Celebs stoke humor

Kathy Griffin bashes famous for a living

Erika Gonzalez, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 15, 2007 at midnight

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Kathy Griffin has turned celebrity- bashing into a career. Her awkward and often funny encounters with A-listers have fueled a busy stand-up career, two comedy specials on Bravo and an Emmy-nominated reality show, My Life on the D-List (also on Bravo). Always in the mood to dish a little dirt, Griffin (who performs at the Buell Theatre tonight) shared her view on Paris, love and her potentially changing star status.

QUESTION: You're co-hosting The View, playing Mandalay Bay and popping up on Ugly Betty. Do you really think you qualify as a D-lister?

ANSWER: Absolutely. I may have C-list moments, but I am securely on the D-list. As long as people refer to me as "what's her face" (and they do), then that's how I know where I belong.

Q: Who is the one celebrity you won't make fun of?

A: I got nobody. I got nothing for you. I can't even imagine. I would have said Mother Teresa, but now she's fair game. I never know what they're going to do. The great thing about celebs is that they're the gift that keeps on giving. Who would've thought it would have been Hasselhoff going off? And yet there he is chasing a hamburger on a carpet.

Q: Which celebrity is the best sport?

A: Well, Jessica Simpson came up to me and said, "I hope you know I would never be mad at anything you say about me. I think you're hilarious." Jerry Seinfeld wrote me a a letter that was very nice and I had it framed. Clay Aiken thinks he should get 10 percent of my revenue."

Q: Who deserves more ridicule - Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan?

A: Well, Lindsay has a vocation she can go back to. She's a bona fide movie star. Paris, I think her handling (of her situation) was so poor. It's a real black mark on her image and her image is all she has. If she had been cool and done the 23 days it would have turned things around for her perfectly. Now, it's all out the window. She's going to court carrying a Bible? I like how everyone finds Jesus in jail. That's where he lives. But she needs to be careful about telling Barbara Walters that she's not going to act dumb anymore and that she's going to be a different person.

People are going to be watching her every move. So, we'll see. I can't imagine that she's going to get out and not go back to doing exactly what she was doing before. I don't think she'll be reading Jean-Paul Sartre.

Q: You suffered a bit of a celebrity scandal yourself, when you discovered that your now ex-husband stole $72,000 from you. How did you find out he'd been taking money?

A: I don't know if I can get into that stuff. It was horrible and it was bad. It was horribadable.

Q: Do you think you'll ever get married again?

A: I don't. For me, it's "been there, done that." I'm definitely a believer in love. I'm a believer in long-term love. My situation was unique in some ways and common in others. I'm still trying to figure the whole thing out.

Q: Who's your dream date?

A: It's all about who can get me the most publicity. Probably Hasselhoff the week the tape was released. Barack Obama - that would definitely get me a lot of publicity. But I'd get more publicity for going out with Hillary. A Bill/Hillary/Kathy love triangle, that would work.

Q: Your name has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Rosie O'Donnell on The View. Would you take the job if it was offered?

A: I'm really flattered to be on the list. I have reservations and they have reservations. . . . But it would be fun for a while, until I got fired.

Kathy Griffin

• When and where: 8 p.m. today, Buell Theatre, DPAC, Speer Boulevard and Arapahoe Street.

• Cost: $49.50

• Information: 303-830-8497 or ticketmaster .com

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