She Said What?
A 'D-List' star uttered a profanity about Jesus. Controversy ensues.

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By Lisa Miller
Newsweek
Oct. 1, 2007 issue - Some stories are best told straight. On Sept. 8, Kathy Griffin, a bawdy, foulmouthed comedian, accepted an Emmy Award for her reality show, "My Life on the D-List," and in her acceptance speech she explained that while other actors might thank Jesus for such an honor, she wouldn't consider it. "Suck it, Jesus," she exuberantly added, waving her statuette in the air. "This award is my God, now."

Outrage from Christian groups predictably followed, led (also predictably) by William Donohue of the Catholic League, who went on CNN to complain that "Hollywood laughs when she says 'Suck it, Jesus,' but if she'd said 'Suck it, Jews,' or 'Suck it, Muhammad' ... they wouldn't be laughing, would they?" Then, newspapers reported that E! Television would scrub the speech before airing it the following weekend, which triggered an equal and opposite outcry from liberal groups accusing E! of censorship. Around that same time, a group of college students in Hawaii, sitting around voraciously reading the news, "got a giggle," as 20-year-old Carlos Uretta puts it, out of the controversy. So they did what any atheist-minded group of 21st-century college students would do: they registered suckitjesus.com as a domain name and, a few days later, put up a petition in support of Kathy Griffin, which now has more than 2,500 signatures. "We got an e-mail from someone in Italy, and we thought—really? People are concerned about this in Italy?"

You might think that when the awards show aired the next weekend, edited but not completely airbrushed, the controversy would die. But you would be wrong. Last week a small Christian theater company based in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., took out two full-page ads in USA Today at $90,000 a pop, decrying Griffin's remarks and pleading for a new civility. Griffin, meanwhile, went on Larry King, who played the unedited clip and ignited the entire thing all over again. And who stands to benefit from this tempest? Well, Griffin, who's playing sold-out shows all over the country this fall. And Tennessee's Miracle Theater, just down the road from Dolly Parton's theme park and in its second year of staging a Broadway-type play about the life of Christ. "The phones have definitely picked up, and that's great," says manager Russ Hollingsworth. Now that they've scored the domain name, Uretta and his friends think it might be fun to expand their site, but "not to be too profound or anything," he says. No worries, Carlos. You're in good company.

anybody whos been alive for more then 30 mins knows how she is..im not saying its right or anything..but im not surprised...

but think about it..those "famous people" arent really doing anything in god name now are they

I would think she would have a little more respect for her fans than to utter those words. It is like when RoseAnn did what she did while singing the National Anthem. It is just wrong on so many levels!!

I don't know what to think about the college kids and the web page!

Kathy Griffin Is MY GOD NOW for saying that wow that is just so awesome i am in awe of offensiveness!

I like that she just lets it fly no matter who it offends. If it was George Carlin that said it no one would be offended. She IS the female George Carlin... I LOVE HER! People's biggest problem is that she's a woman who says what she thinks.

the 90,000 wouldve been better spent on families who need it

There a perception that people who are devoutely religious appear to be pompus and fake. This is stunt that this comedian did just pokes fun at that those who are overtly religious.

The true joke for people who make themselves too high and mighty in their practice of their faith is that Jesus actually preach against it.

Matthew 6:6 'Be careful not ot parade your uprightness in public to attract attention; otherwise you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven....

Matthew 6:5 'And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues ant at the street corners for people to see them...

Well, I used to like Kathy Grffin (still do to some extent), but she has become soooo harsh that she flat irritates me.
I watch the Ellen show and she wouldn't let her come on her show because she was afraid of her behavior. She did come on last week and was very polite and NICE. When she is polite and nice I love her. She can be funny without being obnoxious.
Anyway, I don't say those words and my kids don't either. I would not be happy if I had been watching that with my grandson when he is old enough for him to hear that.
I am careful what I allow children hear. For her to think it okay to talk like that when millions are watching is just ignorant on her part. There are as many against what she said as is for it. I think it is terrible that some people think it is soooo cool to be disrespectful, obscene, and without a care for those that would be offended.
My 2 cents.

Kat

never did care for women who have mouths like a sailor and ellen de generes looks like a dude

She does not! She happens to be a very pretty woman. And those eyes of hers. They are beautiful. She is so sweet and couldn't be nicer. One could do much worse.
Kat

she says what other people dont have the "balls" to say and yeah high religous people are hypocrites who get off thinking they are good and clean and better then everyone else when in truth they are some of the biggest "sinners" around

Excuse me!!? For me at least, this has nothing to do with religion. It has to do with courtesy. I do not speak in language that is offensive, and I don't really want to be forced to hear it.
As for the Statement she made; it was rude and offensive for her to assume we all don't give a crap.

I have no grandiose imaginings of myself. Do you? I am me in all my glory and it is sometimes good and sometimes not. I am of course a sinner in the biblical sense.

Kat

Oh...and for the sake of argument...I never claimed to be a Christian either.
Kat

i think shes the kinda person either u love her or she annoys the crap outta you or there is middle ground?

i like her to a point cuz she says thinks other people wont say but sometimes i think she tries to hard to be funny..

For me at least; she used to be very funny. I always liked her til she got obnoxious. But to each his or her own. I would just like some notice. But, that is not likely. Anyway, I am just one person.

It was the same with David Letterman. He used to just pith me off til he either had that heart attack or had his son. Now he is great to watch. I just love him now.

Kat

yeah and i totally see where you are coming from

she used to be funny to me

then well she just got annoying

You know, I had to think about this one for a while.

I happen to like Kathy G as a comedian. She makes no effort to hide who she is and how she feels and what she thinks. For this reason, she actually requires that those who hire her sign off on a disclaimer. Basically that disclaimer says that she does and will use obscene language, gestures and and create scenes, all of which are inappropriate for children and may offend some adults. She has stated on many occasions that she does not like to preform with any inhabition, which means, she does not like children present.

Knowing that this is the kind of person she is, of couse I laughed at the remark.

However, there have been a couple very recent episodes, where influential people have uttered certian racial and bigoted comments. Ann Coulter,Jerry Lewis, and that sports guy, whose name escapes me.

I was pretty much appauled at those comments, in fact, I was moved into action by them. It was I who said, that we expect something better of people who maintian a general public influence.

So I had to think,now, what about Kathy?

Was what she said biased? yes
Was what she said offensive? yes to some.
Was what she said degrading to or consistant with the oppression of any group?
on this one I got stuck.
Christians are not an oppressed group, they are not,in any way, restricted by the laws that give freedom and equality to all.
They are actually the majority in this country.

So was she attempting to insight a riot? no
Was she speaking to rally poeple against this group? no

She was simply speaking her mind.

So, in general who is her audience? adults
Who does she have influence over? adults who find her comic relief funny? A lot of Christians do not.

Does she have the right to voice her opinion about any religion?
yes.

Was it the appropriate time and place for that opinion? not really.

Was her opinion meant as a racial slur? no

Did she show good judgement? no

She has an opinion, she is an athiest and she is an outspoken personality. In general she is not,nor does she maintain to be, or want to be an influence in the lives of children. They are not her audience.

I don't agree with her timeing, I do believe she was rude and offensive, and overall I don't condone her behavior given the situation.

Would I jump into action over her comments, no, can't say that I would. Some people say "I'm an atheist", some might say "I just don't by all the Biblical stuff" Kathy says it the way Kathy says it ALL THE TIME.

She's been involved in so many lawsuits, if poeple don't know how she is by now, it's their own fault for giving her the floor in a open forum.

I look forward to her next appearence here, I'll go see her if I can. To be honost, I don't know if I'd like her as a person, but she makes me laugh till I cry.

I never really found Kathy Griffin's work funny, it always seemed forced.

That said, she does have freedom of speech, whether she uses it professionally or not.

I'd compare it to the time Rosie O'Donnell toasted Tom Selleck about gun control, what did they really expect?

Isn't it sad that something has to be so crude and rude to be humorous in today's society? People will laugh and think it is funny unless they fall into the category that was just used in the joke...then it is not so funny.

"Suck it, Jesus," she exuberantly added, waving her statuette in the air. "This award is my God, now."