It was supposed to be a fun interview.

And it was about a funny book called "Diary of a Mad Diva".

But author-comedienne Joan Rivers instead turned into a real-life mad diva and walked out on CNN anchor Fredricka Whitfield after she got riled by Whitfield's line of questioning.

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Rivers was appearing on the CNN program "Newsroom" on Saturday to promote her new book, and was animatedly answering Whitfield's questions until they touched on issues she apparently found sensitive.

First, the anchor asked Rivers about her "mean" fashion criticisms on Fashion Police.

"You think Nicki Minaj cares if I don't like her dress? It's not about them, it's clothing," Rivers retorted, her irritation beginning to show.

It was building up to the final outburst.

Next, Whitfield asked Rivers if the fur coat she wore on her book cover was a deliberate statement toward animal rights advocates.

Rivers countered by asking the anchor if she was wearing leather shoes, and then dismissed the whole on-cam session as more of a "defensive interview."

"You're not the person to interview someone who does humor," Rivers lashed out at the anchor before bolting out of the set.

Whitfield was all smiles and laughter throughout the face-off and even after the walkout, but there's no telling if she was truly clueless about the extent of Rivers' anger, or was sporting the poise for on-cam purposes.

The interview video has earned almost 207,000 views, 484 likes, 200 dislikes and 912 comments since it was uploaded to YouTube.

Netizens who posted their views on the video's comment thread were not any kinder. Many of them scored Whitfield for her manner of questioning.

"Joan may be mean but I'll take her 'mean' over a fake 'nice'. Interviewer irritated me like a snake politician," said one YouTube commenter.

Some thought Whitfield was no measure against Rivers' quick wit.

"Joan's been around too long to let some young wanna-be journalist try to interrogate her," said another.

One commenter, on the other hand, thought it was all a stunt by Rivers to get more publicity. Rivers has recently called President Barack Obama "gay" and Michelle Obama a "transgender."

"It's a joke. She did it for the shock value," the commenter said.

Judging from the volume of views and comments on the interview video, and the press coverage that it is getting to this moment, the stunt angle may be correct.

It remains to be seen, however, if such public attention would actually translate to high sales figures for the "Mad Diva" book.

TagsJoan Rivers, Mad Diva, Joan Rivers CNN interview, Fredricka Whitfield, Diary of a Mad Diva