Kathy Griffin Says She 'Hate Watched' Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen's New Year's Eve Special

Kathy Griffin still has some hard feelings when it comes to her former friend, Anderson Cooper, and his pal, Andy Cohen. Cohen replaced Griffin in 2017 for CNN's New Year's Eve show, following her controversial photo holding a fake severed head of then-president Donald Trump. 

“I wasn’t canceled,” Griffin, 61, said in a new New York Times profile, "I was erased." 

Griffin admitted in the profile that she "hate-watched" Cooper and Cohen's recent New Year's Eve antics. Cohen was openly drinking during the evening's festivities and publicly criticized outgoing New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. CNN stood by Cohen and said that the Bravo host would be back next year to co-host the show. 

“Apples to apples,” she said, explaining that Cohen made a political statement just as she had.

Griffin and Cohen have had a long-standing feud, which she continued by saying, “This is a guy that I think kind of wanted to be me. And now he’s halfway there.”

Cohen has not apologized for his comments about de Blasio, but did say he regretted speaking about Ryan Seacrest. 

"The only thing that I regret saying, the only thing is that I slammed the ABC broadcast and I really like Ryan Seacrest and he's a great guy," Cohen previously said on his SiriusXM show, Andy Cohen Live. "And I really regret saying that, and I was just stupid and drunk and feeling it."

In her NYT profile, Griffin speaks several times about the network that fired her. She says that in 2016, 10 days before the New Year's Eve show aired, she contacted Jeff Zucker, the president of CNN. 

Griffin says she asked for $80,000 more in her contract than Cooper, saying she was doing more of the show's prep work. 

“He started yelling at me and he literally said something like, ‘Who do you think you are calling here demanding a raise?’ And then something came over me," Griffin claimed. "And I just lost it. I just started screaming. 'I’m Kathy [beep!] Griffin, Jeff, that’s who I am.'” 

Griffin also claimed she said to Zucker, “I would really feel a lot more comfortable showing up if I got paid what I deserve," which allegedly prompted Zucker to fire her. Griffin said she called him back begging for a second chance and he rehired her, but Griffin claimed he cut her pay by 20 percent. 

Zucker called Griffin's demand for a raise so close to the 2016 show "completely out of line." 

“It sounds like she is acknowledging that, insofar as Kathy Griffin acknowledges she has ever done anything wrong,” he said.

For more from Griffin, watch the clip below: 

RELATED CONTENT:

Andy Cohen Reveals His ‘Only Regret’ From New Year's Eve Special

This video is unavailable because we were unable to load a message from our sponsors.

If you are using ad-blocking software, please disable it and reload the page.

Up Next

Andy Cohen Explains Why He'll Never Date Anderson Cooper

Andy Cohen Says He Won't Apologize for Drinking During NYE Show

Andy Cohen Will Host CNN's NYE Special Again, Addresses On-Air Rant

Related Gallery

Must-See Celeb Sightings: January 2022