Kathy Griffin, the activist comedian and celebrity-in-exile, took a big risk recently. After a very successful year, she declined a $1.4 million contract to join The View as a permanent cohost. In fact, the late co-creator of the show, Barbara Walters, was allegedly horrified by this move. She had already been a big fan of Griffin’s chemistry with his other hosts, as seen under her appearances. It was a surprise announcement, revealed in a new video from Griffin, who described her thought process that led to the decision with such brevity.
Griffin, who has cohosted The View almost 30 times, dealt with a temptation that was enough to swallow her up and lead her to choose wrong. She gave high relocation expenses as her main reason for turning down the enticing job offer. As of 1992, she was still owning a home in Los Angeles at the time. She was heavily engaged in the day-to-day operations of her parents’ lives, which complicated her ability to consider moving to New York City.
In her video, Griffin deepened the details of the frustrations she had around her parents’ travel. She told them that it was unacceptable to expect them to relocate across the country when they were forced to flee from everything they had ever known. “I want you to know why I’m going to say no. It’s not that I think I’m too good for the show, it’s the opposite. The show is too good for me,” she stated, highlighting her respect for the program and its impact.
The day before, View co-creator Barbara Walters had aired her own concerns over Griffin’s supposed chemistry with the cast. In a backstage conversation before a live show, Walters remarked, “They say we have chemistry. I don’t really see it, but they say we do.” Griffin responded with humor, acknowledging their rapport by saying, “Of course we do, Barbara, people love when I give you s‑‑‑.”
Though an enticing high-profile offer from The View came in, Griffin found herself bound by her commitments out west. So, they gave me an our offer and the offer is for $1.4 [million]. To be frank with you, I had to turn that down. At the time, between doing [my reality show] My Life on the D-List and touring, I was making about $10 [million] a year. I had to decline The View,” she said in her announcement video. Well, it would have meant uprooting my entire life.
Even after her verdict, animosities remained, as Griffin found out when she made her return to The View as a guest in March 2024. At her first appearance on The View, she was skewered by Elisabeth Hasselbeck. To promote her new memoir, she cleverly threaded her history of feuding with the show across various segments. For Griffin, this has been personal history with The View, something she discussed with Kimmel and admitted she had felt banned from the show for years now. This complicated her interactions with the program even further.
