Kathy Griffin Says Being Canceled Led to Destructive Thoughts: “The Whole World Thinks You’re Disgusting and Irrelevant”

The View hosted a jubilant and cancer-free Kathy Griffin at the panel today, inviting the survivor to come discuss her journeys with mental health struggles, surgery, and more. After the comedian walked the co-hosts through her cancer journey, she opened up more about her battle against depression in the wake of the controversial Trump photo that left Griffin “canceled” in 2017.

Griffin has made her fair share of enemies after the photo, including former colleagues at CNN and a former host at The View. Back when she revealed her cancer diagnosis back in August, Meghan McCain went on a tirade about how she was “never going to like” Griffin, just hours after the tragic announcement had been made.

“In June of 2020, I tried to take my own life,” Griffin began. “Couple of things — number one, I just want to tell you that I had fallen under the spell of a pill addiction. I was getting really, very addicted to prescription pills. I started abusing them maybe a couple of years before the Trump thing.”

The comedian continued, saying that comments in the realm of cancel culture led her to suicidal thoughts.

“I will say, that incident was much more frightening than cancer, to me. To feel like the whole world hates you, the whole world thinks you’re disgusting and irrelevant?” Griffin said, earning some support from the panelists. “Once that happened — and frankly, during quarantine, I started doing pills all day — I got this thought in my head, like, ‘You shouldn’t be here anymore. You had a good run, it’s time for you to go.'”

Griffin says that these thoughts led her to drive a wedge between her and her new husband. At the peak of her depression, she says she called on him to leave the house and find someone else.

“I had this fantasy that my husband would find somebody who’s wonderful, more appropriate for him,” she said. “I wrote him this whole note. And then I took about a hundred pills. It was really a lot.”

Joy Behar added in that it’s “amazing” how these pills are made available, and Griffin continued with her candid discussion. She explained that the way addiction “crept up” on her was “very typical,” thanks to an array of injuries over the course of her career.

“I will say, one of the reasons I’m even talking to you about is: I’m 61, and I’m from a time when you couldn’t talk about this stuff. You talk about addiction and you didn’t have work again, or you’re not insurable,” she said. “Back in the day, they would give you 90 Vicodin like it was nothing.”

After her suicide attempt, Griffin says she went to the hospital and “came clean” about what had happen. The medics were able to safely bring her back to health, and put her on a psych hold for three days.

“So I have more in common with Britney and Kanye!” Griffin joked, back in good spirits.

The View airs weekdays on ABC at 11/10c.

If you or someone you know needs help, call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. You can also text HOME to 741-741 for free, 24-hour support from the Crisis Text Line. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention for a database of resources.

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