Kathy Griffin Endorses Hillary, Talks Hollywood's Gender Pay Gap With Variety

Kathy Griffin goes on the record with her endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president, ignoring the advice of her team who say it will cost her ticket sales. "F--ck that. Yeah, I'm supporting HIllary. Sue me."

"At this state in my career I'm less fearful than I was 20 years ago, and yeah, I'm supporting Hillary. If you think sexism is dead, wake up America."

Variety shares today Kathy Griffin's interview in which she reveals a lifetime of unequal pay as a comedian. 

I’m someone who has been very open about asking for raises and trying to get equal pay. You’re just simply told, “No.” It’s brutal. I guess I became aware of it on my first paid job. When I was on a sitcom in the ’90s, “Suddenly Susan,” I made the second-lowest salary on the cast. Judd Nelson, who I liked, made four times what I made, and he ended up getting fired. And I went on to get two Emmys, a Grammy, three television shows with my name in the title and a New York Times best-seller.
 

After three years on the show, Griffin says she went to Peter Roth, head of Warner Bros TV and said "Look, I've been on the show for three years. You've got to give me some kind of raise." Describing the response as an "all out brawl" , Grififn wrote down a number on a napkin, describing the negotiation as a car sale. She did get a raise, but not one that put her in parity with men on the show. 

As for appearing on CNN's New Year's Eve coverage with her good bud Anderson Cooper, Griffin does more than roll her eyeballs. 

The way I combat this is: I’m all about volume. I’m doing 80 cities of stand-up comedy this year on my “Like a Boss” tour. I write my own material. I don’t have a team. I’m very aware there hasn’t been a female on network late-night since Joan Rivers in 1987. All those network executives can say they believe in equality all they want. Look at your fucking DVR. There’s an African American man, there’s the gay guy, there’s a bunch of white guys.