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Kathy Griffin returns to center stage: And she’s pulling no punches

January 30, 2025


Photo by Jen Rosenstein

Content warning: This article contains mention of substance abuse and suicide.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, stand-up legend Kathy Griffin is back. Griffin’s “My Life on the PTSD List” tour, whose title is a play on her 6-season reality TV show “My Life on the D-list”, will stop in 40 cities, including Washington, D.C. As she makes her return to the stage, the Voice sat down with her for an extended conversation to gain her perspective on everything and everyone, from Donald Trump to Ellen DeGeneres.

Before her extended hiatus, Griffin was an early gossip comic. She made a career for herself as a self-proclaimed “D-lister” whose A-list stories poked fun at the Hollywood elite. When asked about two of her oldest foes, Ellen DeGeneres and Ryan Seacrest, Griffin says they’re both “just flipping houses and counting their money and laughing all the way to the bank.” Her recounts aren’t all critical, however, and there are plenty of joyful celebrity encounters in her rolodex of stories. For example, Griffin told us of an encounter with Adele at the Emmys in which the singer praised Griffin for “[making] fun of all the people that I make fun of with my friends.”

Griffin also described herself as a happy workaholic, stating that she was always “doing a TV special, a standup special, a series, a reality show or a scripted show,” and doing this work well. Though she playfully calls herself a “D-lister,” her work speaks for itself: she’s won two Emmys for best reality show and a Grammy for best comedy album. Her activism for LGBTQ+ equality has also been well received, winning her an Ally for Equality award from the Human Rights Campaign. 

Although her status as comedy legend was glorious, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for her. Griffin’s comedic intentions were ill-received on her infamous photoshoot depicting her holding the decapitated head of President Trump. The backlash was intense and immediate, coming from every segment of the political spectrum. Griffin “lost 75% of [her] friends, who didn’t come back” in an industry that relies heavily on connections. Griffin likened the intense backlash to “a PSYOP, almost. I know that sounds tinfoil hat, but it was very orchestrated. I’ve interviewed and talked to many White House folks since then, and it was kind of the brainchild of Dan Scavino, Jared [Kushner], Don [Trump] Jr., and Donald [Trump] himself.” Unsurprisingly, Griffin stepped back from the work she so loved. In the absence of her craft, she faced many difficulties, some related to her cancellation, some not. According to Griffin, the near-loss of her ability to speak due to vocal cancer, an addiction to pills, the death of her mother, and a suicide attempt are just a few of the traumas that inspired the grim title for her new routine. Now after regaining her voice in more ways than one, Griffin looks to reestablish herself as the stand-up legend audiences know her to be.

Griffin insisted that she will not allow her recent adversities to define her, and that she has found community with new friends that can empathize with her public backlash. She spoke highly of people like Stormy Daniels and E. Jean Carroll, with whom she’s bonded over their shared persecution at the hands of the Trump dynasty. Her old friends may have dwindled, but perhaps her new, more intimate circle can provide the emotional support she was missing during her cancellation. Griffin clearly thinks so, as she quotes her dear friend, world-famous singer Sia, and claims she can “feel the love, I feel the lo-o-ove.” With a resilient support system in place, Griffin is ready now more than ever to step back into the spotlight.

Considering the extended hiatus Griffin has been on for the past 6 years, she knows she has a lot of catching up to do. As comedic standards evolve, so must she to survive, especially with her arch-nemesis having the FBI at his disposal. She shared with us valuable insights on how new generations coming across her earlier material misinterpret her jokes to be derogatory rather than progressive. Griffin admitted that if she had heard the language she used 15 years ago, she would be “fucking mortified,” acknowledging that “the ’90s and 2000s were a vicious time for comedy.” She further defended herself, explaining that many of those trying to retroactively cancel her for her lack of political correctness forget that she was extremely progressive for the environment of comedy in the 2000s. She specifically acknowledged her iconic opening line, “Where my gays at?” explaining that at the time, “the word gay wasn’t being used against them,” and she was no foe to the community. In a time when most comedians opted for slurs to refer to LGBTQ+ people, Griffin normalized the term “gays” to playfully refer to and roast LGBTQ+ people without using the slurs so often used against her gay fans. She explained to us that she feels her comedy should be an escape for audience members, and bullying audience members has never landed on her agenda.

With some slight modifications in mind, Griffin is back and snappier than ever. She insists that although she will make slight alterations to her jokes to ensure audience comfort, she is not “one of these comics that’s complaining about the woke mind virus and shit.” Griffin strikes an admirable balance between respecting the audience’s comfort levels while remaining authentic to her own style. Griffin shares an important lesson she’s learned from this experience, saying, “I think you should evolve and should grow.” 

Audiences can clearly expect much of the same audacious Kathy Griffin they’ve fallen in love with before, except now she’s better than ever. “My Life On the PTSD List” stops by the Warner Theatre on Feb. 1, and D.C. is in for a night of some much-needed brevity.



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