Kathy Griffin has her voice back.
The comedian "figuratively" lost it, she said, in the blowback she faced from a 2017 satirical photo of her holding a mask that looked like Donald Trump covered in fake blood. (It was actually ketchup.) Griffin's comedy tour was cancelled. She was put on the no-fly list. Griffin lost friends and faced public rancor. She was investigated – and exonerated – for conspiracy to assassinate the president.
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"People were confronting me on the street, people were coming up to me at the mall, people were coming up to me at the grocery store," Griffin, 64, said in a phone interview Wednesday. "Alright, I haven't been to a grocery store since I was 15."
The experience led to panic attacks and a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. Her mother, Maggie Griffin – who won people's hearts on Griffin's six-year hit Bravo TV show, "My Life on the D-List" – died in 2020. Then Griffin was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021, even though she never smoked. The surgery to remove part of her left lung damaged her vocal cords. Griffin only could speak in a sort of squeak for about three years, she said. She became addicted to prescription pills and tried to take her own life.
"I've had a rough few years," Griffin said. "I call it the laundry list."
But Griffin is cancer free and more than four years into recovery from addiction. A 2023 vocal cord implant gave Griffin her famous pipes back to make people laugh about the dark times and spill celebrity tea, as always, on her My Life on the PTSD List stand-up tour. Griffin hits the stage in Philadelphia on Saturday, March 15, at the Met in one of her final stops. Tickets begin at $57.25.
Prior to that, she's taping a comedy special in Seattle on Saturday, March 1.
Spread the word. Even after 21 televised stand-up specials – more than any other comedian – two Emmys and a Grammy, Griffin is trying to find someone to buy it. She said some places are still "squeamish" about her.
Provided Image/Kathy Griffin
Comedian Kathy Griffin is performing her stand-up act in Philadelphia on Saturday, March 15, at the Met.
But Griffin is able to laugh at herself.
"I became addicted to prescription pills, which is kind of funny, because who the f*** becomes a junkie at 57?" Griffin said.
And she talks about her attempted suicide in her show.
"I'm not making fun of suicidal ideation," Griffin said. "I'm just trying to say to the audience, 'I've been there. I get it. I know I'm not alone. I hear you. I see you.' And, of course, I make it funny, because it was silly, and you've got to laugh or else you're crying."
But Griffin promised that along with the "heavy stuff," she delivers "the good old Kathy Griffin razzle-dazzle celebrity stories," including one about vacationing in Mexico with the Australian singer Sia, "where everything goes wrong. She didn't even bring her wig."
And there's a story about going to her new BFF Paris Hilton's Christmas party, "which has all the bells and whistles you'd want," Griffin said. "It's celebrity bad behavior, my bad behavior, me getting kicked out."
On the phone, Griffin did some Philly-centric riffing, poking fun at actor Bradley Cooper, who grew up in Jenkintown.
"Bradley Cooper is, oh gosh, how do I say this? He is so in love with me that he actually hasn't even been able to speak about it publicly yet," Griffin said. "He was so heartbroken when I told him, 'Look, you're a good actor, but I'm kind of a looks type of chick. I'm shallow that way.' And so he's been hitting the gym. He's gonna get a little face work for me, but he's just not quite Griffin material, because I'm 64, single and sexy, and my dream is to be the Golden Bachelorette. So if Bradley Cooper wants to get in there and try to make it to the final 10, which I doubt, he better start working."
Griffin seems serious about wanting to be the Golden Bachelorette. And being back on stage has been joyful for her. Work is her "lifeline," Griffin said.
If she gets one of her frequent panic attacks on the day of a show, she goes into "high-octane mode," Griffin said.
"Luckily, my muscle memory has never made me miss a show … because I've been doing it for so long. My body just starts to go, 'Just start to put the makeup on, Kathy. Put on the fake eyelashes. Start curling your hair. Put on your little hair piece.'
"… And the weirdest thing is, once my Doc Martens hit that stage, I swear to God, I can breathe. This relaxation comes over me."
