When it comes to Kathy Griffin’s pranks, nobody is safe.
“I’m friends with Sharon Stone and one of the things I do to torture her is adding her to random text chains with people she doesn’t know,” the “Talk Your Head Off with Kathy Griffin” host, 64, told Us. “I have her on four text chains now, and she keeps side-texting me and [says], ‘I’m going to f–king kill you. Stop adding my phone number to people I’m never going to meet.’”
Stone, 67, isn’t the only star Griffin name-dropped in her 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me feature in the latest issue of Us Weekly, on stands now. The comedian also revealed that she and pal Sia have a mutually beneficial pact.
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“Sia and I have a deal: She calls me if she’s in a funk and I do stand up for her on the phone, and then I call her when I’m in a funk and she’ll sing,” she shared. “Sometimes I’m in the mood for ‘Titanium,’ sometimes I’m in the mood for ‘Reasonable Woman.’
Keep scrolling for more fun anecdotes from Griffin, who recently made her TV comeback on Unconventional, streaming now on Revry.
1. I was nominated six years in a row for a Grammy for Best Comedy Album before I finally won one for Calm Down Girl, so I have a pity Grammy, which is fine with me.
2. I keep my Grammy and Primetime Emmy Awards on a shelf when you walk in the house. I’m so obnoxious. You cannot miss it. In fact, if it was safe, I would hang them all from a rope from the ceiling so you’d be hit in the face when you walked in the door with them.
3. I still have some of the clothes and shoes I wore in Suddenly Susan, including a pair of platform boots that I wore in several of my 21 standup comedy specials.
4. I’m in the Guinness Book of World Records for more comedy specials than any comedian, living or dead, male or female.
5. The project I’m most recognized for is Seinfeld. When I walk down the street, [people] call me by my character’s name, Sally Weaver, or say my line, ‘Jerry Seinfeld is the devil.’
6. I was a teacher at the Groundlings and some of my students were Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, Chris Kattan and JJ Abrams. I also got to work with the late great Phil Hartman. It was a really fun day job, teaching improv classes.
7. As a teenager in Illinois, I worked at Ferrell’s Ice Cream Parlor and would ride my bike through a cemetery for a shortcut.
8. My favorite episodes from My Life on the D-List were when I went to Iraq because I feel like as a comedian, [performing for the troops] is such an important thing to do and it’s an environment that’s obviously unlike any other environment. I also went to Afghanistan off-camera and that was also equally memorable.
9. My most embarrassing set was at the Montreal Comedy Festival. I bombed so bad that at the end, the audience didn’t even clap because they weren’t paying attention. I could hear the sound of my Doc Martens walking off the stage.
10. The stand-up special that I get the most feedback about is Allegedly. I don’t know why, because I haven’t watched my specials in years.
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11. Sia and I have a deal: She calls me if she’s in a funk and I do stand up for her on the phone, and then I call her when I’m in a funk and she’ll sing. Sometimes I’m in the mood for “Titanium,” sometimes I’m in the mood for “Reasonable Woman.”
12. The one item left on my bucket list is getting a dramatic role. When I think about the classic comedians that we’ve loved for a long time, like Robin Williams and Lily Tomlin, they usually have a chance to play a dramatic role. I wish somebody would take a chance on me.
13. My most valuable possessions are my four doggies: Maggie, Mary, Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler. I take them to every single show.
14. I cannot resist going to Krispy Kreme when the “Hot Light” is on and eating as many as humanly possible. I have a lot of regret and shame afterwards, but I don’t think about that part as I’m enjoying [the donuts].
15. My first car was a Toyota Corolla that my parents sold me. Typical. It had over a hundred thousand miles on it.
16. I’m friends with Sharon Stone and one of the things I do to torture her is adding her to random text chains with people she doesn’t know. I have her on four text chains now, and she keeps side-texting me and [says], ‘I’m going to f–king kill you. Stop adding my phone number to people I’m never going to meet.’
17. My most starstruck moment was when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar took me out to dinner after I wrote a joke for him when he was presenting at the Democratic National Convention in 2015. I’ve never been out with a celebrity who had more people approach the table. The guys that came up to the table were losing their sh-t to just say hi. The best part is, he wouldn’t sign autographs or take selfies. I thought that was hilarious.
18. If I could only watch one movie for the rest of my life, it would be The Dead Zone.
19. My celebrity crush growing up was President Jimmy Carter. He was the coolest president, and a progressive before the word ‘progressive’ was even a word.
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20. I’m a food truck person, so my go-to fast food order is from the Mexican food trucks in my neighborhood. The food is unparalleled and delicious.
21. Joan Rivers is the comedian I looked up to growing up. We became good friends and I miss her every day. I’d never seen a woman do what she did on television before, and it was so revelatory that it gave me hope that I could possibly become a standup comic — even though I’m a female.
22. I collect books [and] probably have to figure out where I’m going to put all of them.
23. My favorite place to vacation is Mexico, which is also my favorite country outside of the U.S. I have a house that I’ve been renting off and on there for decades, and it’s beautiful and off the grid.
24. My favorite way to spend the weekend is [throwing] what I call ‘salon parties.’ I like to cast it like a play, so I put 12 people together that maybe wouldn’t normally know each other or be able to meet. I have a lot of rules. I’m very strict about no phones allowed at the table and there’s place cards, so you can’t just sit wherever you want. You [also] have to ask my permission to go to the bathroom, which I do not always grant. Things get very real when there’s no phones around. It’s awesome.
25. My secret talent is going to date me, but I can still speak Ubbi Dubbi from the PBS show Zoom. It’s a hidden talent that dazzles people [who] are probably over 50 years old.
