 Fame
& Fortune interview: Kathy Griffin
Comic: 'My best financial move is not
spending'
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If making fun of celebrities has become a royal venture
in our increasingly snarky culture, then Kathy Griffin is its queen.
Griffin, a stand-up comic whose first major public exposure came
on TV as Brooke Shields' wisecracking friend on "Suddenly Susan,"
has made a successful career decimating pompous celebrities while
positioning herself as the ultimate outsider trying to claw her
way in. Last year, the first season of her Bravo network reality
TV show, "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List," gave
viewers an in-depth look at both her home life and the indignities
of being on the bottom rung of the celebrity ladder. Now, the show
has returned for season two starting June 6, and viewers will get
to see more of how trying the D-list can be -- but also, the ways
in which it's still a pretty fun life.
Bankrate spoke with Griffin about the ups and downs
of life on the D-list and how this life has actually given her a
very solid and profitable career.
Bankrate: Considering
how far this "D-List" thing has taken you, is it possible
you've risen back up to the C-list?
Kathy Griffin: Larry,
you're dreaming. I don't know what world you live in, but I don't
know that that's possible. Of course, a girl's got dreams. Maybe
sometime I'll bite and scratch my way to the C-list, but I don't
know. It's pretty crowded up there. And, I kind of like my D-list
life. I think a lot of people relate to it. People like what I do,
which is to be an outsider looking in. What I like about the D-list
is I can do my job and make a living in the fields that I love,
and yet no one's following me to the grocery store, no paparazzi
are going through my garbage, and nobody cares if I eat a cheeseburger.
So I think it's the best of both worlds.
Bankrate: Considering
the level of fame you do have, do you actually have trouble getting
into A-list events?
Kathy Griffin: Of course.
Famous people don't like me. But I love going to those events, and
the funny thing is, even if they try to keep me out, most of the
time they need a comic anyway. So they can't quite get rid of me.
One of the reasons I don't like to hang out with famous people is
that I don't want to go to dinner with someone and their bodyguard.
Bankrate: Do you think
celebrities secretly want you talking about them?
Kathy Griffin: I've had
celebrities come up to me and say that. Lara Flynn Boyle once asked,
"Why aren't I in your act?" I'm shocked and pleasantly
surprised about how many celebrities are actually cool about it.
Because I often have people say I'm crude, and all this other stuff.
But Jessica Simpson came up to me one time and said, "I hope
you know I would never, ever be mad at anything you would say about
me. I think you're so funny." And Sharon Stone has been incredibly
nice. I'm very happy when a celebrity has a sense of humor. I love
that.
Bankrate: Who
is your closest celebrity friend?
Kathy Griffin: I don't
really hang out with any celebrities. I do hang out with Joan Rivers.
I get along great with all the people who are the outcasts -- Joan
Rivers, Roseanne, Bill Maher, Howard Stern. I get along great with
people like that.
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