Caustic Kathy

Kathy Griffin Tackles CNN's New Year's Eve Show Once Again

By Nicki Gostin


Posted: 12/28/11 -- 02:52 PM ET

She's back! Kathy Griffin will be ringing in 2012 hosting CNN's New Year's Eve special with Anderson Cooper, even after last year's undressing debacle.

The caustic comic spoke to The Huffington Post about this year's hosting gig, her favorite celebrity moments of 2011 and how she managed to hang out with Prince Charles. Yes, that's right. Prince Charles.

You're hosting CNN's New Year's Eve show again. Isn't this a job that you've been fired from before?
I think three times, Nicki. You should do your research! By the time we end this conversation, it'll be four times.

Did they ask you at the last minute, like they did last year?
It's completely shame-based. Here's the deal: I do New Year's Eve with Anderson. I say something that embarrasses them. They try to get me to apologize. I don't. They make an apology for themselves -- sometimes lawyers are called, sometimes they're not. A lot of time passes and they don't want to re-hire me, but then as it gets closer to New Year's Eve, they think "Well, I guess people do tune in so..."

They realize I'm what's called water cooler television and a ratings-grabber. Finally they come to their senses and they say, "Well, now the more we think about it, not only do we want to re-hire her, we actually really want to start promoting this and we want her and Anderson to give interviews and really talk about it." It started out shame-based and now, quite frankly, I think they're proud of me.

Are you planning on embarrassing Anderson this year?
I'm going to try and pants him. That means you pull someone's pants down. He better just duct tape the top of his pants to his skin, otherwise he doesn't stand a chance. I also, of course, will be creating some sort of cat fight between Anderson and Carson Daly and maybe Mike "The Situation" from "Jersey Shore."

What about Ryan Seacrest?
Ryan Seacrest will not be doing a New Year's Eve broadcast this year. I'm not at liberty to tell you why. I'm just telling you he's not going to be able to make it this year. I think you want to go ahead and print that one worldwide.

Who has been your favorite celebrity this year?
Even though we have sort of forgotten about Charlie Sheen, let's not forget how big it was. That was really a big meltdown. There is the emotional loss we as a nation are feeling about Oprah quitting her daytime show.

I'm going to do New Year's Eve with Anderson and then I'm going to get right on a plane to Minnesota and just hang out with Kris Humphries and see how he feels. I just want to know how Kris Humphries is doing on a daily basis. It certainly has been the year of the Kardashians. I'm sure you saw their holiday card. I can't believe we ever lived in a world where holiday cards weren't in 3D. Once again the Kardashians have broadened my perspective.

Were you shocked about Kim's divorce?
I can barely keep it together. I have been bedridden, with tears and pints of Häagen-Dazs, and me looking heavenward, screaming, "Why? I thought this one had legs."

What do you think happened?
I would assume that every single day she stayed married to him, there was a price tag attached to it. They have their Kardashian Sears deal and California is a communal property state, so every day that they were married, pre-nup or not, he may be entitled to half of her assets during that time. That's quite a figure. You know they have a pre-nup, but the way he's portrayed on that show is really not so flattering, so he may be able to challenge it.

You've been hanging out with some major A-list celebrities like Cher and Jane Fonda. You really can't call yourself a D-lister anymore.
Not when I'm with Fonda or Cher, that's for sure. Or Anderson Cooper's mom, Gloria Vanderbilt. I've really come to know a lot of those gals and I've learned a lot from them. And what I've learned from the A-list, which is kind of funny, is that typically the more famous someone is, the better sense of humor they have about my jokes. I find a lot of these A-listers get the joke. Look, there's always going to be people who don't get the joke, thank God; that's where I come in. I really am following in the tradition of Don Rickles and Joan Rivers.

This is going to sound really silly but I got to talk to Prince Charles...

Excuse me?!
Joan Rivers is good friends with him so she took me to Buckingham Palace with her.

Oh my God!
I know, and Windsor Castle. I had a conversation with Charles which was really nice. He's a big "comedyphile" and he said, "Where would we be without comics and newspapers? You're the only ones keeping us in check." I said, "Well, the newspaper thing may not be around too long but comics are here to stay!" I really do believe that. That's a nice thing when people realize you're doing your job.

Did you pick up a copy of Lindsay Lohan's Playboy issue?
I did not. I looked at it online. I might look at an actual physical copy, because I do enjoy airbrushed photos. I've been subjected to many, in fact. I don't want the photo part at all, I want the airbrush. Good for Linds, I hope she got a lot of money. It's the way to go. We've all seen her crotch in paparazzi pictures anyway, so what's the big deal?

Here's a CNN summary of how the [last year's] night unfolded (and of course, Griffin went for a "ball dropping" joke about three seconds in):