Kathy Griffin Jokes Lung Cancer Damaged Her Voice, ‘but My Boobs Are Still Fabulous’
Lung cancer may have damaged her voice, but comedian Kathy Griffin’s sense of humor is still fully intact. She said while cancer surgery left her with a softer voice, her “boobs are still fabulous.”
Griffin was diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer last year, sharing that she never smoked. She underwent surgery and doctors removed half of her lung. Griffin is cancer free but the procedure damaged her voice. She hopes it isn’t permanent and is working on strengthening her vocal cords.
Kathy Griffin said lung cancer surgery damaged her voice
Griffin’s appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! when actor Chris Pine suddenly canceled. “I’m here as usual because a more famous person fell out,” she quipped. “But, get this. It was that Chris Pine who Harry Styles spit on!” Joking that she’s been spit on her whole career, including Harry Styles (wink wink nudge nudge).
She then commented on her voice, which was noticeably changed. “So last time I was here, just really quickly, I had lung cancer, they took out half my left lung, and so my voice got some damage,” she recounted. Adding, “But, I am fine, it doesn’t hurt, and the important thing is my boobs are still fabulous.”
She thinks her voice will return at some point
Griffin hopes her voice will return to its original, strong state. “I think it’ll get back to normal but I’m not sure. I’m still working on it,” she said. Looking for that silver lining, Griffin thinks perhaps her whispery voice is funnier.
“I am funnier because I think I sound non-threatening and demure. That’s my new angle,” she joked. Kimmel added that being a comedian and not a cop has its advantages in this situation. She leaned into the joke, “Can you imagine? ‘Stop! Cut it out, you guys! Be nicer!’ she said.
She and Kimmel then had a beef to squash because she claimed he and comedian Howard Stern made a pact to never go to her house for a dinner party, concerned she’d put them in her act. Kimmel clarified that Stern made a pact to go to nobody’s house for dinner – it wasn’t only Griffin. But Kimmel said, “Every time you go to your house you become part of the show. And I was like, ‘I don’t wanna be part of the show.'”
Kathy Griffin said she’s been self-conscious of her softer voice
Griffin and Kimmel continued to riff during her appearance. But she shared in the past that she’s very self-conscious of her softer voice. In April she addressed the reaction she received from an audience after hearing her for the first time since surgery.
She shared a clip on Instagram and shared the audience’s reaction. “When I first walked out on stage, which is not in this clip, and I started speaking in my whisper voice some folks in the audience laughed because they didn’t know about my situation,” Griffin wrote.
“Then I explained it and they were kind of stunned for about two minutes,” she continued. “Then the most amazing thing happened. The audience, and granted this was a very forgiving and loving audience, actually adjusted to me! They became so quiet that they actually heard what I was saying through my poor little paralyzed left vocal chord after my cancer surgery. I didn’t talk about that stuff I was having too much fun doing ‘the assignment.'”
