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Kathy Griffin stepped out in West Hollywood on Wednesday with a striking new appearance — just days after sparking concern with a shocking frail look.
The 64-year-old comedian turned heads last week when she was spotted on a walk in Malibu, looking almost unrecognizable in her first public sighting since undergoing a hysterectomy in early April.
Griffin’s gray pallor and visibly thinning hair left fans stunned — some comparing her ghostly complexion to the bloody, severed head of Donald Trump she infamously posed with in 2017, a photo that nearly destroyed her career.
But on Wednesday, the former sitcom star was practically unrecognizable in a different way.
Wearing a vibrant red wig, full glam makeup, and flashing a wide smile, Griffin posed confidently at a book signing event for Hustler®: 50 Years of Freedom, celebrating the infamous adult magazine.
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Kathy Griffin stepped out in West Hollywood on Wednesday with a striking new appearance — just days after sparking concern with a shocking frail look
The 64-year-old comedian turned heads last week when she was spotted on a walk in Malibu, looking almost unrecognizable in her first public sighting since undergoing a hysterectomy in early April; (L on May 21, R on May 2)
She leaned into the risqué theme with a revealing black corset top and a Hustler-branded bomber jacket, happily posing with the book’s author — Hustler founder Larry Flynt’s widow, Liz Flynt.
Later, Kathy was spotted playfully kicking up her heels before sliding into her car as she left the event.
The high-spirited display was a world away from her Malibu outing, where her signature bright red hair hung loose around her shoulders, contrasting sharply with the jarring paleness of her skin — and where her receding hairline and visible scalp issues suggested a bald spot or condition.
Known for her biting humor and criticism of Republicans, the Catholic League and celebrity culture, Griffin has opened up about her history of health struggles, starting with a binge eating disorder as a teen.
She has also been open about her extensive history with cosmetic procedures, including breast augmentation, a nose job, lip tattooing, a botched LASIK surgery in 2003 that left one eye partially blinded, and life-threatening complications from a 1999 liposuction.
She’s also battled mental health struggles, especially after the notorious 2017 photo showing her holding what appeared to be Donald Trump’s severed head sparked intense backlash.
At the time, Trump condemned the image on Twitter, saying, ‘Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11-year-old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!’
Donald Trump Jr. added fuel to the fire during a Good Morning America interview, declaring, ‘She deserves everything that’s coming to her.’
But on Wednesday, the former sitcom star was practically unrecognizable in a different way
Wearing a vibrant red wig, full glam makeup, and flashing a wide smile, Griffin posed confidently at a book signing event for Hustler®: 50 Years of Freedom, celebrating the infamous adult magazine with the book’s author — Hustler founder Larry Flynt’s widow, Liz Flynt
Amid the controversy, Griffin, her elderly mother, and her terminally ill sister received death threats, marking one of the darkest chapters of her tumultuous career.
The Trump administration went further, placing Griffin on its no-fly list and prompting a Justice Department investigation lasting over two months to determine whether her photo amounted to a conspiracy to assassinate the president — a probe that ultimately led nowhere in legal terms.
Still, the image caused her career to nosedive, at least temporarily. Talk shows and theaters canceled her appearances, and CNN ended her annual stint co-hosting its New Years Eve show with Anderson Cooper from 2009 to 2017.
‘I wasn’t canceled,’ she told the New York Times. ‘I was erased.’
Griffin ended up apologizing for the Trump effigy, posting on Twitter that, ‘I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people, it wasn’t funny, I get it.’
She financed and produced ‘Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story,’ a 2019 documentary about the Trump photo and how it changed her life.
Meanwhile, her anxiety and chronic back pain triggered a pill addiction, which spiraled into severe depression and an attempt to end her life in 2020.
Then in 2021, she was diagnosed with lung cancer, even though she never smoked. A surgery to remove half of her left lung damaged her vocal cords, causing her to undergo at least one more operation to improve her ability to speak.
Griffin came forward on social media in 2023 to say that her cancer fight and years of Trump backlash contributed to extreme post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and caused severe anxiety attacks that at times had her writhing in bed for eight hours.
Griffin came forward on social media in 2023 to say that her cancer fight and years of Trump backlash contributed to extreme post-traumatic stress disorder
Kathy shared her hysterectomy story with her Instagram followers
Griffin finalized her divorce from marketing executive Randy Bick in January after four years of marriage (pictured in 2016)
She talked about the ordeal in a video posted to her TikTok account.
She said at the time that she managed her anxiety partly by pushing herself to do daily tasks such as feeding her dog or taking walks.
Griffin took small, but brisk steps on her recent trek in Malibu wearing a gray top, black leggings and designer purse.
Such details are the kind of fodder she has used in her brand of caustic comedy aimed at everyone from Barbara Walters to the Octomom to Jesus Christ.
Raised in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, Kathleen Mary Griffin attended acting school and launched her acting and comedy career in Los Angeles in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Her supporting role on the Brooke Shields sitcom Suddenly Susan and starring role in Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List — winner of two Emmys for Outstanding Reality Show — marked her big breaks on TV.
She was a regular on late night talk shows, has performed in 20 stand-up comedy specials on HBO, Comedy Central and Bravo, and has appeared in 45 movies.
Griffin finalized her divorce from marketing executive Randy Bick in January after four years of marriage.
