!! OMG, a Q&A with Kathy Griffin !!
Photo by Jen Rosenstein
Notoriously controversial, infamously banned, utterly hilarious and totally fearless, Kathy Griffin requires no introduction. But following Kathy’s six years away from the spotlight where she took a trip to hell and back, her re-introduction is long overdue.
After stealing the show in beloved 1990s productions like Suddenly Susan and Seinfeld (where Jerry dedicated an entire episode to Kathy’s real-life beef with him), Kathy became a reality-television pioneer with My Life on the D-List, which went on to win the GLAAD Media Award for Best Reality Program. Now available to stream on Peacock, My Life on the D-List is a literal time capsule of the who’s-who in early aughts Hollywood—definitely worth revisiting for the nostalgia-fuelled romp down memory lane and all the Kathy face-time.
Kathy’s accolades and accomplishments don’t stop there: She won two Emmys and a Grammy, she penned Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin, which debuted at number on the New York Times Bestseller List, and she co-hosted CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast with Anderson Cooper for years.
Perhaps what we admire most about Kathy (when she’s not making us laugh) is her conviction in advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, women, and other disenfranchised groups, a commitment that’s earned her the Human Rights Campaign’s Ally for Equality and GLAAD’s Vanguard award.
But it hasn’t all been rainbows and sunshine for Kathy. In 2018, misfortune decided to come for her in more ways than we can count. She was diagnosed with lung cancer, resulting in the removal of half of her lung and a permanent change in the sound of her voice. She developed an addiction to pills that led to a suicide attempt. She lost her mother. She filed for divorce from her husband of four years. And, last but certainly not least bizarre, she was investigated by the US government as a terrorist following her Trump photo scandal, which left her on the no-fly list and unable to work.
Kathy is living proof that when it rains, it pours!
Now, nearly four years sober, cancer-free and cleared to fly, we are happy to report that Kathy is back in action with her new stand-up show, My Life on the PTSD-List. Keeping in step with her broader comedy oeuvre, it’s a candid look at her life, including some of the foibles she’s been through with the A-list friends she’s made along the way (hi, Paris Hilton!). She’s bringing the show across North America this year (get your tickets here).
We caught up with Kathy to find out how she copes with life’s ups and many downs, why she never regrets sticking up for herself, and what it was like whoring it up with Christopher Meloni.
Read the full Q&A with Kathy Griffin after the jump!
