Kathy Griffin

Kathleen Mary "Kathy" Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American actress, stand-up comedian and television writer and producer. She is also an LGBT rights advocate. She hosted her own talk show, Kathy. From 2007 until 2016, she presented the New Year's Eve celebrations from New York City for CNN along with Anderson Cooper.

Early life
Griffin was born on November 4, 1960, in Oak Park, Illinois. Her parents are John and Margaret Griffin. She was raised in an Irish American, Roman Catholic household. The youngest child in her family, she has three older brothers and one older sister.

Influences
Griffin has cited comediennes such as Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller as influences throughout her career.

Career
Griffin is a Grammy Award and Emmy Award-winning comedienne. She is known for shows such as My Life on the D-List. She holds a Guinness World Record for the most comedy TV specials.

2017 Donald Trump controversy
On May 30, 2017, Griffin was pictured holding a false head in the image of President American Donald Trump that was covered in blood. Because of this, she lost several sponsorship deals and was fired from CNN's New Year's Eve program. Well-known photographer Tyler Shields was in charge of the photo shoot.

As Executive Producer and star of the series, Kathy Griffin accepted the Emmy won by the show. Her remarks upon receiving the award were: “Now, look, a lot of people come up here and they thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. He didn’t help me a bit. If it was up to him, Cesar Millan would be up here with that damn dog. So all I can say is suck it Jesus, this award is my God now”:

Health
In August 2021, Griffin announced that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer and needed to have half of her left lung removed.