"I mean, I really loved him — I don't have a punchline for that one," Kathy Griffin says
Almost two years after she sparked widespread outrage for posing with a replica of President Donald Trump‘s bloodied, decapitated head in her hand, Kathy Griffin is still struggling with the aftermath.
In a new interview with Variety promoting her upcoming movie, Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story, Griffin, 58, opened up about the devastating fallout, which included public condemnation from those she thought were closest to her.
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Among those to distance themselves from Griffin was her longtime friend Anderson Cooper, who called the photo “disgusting and completely inappropriate” on Twitter at the time. Griffin was also was fired from CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast, which she had co-hosted with Cooper for 10 years.
Asked about Cooper, 51, Griffin said she “was devastated” over their friendship abruptly ending.
“It still hurts. I mean, I really loved him,” she said. “I don’t have a punchline for that one.”
Griffin said she’s not opposed to hosting another New Year’s Eve show in the future — and she knows just who she’d want by her side.
“I’m very upset that no one picked up my genius idea last year of a New Year’s Eve live with Kathy Griffin and Stormy Daniels,” she told Variety. “I pitched that to about five different places, and they all laughed during the pitch, and then they would kick it upstairs. Stormy works the pole. Maybe I do. We have a couple of visitors. I had the whole thing worked out. I have ideas, if nothing else.”
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During an interview on the Wendy Williams Show last year, Griffin said she didn’t expect to ever receive an apology from Cooper, saying he’s “not that kind of guy.”
“When he turned on me, I didn’t even hear from him for two months,” she said.
Cooper has not addressed the fallout beyond an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2017, two months after Griffin’s photo scandal first erupted.
“We’re still friends. Look, I mean, I said what I said about [it] — I didn’t think what she said was appropriate,” he said. “But I wish her the best and I hope she bounces back.”
“She’s incredibly funny and a lot of people love her,” he added. “I think she’ll bounce back from this.”
Andy Cohen replaced her on CNN’s New Year’s Eve Broadcast.
Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story premieres at SXSW.