Kathy Griffin Pokes Fun At Past Pill Addiction, Calls Secret Struggle That Almost Drove Her To Suicide 'Comical'
March 18 2022, Published 9:14 p.m. ET
Kathy Griffin is finding humor in her pill addiction that almost drove her to suicide. The 61-year-old comedian is opening up about her internal struggles, claiming it's "almost comical."
“I think — well, look, I think that I’m probably an addictive person, you know,” Griffin declared on The New York Times’ Sway podcast Thursday.
“But you have to admit, it’s almost comical,” she joked. “I went in the hospital for pill addiction at 59 years old. Who the hell becomes a junkie in their late 50s? Me.”
Griffin said she fell into a dark depression after being blackballed in Hollywood over her 2017 glory shot showcasing her holding the decapitated head of then-president, and her archenemy, Donald Trump.
According to Griffin, the move caused her to lose out on work, receive death threats, and adopt a serious prescription pill addiction. After hitting rock bottom, her suicidal thoughts became "obsessive."
“I didn’t know what to do with myself,” the comedian admitted. “I was just such a crazy workaholic, and all of a sudden, I had this time on my hands, and then I was depressed, and things just weren’t looking up."
She even put plans into place for her departure. "And then you fall into the ‘Life will be better for my husband without me around,’ and you then call the estate attorney and the whole thing," Griffin revealed.
She said she was at peace with her decision to end her life.
“It just came to a point where I was convinced that I had a good run on this planet and now it’s time for me to go,” she continued. “It’s been good. I’ve done a lot of great stuff and so you know, it gets pretty crazy.”
Thankfully, her husband, marketing executive Randy Bick, came to her rescue.
Griffin was admitted into the hospital and put on a psychiatric hold. She later sought treatment for her pill addiction.
After entering the hospital once again in March 2020, this time for COVID-like symptoms, Griffin recalled her desire to live.
“The irony is not lost on me that, a little over a year ago, all I wanted to do was die,” she said at the time. “And now, all I wanna do is live.”
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Griffin's addiction and attempted suicide haven't been her only struggles. In 2021, she revealed she had been diagnosed with lung cancer. After undergoing surgery to remove half of her left lung, she is cancer-free.
