Kathy Griffin continues struggling with the aftermath of a 2017 photo spread that had many sounding the death knell for her career.
In an interview with Variety published Tuesday, the actress and comedian opened up about being “blacklisted” by Hollywood and the media after she posted a bloody image of herself holding a fake severed head of President Donald Trump. Among those to distance themselves from Griffin was longtime pal Anderson Cooper, who called the photo “disgusting and completely inappropriate.”
“I was devastated. It still hurts,” Griffin said of the end of her relationship with Cooper, with whom she hosted CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast. “I mean, I really loved him.”
“I don’t have a punchline for that one,” she added.
Griffin’s professional career is gradually returning to the mainstream spotlight. Her 2018 Laugh Your Head Off Tour was a smash hit, playing New York’s Carnegie Hall and bringing her to 15 countries. This week, she’s premiering a filmed version of the final performance on that tour, “Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story,” at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
Though Netflix and HBO have passed on her recent proposals, Griffin said she hopes her docufilm will be picked up for distribution at SXSW, which could further kick-start her comeback.
Noting that plenty of other stars have denounced Trump, the Emmy and Grammy winner said she believes the backlash she’s experienced is more than just political, boiling down to ageism ― and sexism.
“I feel a lot of this is because I’m a 58-year-old woman,” she said. “I’m a successful stand-up comedian, which flies in the face of everything Trump and his folks believe. And I think my impression is they’re just offended by the audacity that I want to continue to work and be successful and I’m a self-made woman.”
Griffin said she’d ultimately like another crack at hosting a New Year’s Eve special, too ― with another high-profile figure taking Cooper’s place.
“I’m very upset that no one picked up my genius idea last year of a New Year’s Eve live with Kathy Griffin and Stormy Daniels,” she said. “I pitched that to about five different places, and they all laughed during the pitch, and then they would kick it upstairs.”
“I have ideas, if nothing else,” she added.
