A timeline of legendary comedian Kathy Griffin’s most iconic, most ill-advised stunts
The controversial comic is coming to Toronto for a night at the Elgin Theatre. Here’s what to brace yourselves for
Irrepressible comedian Kathy Griffin describes herself as a D-lister, but her career has been far more consequential than that characterization would suggest. She’s crossed the line so many times that it’s practically disappeared. Here, in advance of her upcoming show at the Elgin, a timeline of Griffin’s mouthiest moments. January 26, Elgin Theatre
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January 16, 2005 While hosting red carpet coverage of the Golden Globes for E!, Griffin claims that 10-year-old Dakota Fanning is just out of rehab. The fallout: E! fires her.
September 16, 2007 While accepting an Emmy for her reality show My Life on the D-List, Griffin refuses to thank a higher power. “No one had less to do with this award than Jesus,” she says. “Suck it, Jesus. This award is my god now.” Griffin’s upcoming appearance on Hannah Montana is summarily cancelled.
January 1, 2009 Griffin makes headlines while co-hosting CNN’s New Year’s Eve live broadcast with Anderson Cooper for firing back at a heckler when she mistakenly thinks she’s off the air, shouting, “I don’t go to your job and knock the dicks out of your mouth.”
January 1, 2010 Griffin once again swears on CNN’s New Year’s Eve live broadcast, dropping an F-bomb while joking with Anderson Cooper about the pronunciation of the name “Falcon.”
March 17, 2010 At a Washington, DC, correspondents’ dinner, Griffin responds to a compliment from Republican firebrand Michele Bachmann by asking if Bachmann is naturally a bigot or if she just legislates like one.
January 21, 2012 Griffin offers to strip for David Letterman during an appearance on his late-night talk show and proceeds to take off her cocktail dress while Letterman awkwardly helps with the hooks. She isn’t invited back on the show until 2015.
January 1, 2013 Inspired by a report about a Maine town’s tradition of kissing sardines on the mouth, Griffin surprises NYE co-host Cooper by getting down on her knees and kissing his crotch. “I can do this all night long,” she says as Cooper tries to fight her off.
May 31, 2017 In her most costly stunt to date, Griffin appears in an Instagram video hoisting a severed, bloody prop head of US President Donald Trump. She is immediately dropped by her agent, fired by CNN and blacklisted all over Hollywood. Griffin is momentarily apologetic, asking for forgiveness on social media—before doubling down on The View a year later.
November 4, 2020 A day after the 2020 US presidential election—which Donald Trump loses—Griffin triumphantly poses with her old pal, the bloody Trump head.
November 6, 2022 Griffin is suspended from Twitter for impersonating newly minted owner Elon Musk, having changed her name and profile picture to match his, and urging readers to vote for the Democrats. The next day, Musk declares a ban on impersonations. Griffin’s account is reinstated two weeks later.
Anthony Milton is a freelance journalist based in Toronto specializing in long-form magazine writing. He previously worked as an assistant editor at Toronto Life, where he launched the Front Row newsletter. He regularly contributes all sorts of stories to the magazine, including deep dives on sports, business and housing as well as short-form commentary on our ever-changing city, from its obsession with cherry blossoms to its maddening NIMBYism. His work has also appeared in Maclean’s, Ricochet, TVO, the Trillium and more.
