How Kathy Griffin Rose 'from the Ashes' After Scandal, Addiction, Divorce and Cancer (Exclusive) Brianne TracyOctober 15, 2025 at 10:11 PM 0 Savion Washington/Getty Kathy Griffin on October 11, 2025 In her classic fashion, Kathy Griffin was recently escorted out of a Hollywood party hosted by Paris ...
- - How Kathy Griffin Rose 'from the Ashes' After Scandal, Addiction, Divorce and Cancer (Exclusive)
Brianne TracyOctober 15, 2025 at 10:11 PM
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Savion Washington/Getty
Kathy Griffin on October 11, 2025
In her classic fashion, Kathy Griffin was recently escorted out of a Hollywood party hosted by Paris Hilton.
"Kris Jenner had gone in a room behind some curtains, and I went on the other side of the curtains and started tapping on the glass thinking it would be funny to act like I was a zombie, going, 'Kris, it's Kathy Griffin. I want to see your new face,'" jokes the comedian, who, like Jenner, recently had a facelift. "Then security physically removed me."
Griffin's recent antics are reminiscent of the same ones that kicked her career into overdrive in the mid-aughts on her Bravo show My Life on the D-List, now enjoying new life on Peacock.
"My audiences are no-BS," Griffin, 64, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue, on newsstands. "They want me to rip away the curtain just like I did at Paris' party…and then they want to watch me get escorted out by security."
Jaimie Trueblood/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Kathy Griffin and her mom Maggie on 'My Life on the D-List'
Minus the security escort, Griffin does exactly that in her new comedy special, My Life on the PTSD List, streaming on YouTube.
In the special, she opens up about her life since the firestorm of controversy that followed the infamous 2017 photoshoot depicting her holding President Donald Trump's severed head.
In the past eight years, she's gone through some intense personal struggles, including a pill addiction, a suicide attempt, a lung cancer diagnosis and a divorce from her second husband Randy Bick.
"I talk about some heavy stuff, but I got so much feedback from my audiences saying, 'I'm glad you went there,'" she says. "I have had a bit of a deluge of difficulties since the Trump photo, but one thing after another taught me, okay, you may not see the comedy when you're living it, but at some point, it will be funny. There's comedy in everything."
When she first started doing stand-up in the 1990s, the Chicago-area native was inspired by Joan Rivers' brand of "outrageous" comedy but "never set out to be a lightning rod," she says. "If anything, I was criticized in my early career for being shallow. I mostly talked about pop culture."
That all changed with the photo scandal, after which Griffin says she was investigated by the Justice Department and placed on the No-Fly List.
The experience also had an impact on her relationships. "So many of my friends dumped me," she says.
While losing friends and job offers in the wake of the scandal, Griffin fell into a deep depression and became addicted to OxyContin and benzodiazepines. After a suicide attempt, she was placed on a psychiatric hold.
Her life turned around when she joined a 12-Step program. In June, she celebrated five years of sobriety.
"I go to AA meetings, and I go to women's only meetings because I don't want to start sleeping with guys at the meetings, and I don't trust myself," she jokes. "So many of my newer friends since the Trump scandal are from the 12-step program."
In 2021, Griffin faced another setback when she was diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer.
During surgery to have half of her left lung removed, Griffin says her left vocal cord was permanently paralyzed by an intubation tube. It left Griffin — who said she was cancer-free months after her lung surgery — with a higher-pitched voice that "sounded like Minnie Mouse."
Kathy Griffin/Instagram
Kathy Griffin in the hospital in 2022
Griffin's friend, the singer Sia, recommended Los Angeles-based Dr. Anca Barbu for vocal cord surgery.
"I felt like I got my life back overnight," she says. "I am so grateful that I found her. Shout-out Sia."
That joy faded two years later when Griffin filed for divorce from Bick after three years. Their divorce was finalized in January. "I was down for the count," she says.
After spending three weeks dabbling on dating apps, she's since taken herself off them. "I went on a date with a guy who told me if he wanted to, he could kill me with his thumb in under two seconds," she says. "Welcome to dating over 60."
Dating might be a struggle, but Griffin is looking forward to officially becoming a senior citizen when she turns 65 on Nov. 4.
"You don't know how excited I am," she says. "I'm going to blame everything on my age. I want to be on every discount list."
Four days after her birthday, she'll kick off her new comedy tour, New Face, New Tour – a reference to her most recent plastic surgery — in Las Vegas. She'll continue touring through May 2026 and promises nothing is off limits.
"I change my act every night, and I start with local material," she says.
kathy griffin
Kathy Griffin's New Face, New Tour poster
Still, Griffin feels many people have softened their opinions about her.
"I think people are feeling like, 'Okay, the photo was offensive, but it's now been eight years, and she wasn't ruined by it,'" Griffin says. "I get a lot of people that come into my comments saying I've risen from the ashes, and that's the best compliment I can get. I'm proud of the fact I'm still here."
Tickets for Griffin's comedy tour, New Face, New Tour, are on sale now.
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October 16, 2025 at 01:09AM