CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rielle Hunter has broken her public silence in a lengthy magazine spread in which she professes "unconditional love" for the man she calls Johnny, disputes published portrayals of her, and said "Being a mistress was not easy for me."

On Monday she also expressed shock at photos that accompanied the 10,000-word GQ article. Some showed her in a bedroom of her Charlotte home, appearing to wear little more than a shirt and pearls.

"She was in tears when she called," Barbara Walters recounted on ABC's "The View" on Monday. "(She) said that when she saw the pictures in GQ she screamed for two hours."

The interview comes on the heels of Hunter's efforts to recover a purported sex tape she allegedly made with Edwards, the former Democratic presidential candidate. A Chatham County judge ruled Friday that former Edwards aide Andrew Young was not in contempt of court for statements about the tape, which he'd obtained.

A federal grand jury, meanwhile, is looking into whether Edwards misused campaign funds in supporting Hunter and Young.

Hunter has been the subject of unflattering portraits in Young's tell-all book "The Politician" and in "Game Change," an account of the 2008 presidential campaign. Both have been atop the New York Times bestseller list.

Hunter disputes many of Young's accounts.

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