Kathy Griffin was back to her old self — minus her usual voice — in an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in which she told him she’s now “cancer free.”
As previously reported, Griffin discovered in 2021 that she had lung cancer, and in August she underwent surgery to remove part of her lung.
The former Fashion Police co-host first explained to Jimmy and his audience that her voice is “two octaves higher” as a result of intubation from the surgery.
“I had a tumor, right? And I’ve never smoked, and it was in there for 10 years. So get this, they took it out and found [cancer] in another scan.”
Griffin, 61, made light of her new higher, huskier pipes, which she called “Minnie Mouse meets Marilyn Monroe” and which the former My Life on the D List star said would be temporary. For now, she’s enjoying it, saying her voice is “higher than Mariah Carey‘s.”
The comic also revealed that she gained 20 pounds during the pandemic, so she says she’s taken to wearing Gucci tracksuits, which she did on the show, complimented with a fanny pack. “So I’m chubby…but I look rich,” she quipped.
Obviously in good spirits, Griffin joked her surgery gave her some inspiration for a new drag moniker: Diva Half-a-Lungoria. She also admitted that her fight with the disease gave her a good excuse to get out of anything. “I have too much cancer,” she recalled saying, to laughs.
Kathy also alluded to her being “cancelled” following a 2017 photoshoot where she was shown holding up a decapitated head made to look like former President Donald Trump‘s. “I’m uncanceled. I think I’m an actress again, you guys,” exclaimed Griffin, who appears in season five of the show Search Party.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
