Kathy Griffin is still waiting for her big comeback

Say, whatever happened to Kathy Griffin? Following the rather unfortunate, um… decapitation incident, she’s been almost completely invisible in the United States and remains persona non grata with most of her former Hollywood pals. But according to the Hollywood Reporter, the self-proclaimed D-list celebrity has been raking in some serious cash taking her act on the road in Australia, New Zealand and across Europe in countries where people apparently don’t mind the idea of someone chopping the president’s head off.

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Still, it clearly stings to be shut out of her former social circles back home. In the linked interview from her amazingly posh mansion (and yes… it’s an actual mansion she bought in cash a few years ago) the comedian opens up about her situation. As you might expect from her previous appearances, Griffin can’t seem to stop finding things or other people to blame for her downfall. Among the many “slights” coming her way was the choice of her former friend Andy Cohen to replace her on CNN’s New Year’s Eve special. She responded with a YouTube video claiming he had offered her cocaine backstage. But that didn’t’ work because… (wait for it) she’s a woman.

Griffin regrets nothing — not even the cocaine story, which Cohen has dismissed on Twitter as “100% false and totally made up.” She says she shared it “to illustrate a double standard. If it was me [offering drugs backstage], somebody at Bravo would have said, ‘You have to go.’ When you’re a woman, you get one fuckup, and it’s over. When you’re a guy, you get chance after chance after chance.”

Ah, yes. It must come down to sexism. None of this would have happened if she were a man, right? So how is she going to come back from this? Griffin still seems convinced that the phone is going to ring any day now and she’ll be back on top.

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But outside of touring — she plans to return to North America sometime soonish — Griffin’s options are limited and often insulting (she was sent an offer to do stand-up at a “Pop-Up Comedy Club in Beirut, Lebanon”). Netflix, a natural home with its heavy stand-up push, wants nothing to do with her (especially after Griffin accused Lisa Nishimura, vp original docs and comedy at Netflix, of sexism in a Nov. 11 tweet). And NBCUniversal properties like Bravo, E! and NBC won’t touch her, either, at least not at the moment. “It’s still a day-by-day process,” says Bick. “We still don’t know what’s going to happen the next time she does a show in the States. We’re still on edge.”

But Griffin is undeterred. “The minute I do something that makes money, they will all love me again,” she says, slowly stirring her spicy soup with a spoon. “When I’m dead, I’ll be a legend. But not now.”

Is that how it works in Hollywood? (I’m seriously asking here because I honestly don’t know.) If she’s correct, there’s some sort of expiration date on punishment for even the most offensive and outlandish behavior. Jimmy Kimmel supposedly has a standing invitation for her to come on his show as soon as she has something to announce, which isn’t too shocking considering how much he clearly despises Trump.

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Perhaps that call isn’t actually going to come, though. Does anyone really believe that Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey will be back on top in their respective fields once “enough time has passed” for everyone to forgive and forget? In earlier times that might have been true, but the Me Too moment has left me with the impression that the glitterati in Tinseltown are actually learning some lessons and beginning to set limits.

Both Weinstein and Spacey are proven earners who were able to generate a lot of cash for people, but now they’re essentially radioactive. If that same stain remains on Griffin she may need to consider either full retirement with her 39-year-old (!) boyfriend or at least resign herself to performing in other countries where she can make all the presidential assassination jokes she likes.

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Ed Morrissey 12:40 PM | November 21, 2024
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