Kathy Griffin joined the first ever Live Road-Show AM to DM by BuzzFeed News from Austin’s SXSW Festival to discuss her new film Kathy Griffin: A Hell of A Story which documents the backlash from her infamous Trump-inspired photoshoot, and her experience at this year’s SXSW.
During a game of “Would You Rather” Kathy Griffin said this of JACK DORSEY:
ISAAC FITZGERALD – “If you could be on a SXSW panel with Jack [Dorsey] or [Mark] Zuckerberg, who would you choose and why?”
KATHY GRIFFIN – “Jack, for sure. Jack Dorsey, I’m going to take him to the woodshed one of these days. I don’t know how that freak turned into, ‘I’m going to cover Ferguson and I’m cool and hip’ then he’s sticking up for the Charlottesville Nazis. I did not see that coming. I don’t want to hear from these idiots who don’t want to regulate their platforms that they’re on the freaking spectrum scale, who isn’t? I think it’s really irresponsible, and I do believe that social media should be regulated. As someone who’s been a victim of the meme-sphere and that photo went viral around the world…I saw firsthand the misinformation, and I do think it’s disgusting the way those men testified before Congress.”
On her new film, Kathy Griffin: A Hell of A Story, based on the fall out from her infamous TRUMP-inspired photoshoot:
“This film is the first yes I’ve gotten since May 30th, 2017 when the photo went live. I’m sort of blacklisted in Hollywood because everyone is afraid of me even though I have two Emmys and a Grammy. Luckily one thing the accidental President couldn’t do was stop people from buying tickets. So the good thing is, the first two months I was on the no-fly list. Unlike the other folks who allegedly threatened the President, they just came after me, they didn’t give me the opportunity to speak to the Secret Service or anything. I just got a call from my lawyer saying the Justice Department has opened an open investigation on you. The Secret Service and the US Attorney’s Office are ready to prosecute and they were seeing if they could charge me with conspiracy to assassinate the President of the United States which holds a lifetime sentence…So that’s one of my messages I try to make it funny, hopefully, this movie is funny more than anything, but I want people to know their rights.”
On watching Hollywood elites support people like KEVIN HART and LOUIS C.K. while she was being blacklisted:
“I really do believe it’s an ageism and misogyny issue… It’s easier to support a guy. There are also a lot of whisper campaigns, thank god we got rid of Leslie Moonves and his allegedly rapey ass. The problem is a lot of those check-signers are engaging in that same behavior so they click up like cops. It’s more difficult for a woman to break through. I also think a lot of these guys have an attitude with me like ‘who do you think you are being 58 years old and still trying to stay in the game?’”
On the response to her being blacklisted in Hollywood:
“I don’t mean to dog Hollywood because I’ve worked in television forever. I was so excited when I started the show it was a two-hour show that ballooned into a three-hour show, because by the time I played Radio City, and sold out Carnegie Hall in 24 hours…I had to change my whole business model, I started a mailing list at the ripe old age of 57 and a text list. I hired a marketing firm in DC because Hollywood didn’t know what to do with me. Then I learned how to promote my own shows, so I’ve really gotten into the business side of show business and I love it. It’s all about when you can’t get in the front door how to get in the side window or sneak in the dog door, which I’ve done in Hollywood for years. This opportunity to show the film here is the first yes I’ve gotten in years. This group, I call them the old dinosaur check signers because people don’t know there are six old white guys that control ALL the money. Even someone as powerful as Shonda Rhimes is she still gotta kick it up to the old white dinosaurs upstairs to greenlight a show which is appalling.”
On meeting Congresswoman AOC at SXSW this year:
“I did get to meet AOC and it was really cool. I’m sure the bots will come after both of us, but she’s just so impressive and sharp. A lot of electeds after my Trump photo just were afraid to be seen with me, and I kind of don’t blame them, because of the amount of crap that came at me online. I didn’t know about these bot farms from Macedonia and all this stuff but it was quite a lesson.”
Watch the full interview here:
