EXCLUSIVE: Kathy Griffin's Decades-old Grudge Against Joan Rivers Revealed 11 Years After the Brutally Blunt 'Fashion Police' Host's Death
A source has exposed Kathy Griffin's alleged grudge against late mentor Joan Rivers.
Sept. 4 2025, Published 7:30 p.m. ET
Kathy Griffin has been dissed by insiders who claimed she held a grudge against her mentor, Joan Rivers, and failed to support her in life and death, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Rivers died aged 81 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City on September 4, 2014. She had been placed in a medically induced coma after she stopped breathing during a routine medical procedure to treat her raspy voice and acid reflux. Her cause of death was ruled a lack of oxygen to her brain.
While Griffin, 64, was said to be devastated by Rivers' death, sources said they weren't surprised to hear she snubbed a recent tribute to the trailblazing female comedian.
Griffin Skips Rivers' Tribute Event
Griffin declined to participate in NBC's recent special, 'Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute.'
Melissa Rivers – who co-hosted Fashion Police with her mom before Griffin took over for her friend following her death – confirmed the My Life on the D-List star would not be included on the NBC television special Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute, which featured a star-studded cast sharing personal stories about Rivers.
Griffin's mysterious absence from the lineup was said to be a personal choice, not one producers made.
Rivers' daughter confirmed with an insider: "Kathy was asked to be part of this show, but unfortunately had a scheduling conflict."
Meanwhile, a production source scoffed at Griffin's scheduling being so busy she was unable to honor her late mentor.
Source Scoffs at Griffin Being Too Busy to Honor Rivers
A longtime family friend alleged when something 'counted most' to Rivers, Griffin always 'disappeared.'
The insider threw shade at Griffin as they noted: "Everyone else made the time. Tiffany Haddish, Sarah Silverman, Margaret Cho – even Nikki Glaser, who is booked around the clock. Kathy didn't."
Sources alleged Griffin always talked up her friendship with the blunt blonde but was never actually around "when it counted most."
Another longtime Rivers family friend claimed: "Kathy always said Joan was her mentor, but when it counted most – when Joan needed support or celebration – she disappeared."
Griffin Said Rivers Changed Her Life
A production source scoffed at Griffin blaming her absence on 'scheduling conflicts.'
While sources slammed Griffin's decision to skip the NBC special, the stand-up comic has honored her late friend numerous times since her death.
In the wake of Rivers' death, Griffin wrote a heartfelt tribute in the Los Angeles Times detailing all the ways Rivers changed her life, the industry, and the last dinner they shared weeks before she passed.
Griffin recalled during their last dinner, she griped about a recent job, and the comedy veteran offered her a bit of advice that blew her away by its "simplicity and usefulness."
Rivers told her to always work a private bathroom into her contracts so she could have a moment to herself before a gig.
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Griffin has paid tribute to Rivers in her own words several times since the comedian's 2014 death.
Griffin said their last meal together was carried on with a lot of laughter, as expected when spending time with Rivers.
She wrote: "During that same dinner, I told her about a one-nighter I had coming up in Thackerville. Like Joan, I go where I'm wanted. Sometimes that's Carnegie, more often it's Thackerville.
"We laughed about the crazy places we'd hit the mike over the years, and then she said, 'Oh ... everybody. Go to Thackerville, collect the check, make sure people laugh, and get a private bathroom.'"
