Kathy Griffin Says She's 'Not Sure' Her Voice Will Return to Normal After Lung Cancer Treatment
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Kathy Griffin says she's "still working on" getting her voice back to normal after it changed due to treatment she received for lung cancer.
On Tuesday, the comedian appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! as a replacement guest for actor Chris Pine and explained the changes in her voice to host Jimmy Kimmel after joking that she only appears on talk shows when more famous celebrities cancel last minute.
"So last time I was here — just really quickly — I had lung cancer, they took out half my left lung, and so my voice got some damage," said Griffin, 61.
She joked in addition, "I am fine, it doesn't hurt, and the important thing is my boobs are still fabulous."
Griffin's explanation drew applause from the crowd, and the comic said she is still working on getting her iconic voice back to its pre-cancer tone.
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Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube Kathy Griffin
"I think it'll get back to normal but I'm not sure. I'm still working on it," Griffin told Kimmel, 54, who quipped that she may sound funnier with the changes.
"I am funnier, because I think I sound non-threatening and demure. That's my new angle," she added.
"Thank God you're a comedian and not a police officer," the host joked, prompting Griffin to imitate how she would sound if she worked in law enforcement.
"Can you imagine? 'Stop! Cut it out, you guys! Be nicer!' " Griffin quipped.
Though Griffin confirmed she was cancer-free in February, the comedian has made a point of addressing the changes to her voice with her fans in recent months.
In April, she shared a video on Instagram of a stand-up set she performed where she had to explain what she called her "whisper voice" to the audience as a means of keeping her fans updated in her recovery.
"Ok, i'm very self-conscious about this but I wanted to let you guys know exactly where my voice is in context of when I can go back to working," Griffin wrote in her Instagram caption at the time.
"When I first walked out on stage, which is not in this clip, and I started speaking in my whisper voice some folks in the audience laughed because they didn't know about my situation," she wrote. "Then I explained it and they were kind of stunned for about two minutes."
"Then the most amazing thing happened," Griffin added back in April, in part. "The audience, and granted this was a very forgiving and loving audience, actually adjusted to me! They became so quiet that they actually heard what I was saying through my poor little paralyzed left vocal chord after my cancer surgery."
