Kathy Griffin

[dragonflie]

She apologized. The apology seemed genuine; it was short, and to the point. Then she had to muck it up and have that press conference. I'm sure she panicked and was trying to put a plug on this geyser... but what she did was make it worse, and negate any help the 1st apology did. If she had laid low this would have blown over and in 6 months she would have been fine. In fact, yes, all the Trump anger/hate/frustration may have even been a boon - like Spinderella says above- as Trump sinks lower and lower and more and more people see him for the tiny hands vile person he is. Now though, she's lost credibility. I was a big fan of hers, and I've lost respect for her. Ask 3 days ago if I would go to a show of hers and I would have said YES! loudly. (in fact- about a week ago I was looking up her tour dates). Now, I wouldn't go to a show of hers- and it's not because of the picture. It's her reaction to the backlash.

The reason it makes me so angry is that there are legitimate reasons to call Trump out- to get a lawyer- hell- to freakin' impeach- perhaps (?) imprison- the man. And.... this... this just is NOT one of those cases. And it weakens future cases when someone cries and screams censorship (oh... wait... is it sexism???... oh... wait... is it bullying??) in one of the few cases where this simply isn't true! It feels like it delegitimatizes all the truth in the times he is just that- because now the nuts who support him can point to this whole clusterf&ck and have someone like me agreeing with them.

Also- yes... it pulls the focus. And I know Kathy mentioned that in the press conference- but- who was pulling the focus here??? Her. Ted Nugent, Snoop Dogg, Marilyn Manson, part of the reason that all went away- their careers weren't really affected, was that they did it- and either continued to cater to their base (not care), or just moved on. The truth is I only watched about 2-3 minutes of the press conference, because after that long I was so annoyed and angry at her rhetoric I had to turn it off. She did herself no favors in this (and- IMHO- actually caused some harm to the left).

[prisma]

Yeah, I'm kind of mad at Kathy for mucking it up. The birth control mandate is serious business and we could have used her voice and now she's discredited herself for a while. She should have used better judgement. I'm watching the Handmaid's Tale right now and the episode I watched last night was where the flashed back to where women were all fired from their jobs and had their bank accounts confiscated and then flashed forward to Offred in her religious gear, where she's basically a slave who has to have babies. Current events are not that far off from the dystopian fiction and it really is freaking me out.

[scarlet]

Jun 3, 2017 13:06:24 GMT -4 @lena said:

Kathy should have owned it, and practicing free speech also means being able to handle the criticism that goes with it.

I've been thinking along these lines, as well. I think it crossed a line, for sure, but immediately backing down and apologizing instead of just being like "I'm a comedienne, I bad a joke, whatever" makes me nervous. Like now a line has been set where comediennes are going to be called out for every joke they make. I don't know--just seems like yet more new, dangerous territory with this administration that seems to want to take away various freedoms.

[Deleted]

Kathy's lawyer, Lisa Bloom, is Gloria Allred's daughter. Looks like the apple didn't fall too far from the tree.

If Kathy had just laid low for a little while and then come back making jokes at her own expense, she probably would've been fine. She just fucked herself with the press conference and I honestly don't know if her career can recover from this.

[Ginger]

Jun 3, 2017 13:42:05 GMT -4 @roisin54 said:

Kathy's lawyer, Lisa Bloom, is Gloria Allred's daughter. Looks like the apple didn't fall too far from the tree.

LOL, I didn't know that. However, during the press conference I was comparing the two and thinking that Allred at least had more restraint.

[famvir]

Kathy is an interesting person. She expects to be kowtowed to, but is extremely insecure. She holds grudges worse than Trump at being dissed, yet totally doesn't understand why people are offended by things she says and does. I think she is short an empathy gene. I just read her latest book (a listing of all the celebs she has bumped into) and her Trump problem here is telegraphed. She continues to be pissed at Ann Kendrick because when Kathy tried to bust into a private dinner Ann was having with a civilian, Ann said, "Hi Kathy. Can we not do this now? I am with a friend I haven't seen in years." Apparently this diss is unforgivable to Kathy. On the other hand, Kathy's antics are fun and why should anyone ever be pissed at Her? (She has done some really sorry stuff for a laugh, then: Smile, tilt head, put finger in dimple/who me?)

So the Trump head thing. Totally pushing the envelope. She knew what she was doing, but headlines/press/shits and giggles and there you go. When her friends/press said, "too much," her basic insecurity coupled with her tendency to equate "you don't love me" with "you hate me" judgey anger and we get this almost schizoid bouncing back and forth between "I'm so sorry," "He deserved it/just a joke/no regrets", "I'm being persecuted."

Kathy Griffin is not a spokesman for any cause or group. She is a deeply disturbed very funny lady who doesn't have boundaries. She is sometimes her worst enemy. This makes for exciting watching, and I admit I loved her shenanigans and rooted for her on the D List, stand up and books. But she and Trump are kind of the same. And watching them spar is boring, like watching Trump and Rosie spar is boring. These are very flawed people mirroring each other's neuroses. I am loathe to find anything to grab onto about this whole thing. Sarah Palin has more substance than anything happening with Kathy Griffiin.

She's like a squirrel that wandered onto the Super Bowl field, a lot of misdirected attention and running around, but not having anything to do with what we are here for, and quickly forgotten except for the blooper reel.

[Neurochick]

Jun 2, 2017 23:08:24 GMT -4 Nysha said:

Feb 9, 2007 11:32:54 GMT -4 scarletprincess said:

What on earth made her think this was a smart thing to do?

Because she lives in a bubble where Trump hate is so pervasive she cannot conceive of how this would look to "regular" people. Plus, she seems to have forgotten that Trump has enough supporters to get elected POTUS, and most of those people hate Hollywood, hate liberals, and now hate her. They're loud, they're proud, and thanks to Fox News, they have their own media outlet to make sure this takes her down.

Very true, there are a lot of angry white folks around who thinks that liberals and brown people are going to take what is "theirs," just like they took the "40 Acres and a Mule" that the ex slaves were supposed to get. I guess Fox doesn't cover that part of history.

[Deleted]

Jun 3, 2017 14:33:39 GMT -4 famvir said:

Kathy is an interesting person. She expects to be kowtowed to, but is extremely insecure. She holds grudges worse than Trump at being dissed, yet totally doesn't understand why people are offended by things she says and does. I think she is short an empathy gene. I just read her latest book (a listing of all the celebs she has bumped into) and her Trump problem here is telegraphed. She continues to be pissed at Ann Kendrick because when Kathy tried to bust into a private dinner Ann was having with a civilian, Ann said, "Hi Kathy. Can we not do this now? I am with a friend I haven't seen in years." Apparently this diss is unforgivable to Kathy.

The Anna Kendrick story in the book also bothered me. I would never in a million years even dream about interrupting a famous person's private dinner with a friend, and I'm "nobody." I think Anna had every right to be annoyed at Kathy for that intrusion and she actually handled it pretty well. If it were me I wouldn't have been nearly as nice about it as Anna was.

I read Anna's own book recently (which I highly recommend) and she comes off as a generally nice person. And unlike Kathy, she actually cops to her insecurities and admits that she's done and said things she regrets.

[Deleted]

She lost me years ago when in one of her stand-up specials she did a whole section making fun of her assistant (or a guy who worked for her in some capacity) who pulled out his eyelashes. For someone that seemed to be in her life for a while and did a lot for her, she took a lot of glee in exposing his mental condition for laughs. Maybe she had his permission to put it in her act, but it just seemed heartless of her regardless. I feel like a friend's mental illness should be off limits even with their consent to use it in your act.

[Carolina]

Jun 3, 2017 16:31:35 GMT -4 @niki81 said:

She lost me years ago when in one of her stand-up specials she did a whole section making fun of her assistant (or a guy who worked for her in some capacity) who pulled out his eyelashes. For someone that seemed to be in her life for a while and did a lot for her, she took a lot of glee in exposing his mental condition for laughs. Maybe she had his permission to put it in her act, but it just seemed heartless of her regardless. I feel like a friend's mental illness should be off limits even with their consent to use it in your act.

That guy wasn't just her assistant but also her live-in boyfriend.

famvir's post really nailed it. I love Kathy's stand up but she comes across like a bottomless pit of need in real life. She seems incredibly insecure even by Hollywood standards. Worst of all, especially for a comedian, she can dish it out but she can't take it. I generally have a lot of sympathy for her since I don't think she's a very happy person, but this mess is entirely of her own making.