Kathy Griffin - Comedian HARDtalk


Kathy Griffin - Comedian

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LineFromTo

row fears the number of dead could

now rise. -- there are.

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Now on BBC News,

it's time for HARDtalk.

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Welcome to HARDtalk.

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I'm Stephen Sucker.

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Comedy is subversive.

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It finds laughter in dark

and difficult places,

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but when it goes wrong

things can get ugly.

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Kathy Griffin is an American

stand-up comedian probably best

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known for being pictured last May

holding Donald Trump's severed head

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in her hand.

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The Trump head was fake,

but the outrage was real,

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from the President, the TV

network which fired her,

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the FBI which investigated her,

and the public which heaped abuse

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on her head.

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What was, and is,

Kathy Griffin thinking?

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Kathy Griffin, welcome to HARDtalk.

You'll stand up so which you are

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taking around the world is funny and

Frank but to many people shocking

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and to some offensive. Do you

carefully calculate how to offend?

I

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do. I am an expert in offending

people. I offended you in the

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dressing room because I cannot

believe someone actually married

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you. Anyway, good luck to her. What

I like to talk about in my head is

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talking about people saying it was a

severed head. As if I went to the

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shop and bought one. I have no

single day of paid work in my

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country because of the reaction.

Let's start with the action.

I

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thought I was the guest.

Let's start

with the action of choosing to go

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into the photographer's with that

mask and the catch-up. -- tomato

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sauce.

I have no say in the

copyright of that photograph.

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Because I trusted him I kind of got

screwed because he can make as much

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money from that image has it wants.

Your epitaph may be about that

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moment.

People at airports wanted to

do it oppose like that.

You must

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have known you were crossing a line.

Yes, of course, that is a comedian's

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job. I like to move it and then

across. But we don't, what do we do?

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Make jokes about the difference

between puppies and kittens. There

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is never been a president that

deserved to be shamed so much and

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the reason he had such as reaction,

and his growing children...

Lets

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stick with your thinking. As we

tease out your career, it is

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important to understand how you make

decisions. There you are with Donald

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Trump's had an you adopt a pose

reminiscent of those so-called

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Islamic State fighters...

And also

Medusa. A lot of iconic imagery in

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comedy has been done...

A movie with

David Spade, there's a scene where

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they roll Meryl Streep... Head down

the bowling alley. None of this

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would have happened if Donald Trump

did not get freaked out about a girl

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shaming him. A girl shamed him.

The

beheading of the commander and chief

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and America has ideas about the

security of its president. I cannot

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even count the lines you have

crossed. When you talk about not

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being confused and clear about what

you are doing, after this reaction,

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it you issued an apology.

I am not

sorry. I take the apology back

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thousand %. I made the apology

because I thought people would think

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it is just the doing a shocking

thing. One time I said suck it,

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Jesus and conservatives were out in

the paper and that it what they like

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to spend their time and money on. My

good friend Rosie O'Donnell, the

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pre-eminent expert on being trolled

by this accidental President, he has

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been trolling her 14 years, and she

said, what if Daniel Pearl's mother

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saw this...

Daniel Pearl, the

American journalist be headed in

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Pakistan.

When she said that, I

said, oh, my gosh. I never apologise

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for a joke but I get it. Number one,

the apology was not enough the Trump

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psycho still came out at me and he

was happy to have the attention away

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from Russia and all the other

improprieties.

When you say I went

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too far, I apologise and beg for

forgiveness...

It was a sincere at

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the moment. I am not worried about

my career. I have two Emmys. That is

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a website called TMZ... Why it

report those in real time. TMZ

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reported the cancellations of my

American tour in real time. I want

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to point out I have been to Iraq and

Afghanistan, has Donald Trump? I

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performed in a war zone so I know

exactly what am doing and I more of

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a patriot Benny is every day of the

week.

You seem to believe Donald

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Trump has organised to plot against

you. You seem to be accusing him of

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being behind the Secret Service

investigation...

Department of

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Justice. I am still on the Interpol

list. I have been detained in every

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single airport at this tour...

And

you seriously think President Trump,

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sitting there in the White House has

time to say, let's get Kathy

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Griffin.

Are you not aware of this

guy?

It is not govern. GU find

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Donald Trump funny?

I proud of this

tour because I have had this Donald

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Trump for 20 years. I have known

this orange full, the accidental

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President for so long. This guy

shows to the opening of an envelope

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so I have met him plenty of times.

Once he turned to me and said, so,

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you are a female comedian, next

thing you know we will want to vote.

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He is an idiot. Whether you like him

or hate him he is an extraordinary

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president...

Careful. Careful. What

do you mean by extraordinary

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president?

Whether going on stage

and slapping him off is it actually

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comedy?

I have personal experience

within. My current show is not just

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jokes about Donald Trump. I have had

interactions with him. Now that he

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is accidentally the president

through cheating etc, is sort of

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comical. It is frightening as a

citizen but as a comedian with a

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goal mind. Before CNN, on NBC, as a

throwaway someone said do you want

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to interview the trumps and I said,

only Melania. A two-month taxpayer

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funded investigation which has never

happened in the history of the

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United States so, if nothing else,

respect the history of the fact that

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you're looking at the only woman, an

American citizen which the entire

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White House, the Department of

Justice and Fox studio in the words

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of the little monster, we want to

decimate Kathy Griffin it was unjust

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the threats to my mother, to my

sister as she was dying of cancer,

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yes, it is a campaign and well

documented.

The fact that you lost

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your sister in the middle of all

this.

That is why I shake my head

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and I know I look like 11th from

stranger things. Many of my friends

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were dear Balde dyke we died

instantly sister.

This sounds like

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an incredibly painful moment. I just

wonder, why on earth you are now

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back on the road doing stand-up

comedy, engaging with the very

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people he knew say tried to bring

you down. You are still getting vile

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abuse on Twitter because, frankly,

you still engaged... Hang on, it is

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two ways.

What comedians do not?

Name one. The point is, what do you

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want to play this game?

They are

playing with my life. He is trying

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to stop me from making a living. I

want to be a case study. I am clear

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to stop me from making a living. I

want to be a case study. I am clear,

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I want people colour, LGBT people to

not go through this again. This

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should not happen to an American

citizen. My point of doing this

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tour, believe it or not, it is not

about me, I want younger people to

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look and say if they couldn't take

that old bird down, they cannot take

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me down because this should not

happen to an American citizen.

I'd

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be death threats continuing today?

Yes. How do you handle them? I am

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all over the map. I will have days

where I will be crying, days where I

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am justified. There is one which I

read on stage. A lot of the Trump

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fans are not into the grammar and it

gets so crazy it is funny. One thing

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I have done my whole life, we like

to take something dark and difficult

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and spin it and spin it in the week

and make it funny and relatable.

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Sometimes I will just read a death

threat on stage and hopefully make

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hilarious comments. May show

currently is different than my

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regular act because now it has a

lady at Tuitt that it never did and

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I got a standing ovation at the

Sydney Opera House and trust me

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nobody in Hollywood cares one bid.

It seems to be in a position where

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you are bringing in big crowds in

big arenas around the world and you

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cannot get a gig in the US.

And no

one will lift a finger. We will see,

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never say never but the point that

no one will lift a finger hurts. I

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have never been more on my home and

yet I have never had more fun with

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the material.

We will get back to

the way it so best works in the US

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because it raises questions but

sticking to the personal for the

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moment. You talk about how you take

the dark stuff and spin it around

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until it is comedic as well as

painful but you do that to an

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extreme. You pick apart your life

and some of the darkest corners in

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your up ringing in a way that I

cannot think of many other people

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would be able to do, including

abusive behaviour inside your

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family.

My brother is a paedophile.

All the Harvey Weinstein things I am

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aware of certain triggers. I was

sexually assaulted myself, twice,

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and frankly my narrative is a little

bit more about ageism and misogyny

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and that is what I have experienced

more than any other challenge.

Is

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there not some stuff inside your

family that fed them as much as you,

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it would be better not to put out

their.

No. I do not cover for

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paedophiles, even if he was my

brother. The truth hurts. You have a

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paedophile in your family, you think

it is not effective? He was never

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convicted. He did go to prison for

other offences but he would talk to

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me about it in a way that was

unbelievable so when you grow up

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like that, it turned me into the

type of comedian, at the and Thai

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air land where my comedy is very

down to less. -- anti-Ellen. My

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audience is forward thinking people,

people who cannot be shocked and

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that is why I doing well here and

overseas.

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Some authors find there are certain

things they cannot write while their

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parents are still alive. Does your

mother come and watch your show?

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Share me comes to senior Los

Angeles, she won't get on a plane

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any more because she might get the

runs. Look, that is how I was

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raised, she talks about getting the

runs. Old people talk about their

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ailments a lot.

Comedy, hasn't

always been you, because you have a

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difficult up bringing and

complicated life, hasn't always been

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a form of therapy?

Let me be clear,

my life now much more difficult in

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my bringing. My up and in was on

this typical for a comedian. --

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upbringing. But my journey now in my

40s, 50s, it has never been harder

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than now. That is why I am speaking

out now. The people who kept me

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down, the Jeff Zuckers of the world.

I did find a half hours on CNN, the

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highest ratings in ten years, I am

not a CNN employee. All those people

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who hate CNN or whatever, I worked

there one night a year. And I got

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fired.

Here is what I see is a

paradox...

You should see what

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happens when I tried to get a raise.

I dare say many people watching this

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will have been there themselves.

I

just want women to know, when Cheryl

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Sandberg says Lingy and, in my case

I fell on my face and broke the

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nose. To her. -- says lean in.

Why

do you continue, clearly, to have

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this drive and ambition to make it

in showbiz? You have made it, you

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have 12 Emmys. But you got so fired

up by the fact that CNN fired you...

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No, the CNN thing... Let me finish

the question. You had showbiz in so

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many ways.

How dare you, I love it!

You have talked about a business

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that has, over time, it encouraged,

if not forced you to get cosmetic

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surgery, to get so sick with

different forms of losing weight

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because of a particular way they

want women to look on screen...

Two

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nose jobs, all that.

You took speed

to lose weight.

That is just funny.

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I took speed back when it was called

speckled eggs. I don't know if they

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even make those any more. But when I

was 19, working in a shop, I took

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speed to try to be thin because I

had so many agents say if I was then

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and I wasn't so ugly I might work.

And I believe them at that age.

Men,

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it has to be said, don't suffer in

the same way. I've never been told,

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God knows I probably need it, to get

a head job or a face job. And

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probably do not suffer the same way

that women have these demands on

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them on screen, especially in the

US. So why do you still want to do

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it?

Firstly, I love it. I really

love it.

That's weird.

How can you

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say that? Nothing better than making

people laugh.

How can you love being

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in a business which objectified as

you, demeans you, judges you on the

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things you do not regard truly

important? Yet you love it?

Because

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I think I have finally figured out a

way to run it like a boss. I have

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all male employees. Every piece of

material is mine. I do not have

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writers lack many other thing

comedians. Like I have I have done

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23 stand-up comedy specials, and I

just wanted to be in the Guinness

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Book of World Records for younger

women do not have defied that stigma

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of women not being funny. -- have to

fight that stigma. I like to set

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these records are after I'm gone,

young women can say maybe they have

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a shot. She did it, so I will try.

It is not even just about the

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demands on looks and weight and

everything else. It is also a basic

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sort of thing about money, isn't it?

Of course. I would kill to make 80

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cents on the dollar. When women say,

making 80 cents on the dollar, in my

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business I make a nickel on the

dollar. You think I make anywhere

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near my former grounding student

Will Ferrell? I was his teacher. You

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think I make the same money as Adam

Sandler?

This is a quote from the

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recently. I'm not saying there is in

progress, but there is not a woman

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in Hollywood who can really sign a

cheque, for example, a woman Rupert

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Murdoch. What is going to change

that? It and the people with the

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money and the power to get more

women in those positions?

First of

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all, women have to not be

discouraged out of the business. One

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thing, obviously, people are talking

about are the Weinstein. One of the

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things that breaks my heart is all

the women who either became addicted

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to drugs after being raped, how

could you not, or just left the

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business, how could you not. One

thing I want to do is, stay in it. I

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am not going to let them wind. And

luckily, like I said, when I do be

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Vicar in Dublin, when I do the

Palladium, it is two hours,

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sometimes longer, and I can just

breathe. And I love it. I'm not a

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snob about comedy. I don't care if

it is a funny commercial, a funny

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sitcom, I've done it all. I've done

a reality show, a talk show. Any

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opportunity to make people laugh, I

cherish it.

You say, I'm not going

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to let them wind. In this

conversation we've already

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acknowledged that right now your

career in America is effectively

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over. You are not getting the live

gigs, you are not getting the TV

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work. Do you even want to be in

America animal?

Yeah. It is my home.

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We will see what happens. Anything

can happen. I'm going to finish this

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tour, I'm going to go home, and I

don't know what's going to happen.

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It is frightening to me, to not

have, like they said, a day of paid

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work. And you should know, all the

celebrities I make fun of, they

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always committed host their charity

gigs for free, so they hate me until

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the free performer. Chelsea and

Sarah said no. Anyway, I love doing

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it and I will keep doing it. Thank

goodness stand-up is the one thing

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that even a horrible man, and I

could list the names right now,

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can't stop me from doing. Because as

long as there is an audience and a

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mouth and a microphone, then I can

do that. That's what I'm doing now.

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Do you feel patriotic?

I think, like

I said, you don't just go to

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Afghanistan as your pager. You don't

go do stand-up in this Pakistan and

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Kuwait and Iraq unless you a

patriot. I am or pager at it than

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any of those Nazi Tom supporters. I

think our president is a Nazi. I

0:20:490:20:53

think people should be frightened. I

think there is an actual Nazi, or at

0:20:530:20:58

least somewhat Nazi-leaning, in the

White House. Wake up.

We began the

0:20:580:21:03

interview would you saying that sort

of thing and we are ending the

0:21:030:21:06

interview with that sort of thing...

Because everybody is afraid to say

0:21:060:21:09

it, especially the American

journalists.

The way that you say

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it, and the fact you are so

determined to say it, suggests to me

0:21:120:21:16

that you burn your bridges in

America and networks who have to

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ensure that they sort of appeal to a

wide range of different people

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across the nation are not going to

put you on television.

Are you nuts?

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Wait until I do the first thing that

gets ratings. They will come running

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back. That's all a care about. --

they care about. I do one thing that

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gets ratings, boom, they are back.

I've done it for times in my career.

0:21:360:21:40

It is a merry-go-round. Up and down,

I learn so much from idea departed

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friend Joan Rivers about riding the

wave. -- might dear departed friend.

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She was fearless, Peerless, and

didn't give a you know what. I think

0:21:510:21:55

that is essential for comedy.

That

is interesting, didn't give a unit

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what. Given the choices you have

made all your career, you must have

0:21:580:22:02

the thickest skin imaginable. You

cannot afford to show pain and

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vulnerability. Yet in the fallout

from the Trump head incident, you

0:22:060:22:10

did show pain and vulnerability.

And

I think... I cried onstage, I cried

0:22:100:22:14

on stage. Yes. Look, this is all new

material. I'm standing on stage at

0:22:140:22:20

the Sydney Opera House...

You

couldn't afford to be vulnerable,

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not the way you have chosen to run

your career.

I don't agree with

0:22:230:22:27

that. Folks who come to my show know

they will get something real. They

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know that my act is very

improvisational, it changes all the

0:22:310:22:34

time, and I love changing it. When I

play Indian I will do material

0:22:340:22:38

unique to that city. When I play in

Antwerp, I can't find it on a map,

0:22:380:22:42

but I will make it funny. I love

changing it. That keeps it fresh and

0:22:420:22:46

funny.

I want to end with some words

from Ricky Gervais, I don't know if

0:22:460:22:51

you know him, him... He says, he has

no problem offending people, but he

0:22:510:23:03

says, yes, we comedians have the

right to say horrible things, and

0:23:030:23:06

everybody else has the right to hate

you to doing it. You say horrible

0:23:060:23:11

things, you have to take the

consequences. Are you prepared to

0:23:110:23:14

live the rest of your life on that

basis? Saying horrible things and

0:23:140:23:18

then taking the consequences?

I

think I have proven that. Never has

0:23:180:23:22

a comedian been on the Interpol list

and the Five Eyes list. Obviously I

0:23:220:23:29

am willing to take it.

But how long

can you do it? You are in your 50s

0:23:290:23:33

now.

I50 seven. I was detained here,

I will be detained at the next

0:23:330:23:38

airport. You know what I think in

the next Anton Enus? Can I put this

0:23:380:23:42

in the act? I might mention that

guy, he is kind of funny, I will put

0:23:420:23:47

this in the act.

It is a lonely

life.

No, I have a great team. My

0:23:470:23:52

team manager is my boyfriend. We

travel the world together. I love

0:23:520:23:55

it. I love doing it. And you know

what, kind of without the other

0:23:550:23:59

stuff, the agents, and to the first

time in my life, actually don't have

0:23:590:24:03

somebody saying, you are an ugly old

hat, stop. I don't have those people

0:24:030:24:07

around any more. So I have at a

little smaller and I just get to do

0:24:070:24:11

my job and I love it. And at the end

of the show, they stand.

Kathy

0:24:110:24:16

Griffin, it is the end of the show.

I can't stand... Get up, Steve!

But

0:24:160:24:20

thank you very much.

Thank you. I am

a big fan.

0:24:200:24:24

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