That’s ‘D,’ as in ‘dishing dirt’
Kathy Griffin dishes the juicy stuff about the stars, including herself.
“I’m banned from ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show,’ which makes me sad, because I’m a real admirer of hers,” says Griffin. “But apparently the show said, ‘Well, we can’t have you talking trash about celebrities, and our audience is friendlier than that.’ “
The forty-something comedian is fully aware that she steps on a lot of big-name toes. But she can’t stop herself, not when the material is so ripe for mocking.
“I am fascinated by how celebrities, by and large, don’t have a good sense of humor about themselves, and yet they’re so ridiculous,” Griffin says.
Her take on Britney Spears: “Where’s the parenting in that household? Because somebody’s got to be there when Britney drops the kid on the head.”
And on Tom Cruise: “Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Was he always crazy and (former publicist) Pat Kingsley kept a lid on it, or did he just turn crazy?”
Griffin is in the second season of her Bravo network reality show, “My Life on the D-List” (Tuesdays, 9 p.m., cable channel 65 in Spokane, 66 in Coeur d’Alene), which includes footage of her trip to entertain the troops in Iraq.
Bravo recently aired her concert special, “Kathy Griffin: Strong Black Woman,” which contains riffs on her misadventures with the E! channel and Celine Dion.
She’s also popped up on Bravo’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.”
The Chicago native has a lengthy resume that includes working with the Los Angeles improvisational group the Groundlings and guest-starring on shows like “ER” and “Seinfeld.” She’s also a reality TV veteran, having won “Celebrity Mole: Hawaii” and hosted “Average Joe.”
After landing a part in the sitcom “Suddenly Susan,” she honed in on the star-skewering material that defines her comic voice.
“All of a sudden, I’m working with Brooke Shields every day and I’m going to Andre Agassi‘s house and I’m presenting on an awards show and then I’m hosting an awards show,” Griffin recalls.
“And you get to see all that backstage stuff. I was sort of immersed in the world of celebrity and never knew that celebrities were so ridiculous until I saw for myself.”
In one of the funniest bits from “Strong Black Woman,” she talks about being booted from the E! channel’s red carpet team after joking that child star Dakota Fanning was in rehab – an absurd gag meant to poke fun at how stars send “messages of hope” to troubled colleagues.
Griffin says she gets along best with other fearlessly sharp-tongued performers like Howard Stern, Bill Maher and Joan Rivers, whom she calls her only celebrity friend.
“Joan and I will actually have dinner and stuff,” she says.
The birthday bunch
Director Ken Russell is 79. Actor Michael Cole (“The Mod Squad”) is 61. Humorist Dave Barry is 59. Actress Jan Smithers (“WKRP In Cincinnati”) is 57. Talk show host Montel Williams is 50. Country singer Aaron Tippin is 48. Actor Tom Cruise is 44. Actor Thomas Gibson (“Dharma and Greg”) is 44. Actor Grant Rosenmeyer (“Oliver Beene”) is 15.