By Gregg Shapiro
I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing comedy legend Kathy Griffin a few times over the years, but I think our December 2024 interview might be my favorite. Griffin, the very definition of a survivor (much like her dear friend and mentor Joan Rivers), is in the midst of one of the most impressive returns in the history of modern comedy. Her admirably indomitable spirit has allowed her to survive multiple losses (including her beloved mother Maggie), a second divorce, a lung cancer bout (including the loss of her voice), and becoming public enemy number one (to some) due to an anti-Trump stunt that
resulted in her being blacklisted for years. Nevertheless, she persisted, and we’re so glad she did. Why, you might ask, is this my favorite Kathy Griffin interview? Because it started like this.
Kathy Griffin: Congratulations on the interview of a lifetime.
Gregg Shapiro: I guess this might be my third or fourth interview of a lifetime, because we’ve spoken
before.
Kathy Griffin: Gregg, we have what's called a relationship. I want this interview to be cheerful and
sell a lot of tickets.
GS: I will do my best! Kathy, the title of your new comedy tour is “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the PTSD-List.”
KG: I, of course, did it as a nod to the fact that Peacock has finally decided to air all six seasons of the
double Emmy Award-winning “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List” so that people who are too young to
remember that show can just think I'm crazy, so they go based on the title which is completely true. I do have to say, even though I don't get an additional penny, I do love that Peacock is airing “My Life on the D List,” again, and I love that people are rediscovering my mom and dad and can fall in love with them all over again.
GS: You’re reaching a whole new audience! As you mentioned, you have been diagnosed with complex PTSD. How does comedy function as a healing tool for you?
KG: I talk about everything in the show: from why I have PTSD to the ridiculous treatments I'm doing for PTSD. As an example, one of my therapists has me get on all fours and arch my back like a kitty cat and say “meow.” Then I tip my head up and I say “moo,” like I'm a cow. I’m a fucking star, Gregg! I'm sitting there going “meow moo meow moo…”
GS: Did they explain what that does?
KG: It's supposed to get you out of your head and get you into your body. Gregg, between you and me,
it's a lot of bullshit. I had to stop doing something recently. I don't know if you saw the documentary
about kundalini yoga (“Breath of Fire”). I was doing kundalini yoga to help my PTSD and, get this, the whole thing is bullshit, Gregg. There was never a guy named Kundalini. His real name was like Smith or
something. So, I've been doing kundalini yoga for a year. It involves chanting things that this dude, who's a grifter, made up. I think that's funny, I'm sorry. I talk about all this stuff. I go down the laundry list. I talk about how the fallout from the Trump photo affected me. Being ditched by 75 percent of my friends who never came back. Being on the no-fly list. Being out of work by my own beloved industry for seven years. All that messed with my head.
GS: You’ve also talked about your dogs, including the one named after your late mother Maggie. My husband and I have a Yorkipoo named Coco, who is the center of our world. What can you tell the readers about the healing impact dogs have had in your life?
KG: Gregg, I can't believe you asked that! I'm in a hotel in Atlanta where I have a show tonight. Maggie is sitting on my lap. I have four dogs, and I brought a second one (to Atlanta) and his name is Elliot. I bring at least one of my four dogs on every single leg of the tour. The dog I named Maggie, after my mom of course, is a little redhead and she's trouble just like the original Maggie. She's a little Dickens. She's the smallest one and, God damn it, she's the pack leader. I don't know how I fucked this up. I have big dogs, and she barks at them. Don't be surprised if I bring all four to Chicago
or other places. I’m not going to meet those gays without a safety dog!
GS: I’m glad you mentioned the gays. You’ve spoken about being abandoned by friends and fans following the Trump troubles. Would it be fair to say that your LGBTQ fans stuck with you throughout?
KG: From day one! I had gay people sending me pictures of themselves dressed as me with a Trump bloody Halloween mask, which obviously just means ketchup. There was aparade on Fire Island. You people will do a fucking parade for anything. There was a God damn dress-like-
Kathy-Griffin-and-get-a-Trump-Halloween-mask-and-make-itbloody-parade, and that's why I'm
once an ally, always an ally.
GS: This interview is taking place a little more than a month after your record-breaking sixth Carnegie Hall show in October 2024. What was that experience like
for you?
KG: Gregg, you're going to make me cry. It was out of body! It was so magical. Do you know that I literally got on my hands and knees -- I did not meow -- I kissed the stage. There is Kathy Griffin lipstick on the Carnegie Hall stage. I felt my dear departed friend Joan Rivers in my body. We held the record together. She had done it five times and I've done it five. She would say, “You bitch! You better not do it again, you bitch. I knew I could never trust you, you bitch.” We would laugh. I was backstage where Tchaikovsky had been, where the great conductors had been, where Kathleen Battle and Beverly Sills sang opera. I felt my dear departed Joan in my body saying, “You can do this. You’ve got it. Have fun.” She'd always say, “How lucky are we?” On our last dinner together, we gossiped and talked shit about everybody, but then she would always go, “How lucky are we?” I just kept going, “I
get to play Carnegie by myself. No opening act. I write every single word of my stand-up, not like Ellen.” Holy shit, did you see that shit show? You can see her eyes reading a teleprompter. But I digress. Anyway, I was so happy and grateful to be there. I can still see the audience. It
was a full house. Look, every show is a gift. Honestly, every show I hear Joan saying, “How lucky are we?”
GS: Your current tour began before the horrifying 2024 election and will continue well into 2025.
KG: Gregg, we were doing so well! We were getting along so well!
GS: I apologize, but I just wanted to ask how much you will be addressing the subject, if at all?
KG: OK, get ready. I don't mention Trump one bit in this new show. It's not that I'm afraid of them. I certainly,as the kids say, fucked around and found out, and I'm proud of it. I did a whole tour about that experience called “The Laugh Your Head Off” tour. I made a movie about it called “Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story.” It's on Amazon for free. I got awards. I did film festivals with it. It really
covers all that part of what I went through which, love me or hate me, it was historic. To this day, no
comedian in history has been investigated by the Department of Justice and the Attorney General.
GS: Not even Lenny Bruce?
KG: That was local. Local PD. In fact, I had a conversation about Lenny Bruce and George Carlin with the great Jane Fonda. Jane said, “Even I wasn't hassled by the Feds,” and Jane was arrested. She said, “We've all had local PD but never the Feds.” All I do is acknowledge it when I do my laundry list of why I have PTSD which includes the fallout from the Trump picture, pill addiction, being on a 5150 psych hold for three days, getting sober, finding out a year later I had lung cancer even though I never smoked, getting half my left lung removed and having my left front vocal cord permanently killed
by the surgeon, and getting divorced, which I'm still trying to recover from. I kind of make fun of heartbreak, because we've all been through it. I also have had an implant put in my left vocal cord, so I got my voice back. It's funny, I'm a little hoarse now because I did a show last night, but I have my voice back, and I feel like I got my life back overnight.
GS: Is Reba McEntire aware that people confuse you for her, and if so, do you know if people confuse
her for you?
KG: Gregg, let me tell you something. I love Reba! I live in fear of running into her and her just
slapping me in the face. I'll tell you what, I deserve it. I cannot tell you how excited I am when people think I'm Reba. I used to get insulted and be like, “Excuse me, I'm award winning comedy legend Kathy Griffin. How dare you?” Now, I just go, “Hi y'all!” And then I write, “Blessings,” and I sign the autograph Reba McEntire.
GS: You have talked about your availability to be on the TV show “The Golden Bachelorette.” Could
you ever see yourself starring in your own sitcom?
KG: Yes! I already was the sidekick. I've had a reality show. I had my own show on MTV. I co-hosted New Year's for 10 years. I have guested on “Seinfeld” twice. Of course, I’m ready for a sitcom. My life is insane and should be documented.
GS: You’ve also mentioned that you’d like to be considered for a dramatic role. Do you have a
favorite serious novel that you think would make a good movie
with you in the lead?
KG: A Bible. I mean, not that I have a Messiah complex. But I see myself playing God. Kind of a female Rebalook alike with maybe too many dogs. The kind of god that gets in so much trouble that I'm such a god that I have to get myself out of trouble. I mean it writes itself, Gregg.
GS: We’re speaking shortly before Christmas, and I was wondering how you observe the winter holidays.
KG: This is embarrassing, but I'm just going to tell you. Now that I'm 64, sexy, and single, I will pick up the phone and just cold call my friends and say, “What time is dinner?” Because I've hosted so many parties over the years, God dammit, now that I'm single it's payback time. You know Jesse Tyler Ferguson from “Modern Family?”
GS: Of course!
KG: I went over there last Christmas Eve, and I wasn't even fucking invited! Perhaps you've heard the
name Lance Bass from NSync? Lance can run, but he can't hide. Lance can try to change his address. I will find him. I will show up. I'll bring cookies or something. But I am not only a
hostess; I am what's called an “inviter.” I will just invite myself. Gregg. I might come to your house if
I feel like it.
GS: We have a guest room. You're
more than welcome any time.
KG: What time?
GS: Pick a time.
KG: I’m going to come at four, so we can gossip for an hour before the other people arrive.
GS: That sounds great! Biopics continue to be popular with new ones about Bob Dylan and Robbie Williams currently receiving a lot of buzz. If there was a Kathy Griffin biopic, who would you want to play you?
KG: The bad thing is Kathy Lee Gifford would turn it down, which would be a big mistake. I’m going to
have to go with Timothee Chalamet.
GS: If he can play Bob Dylan, he can certainly play you as well.
KG: And he can fit into all my clothes!
GS: Finally, you’re performing at the Chicago Theatre, on New Year’s Eve no less. What’s the best part about performing for the hometown crowd?
KG: First of all, I'm so grateful to have my first gig since I got shitcanned from CNN seven years ago.
On New Year's Eve, I'm so grateful to do what I do. For comedians, it's our busiest night. I'm really glad the show’s at 8:00. I'll be honest, the 10:00 shows are rough. People are usually already really drunk, and you have to do the fucking countdown. Then everybody has a different countdown time. I'm yelling seven and they're yelling nine. It's a whole thing. I'm thrilled just to be working. I want to make people laugh. Then of course they can go get drunk after the show because it's a misconception that drunk people are good audiences. You want them to have had one drink. I'll bounce you. I
have no shame. I'll have my security people… I don't care if you're in a fucking Rascal. I’ll fucking come and pull you right out of your scooter. I don't care if you have an oxygen tank. You're getting the fuck out if you disrupt my show!
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