“Whether I like it or not, I think I’m a resilient survivor,” Kathy Griffin tells ABC News. Read more from her exclusive interview:
But she says nothing could compare to the fallout she experienced from her 2017 photoshoot in which she held a mask that appeared to be bloodied with then President Donald Trump’s likeness. By June 2020, she was in the throes of a painkiller addiction and even attempted suicide. Yet, she’s still here.
“I thought, ‘Well, I don't even drink… Big deal, I take a couple pills now and again, who doesn't?’” she said. “Also, my age was a big part of it. I mean, who bottoms out and tries to take their life at 59? It's almost a joke, right, and by the way, someday, this will all be comedy. Trust me… I was laughing to stay alive. And what I found is I felt like if I can't make others laugh, then there's no purpose for me to live. There's no reason for me to live.”But she did.
“I lost a ton of weight... I wasn't even aware of … not being able to keep food down because I was dealing with so many things,” she said. “Yet, I had such a drive to get back on stage and show that I couldn't be taken down. … It was a really tough time. It was one of those times where I was on a mission and I was gonna get through it. And it was a very, very gratifying, but very difficult tour.
MORE: ‘I just won’t go down’: Kathy Griffin on fighting her way back after a scandal threatened to end her career She said she began to believe her critics, and started thinking that there probably wouldn’t be a next chapter.Griffin grew up in an Irish Catholic family where she says she was surrounded by “lots” of alcoholism. She says she maintained her sobriety in spite of her surroundings.
“It also plays into the idea of wanting to be sort of a whistleblower in my comedy, and say things that you're sort of ‘not supposed to say,’’’ she said. “I really credit comedy for saving my life because it's not just an outlet for me. I truly feel it's a healer and it's necessary. … I feel compelled to do a sort of in-your-face style of comedy. Brutally honest, good, bad or indifferent.
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