Comedienne Kathy Griffin may be doomed to life on CNN’s S-list after answering a heckler with a shrieking, vulgar tirade during the network’s live New Year’s Eve broadcast.
“Screw you,” she told the heckler. “Why don’t you get a job, buddy? You know what? I don’t go to your job and knock the d- – – out of your mouth.”
The raunchy exchange, which occurred well after the ball dropped at midnight, was received with guffaws by the camera crew.
Co-host Anderson Cooper, who spent the night playing the role of straight man to Griffin’s antics, then managed to break for commercial – although by that point, he could barely keep a straight face.
Cooper seemed to become increasingly uncomfortable with Griffin’s off-color remarks, including her request to “get a pap smear from [CNN medical reporter] Dr. Sanjay Gupta,” and her description of former CNN host Glenn Beck as a “heroin addict Mormon.”
But wishing viewers a Happy “Blue” Year seems to have been exactly why Griffin, star of the Bravo reality-TV show “My Life on the D-List,” was tapped for the show for the second year running.
“Do you love watching thousands of screaming people and a giant ball falling from the sky?” Griffin states on her Web site. “How about we add in Kathy Griffin, Anderson Cooper and a live mike? Yes, we thought you’d be excited.”
A spokeswoman for CNN did not return a call for comment. The remarks were edited out of the rebroadcast of the show for the West Coast.
Except when speaking the name of the vice president, CNN goes out of its way to avoid using the D-word. In 2007, while reporting on the popular “Saturday Night Live” short by Justin Timberlake and cast member Andy Samberg, CNN replaced the offending word in its title, calling it “(Blank) in a Box.”
It’s unclear what exactly provoked Griffin’s use of oral-sex imagery, or whether she realized the show had yet to cut to a commercial break.
In clips of the incident posted on YouTube, Griffin appears to be addressing one or more Times Square revelers who had hung around after the ball had dropped.
Making outlandish remarks that put audiences on edge has long been part of her shtick.
Accepting an Emmy for her Bravo show in 2007, she said: “A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. So, all I can say is, ‘Suck it, Jesus.’ This award is my god now.”
Her speech was denounced by Christian groups and largely edited out of the later broadcast.
On her show, she claims to be a D-list celebrity, and as a result needs to go the extra mile for publicity.
Griffin’s MySpace page was filled with dozens of supportive messages following the broadcast.
“Priceless! I love it! That is why I am a huge fan of yours! Haha!” one poster said.
Another indicated that her husband is “already tired” of her repeating the vulgar remark.
“The comment you made to the heckler last night was awesome,” another friend said. “I wish we could have seen Anderson Cooper’s reaction! Hope you didn’t get in trouble from CNN!”
Griffin has not addressed the matter on her blog and could not be reached for comment today.