the New York Daily News of her confrontation with Annie Duke and Brande Roderick, whom she accused of working against her on the business-themed reality show. "That was real emotion, absolutely real emotion."

Rivers became the latest contestant booted from the show Sunday night. Her mother, comedienne Joan Rivers, who was a member of the opposing team, stormed off the show after calling Duke and Roderick, among other things, "white trash."

"I kept all my emotions under control in the boardroom," Melissa Rivers told the Daily News. "Am I pleased I blew up? No. Did I say what I think a lot of people wanted to say to the clique that threw them under the bus? Absolutely. ... I said what every woman who has felt picked on wanted to say. ... I just didn't think it was going to unravel the way it did."