Kathy Griffin shares her near-death experiences and new fears about Donald Trump

PORTSMOUTH — Emmy and Grammy Award-winning comedian Kathy Griffin has post-traumatic stress disorder, several years after being rebuked for a photograph holding a fake severed head depicting former President Donald Trump. And to her, that’s comical.

These days, having come to accept that the blowback from the incident will follow her forever, Griffin’s biggest charge is bursting back onto the scene to make audiences laugh.

“From the youngest memory I have, I wanted to be a comic. I've known my entire life I wanted to do it,” Griffin told Seacoastonline in a recent interview. “Even when I was a little girl in Forest Park, Illinois, standing in front of my family at the dinner table while they were having Hamburger Helper ... I would stand there and do my act for my mom and dad.”

The 63-year-old stand-up comedian, sitcom and reality television star is back on the road for a 37-city tour that began on Feb. 2 in Des Moines. After trips to Providence and Hartford this week, Griffin will take to The Music Hall stage this Saturday for the Portsmouth edition of her live show, “My Life on the PTSD-List,” a nod to her former reality show “My Life on the D-List.”

While her act fluctuates, as of now, Griffin currently doesn’t even mention Trump in her show. Instead, Griffin may poke fun at Gov. Chris Sununu and New Hampshire’s congressional delegation, and she’ll be prepared to possibly discuss recent local news stories while sprinkling in tidbits about pop culture.

“I'm up on all of it and I’m game to talk about it, no holds barred. Don't worry. All this crap has not made me hold back. I still haven't learned my lesson,” she said.

Griffin speaks candidly about the domino effect that ensued after apologizing for posting the mock image of Trump’s head in 2017.

Venues scheduled to host Griffin for her 2017 “Celebrity Run-In” tour cancelled her gigs after the controversial photoshoot, then CNN terminated her contract to co-host the network’s annual Times Square New Year’s Eve special alongside journalist Anderson Cooper. According to Griffin, following the circulation of the faux gory image, she received death threats, was monitored by the Secret Service, was placed on the no-fly list, and the Department of Justice was looking into charging her for a crime of conspiracy to assassinate the president.

“It was just an unprecedented thing. I mean, to this day, that's never happened to a comedian in the history of this country,” she said. “Even the great Lenny Bruce and the great George Carlin, and I'm not saying I'm in their class, I'm just saying they were hassled by local police. I even talked to the great Jane Fonda, who said the greatest thing. She goes, ‘Kid, that picture is going to be on your tombstone.’ I said, ‘I know, I know.’ But then she said, ‘I was arrested by police. I never had the feds after me.’ And I go, ‘Fonda, you were scared for me?’ And she was like, ‘(Expletive) yeah, that was the Department of Justice and the president!’”

Griffin's road show therapy for dark times

In the aftermath, Griffin said she once attempted to die by suicide in 2020, which she has been open about publicly since 2021.

“I'll be honest, that coupled with (becoming) addicted to prescription pills, which is so Hollywood, I then tried to take my life, which I actually talk about in the show,” she added. “(I talk about it) because I'm a firm believer in that you really have to find a way to laugh at everything. And I am so proud that the audiences let me go there.”

Though she’s never smoked, Griffin has also since beaten lung cancer, but her left vocal cord was paralyzed during the treatments. And, just before the new year, she filed for divorce from her longtime partner, Randy Bick.

“I'm so glad to be back on the road. You have no idea,” she said. “The minute my feet hit that stage, something comes over me and I’m home. Not that I don’t get a little nervous — I still get a little bit of stage fright. But I just didn't do it for so long (after I’ve performed) so many times in my life. I know when comics say it's therapeutic, it sounds self-indulgent. But maybe therapeutic isn't the right word. It's this relationship that I'm lucky enough to have with the live audiences. It's this ride that we go on because every audience is different. And when I go to Portsmouth, I'll be taking their temperature the whole show.”

Griffin noted the differences between the work of women in modern comedy compared to her experiences coming up in the industry. Before the age of social media, comedians like Griffin would tour, be interviewed by traditional media and save their “A” material for a special, but now bits and pieces of comedic content are also posted to TikTok and Instagram, she said.

Her biggest challenge today is helping women comics overcome the stigma that “chicks aren’t funny,” Griffin added.

The former “Suddenly Susan” actress recalled how her career shifted when she took the advice of a former fellow improv actress Griffin performed with in The Groundlings in Los Angeles.

The message was given to Griffin by none other than Lisa Kudrow, who went on to star in the legendary sitcom “Friends.”

“And Lisa said, ‘You know, I think your characters are funny, but I actually think you're funniest as yourself when you're just talking about your life.’ Then I started doing stand up but I started doing it in teeny weeny theaters and even coffee houses,” Griffin said. “Because I knew my style of stand up is more storytelling-oriented and it's not like that setup, punchline, setup, punchline. It's not like that more, in my opinion, old-fashioned kind of stand up. I don't do crowd work. I'm not Matt Rife.”

Kudrow’s advice paid off, as Griffin now sits in the Guiness Book of World Records for writing and starring in the most televised stand-up comedy specials. She is one of only four women to have won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album, alongside comedians Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin and Tiffany Haddish.

Griffin's fears about a Trump second term

On the upcoming November general election, Griffin expressed fear for the country and for herself if Trump wins another White House term.

“I do think if he gets elected again, he's going to come for me. I'm quite serious about that. I know that sounds bizarre and it sounds weird to even have those words come out of my mouth. But I think it's legit. The way he came for me last time, he almost (expletive) took me out. And I don't think he likes that I'm having a bit of a ‘phoenix rising’ moment. I don't know what's in the air, but something has happened very recently where it's almost as if America has finally forgiven me," she said in part.

“I fear that the age we would be entering is what he loves to promote, which is anger, hatred, chaos (and) fighting amongst ourselves,” she added. “I fear that my fellow Americans don't understand that if you pit people against their own brothers and sisters, it is the oldest trick in the book, and I fear that people aren't seeing it for what it really is."

Griffin feels that the nation has entered into a collective era of PTSD following the Trump administration and the coronavirus pandemic. Now, it’s time to laugh.

“Because we've entered a time of people being more honest about their flaws, I really am loving that I get to participate in a movement on how to open those dialogues. My part in it would be to have a laugh about it,” she said.

Griffin will perform at The Music Hall Saturday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at themusichall.org/events/kathygriffin.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kathy Griffin shares new fears on Donald Trump before Portsmouth show