Griffin tells EW her “New Face, New Tour” has dishy Barbara Walters stories: “You can’t defame the dead, so now I can really riff on backstage ‘View’ stories.”

Kathy Griffin admits she doesn’t remember The View star Alyssa Farah Griffin: ‘Can’t keep track’ of cohosts (exclusive)

Griffin tells EW her “New Face, New Tour” has dishy Barbara Walters stories: “You can’t defame the dead, so now I can really riff on backstage ‘View’ stories.”

Joey Nolfi

Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes RuPaul’s Drag Race video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

EW's editorial guidelines

September 11, 2026 2:03 p.m. ET

Kathy Griffin; ‘The View’ cohost Alyssa Farah Griffin and Donald Trump. Credit:

Amy Sussman/Getty; OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTOGRAPH ARCHIVES

- Kathy Griffin tells* * she has difficult telling *The View* cohosts apart.

- “I’m not sure which one she is,” Griffin says of conservative panelist Alyssa Farah Griffin, who worked under Donald Trump after the comedian’s 2017 photo scandal involving the president.

- The comedian is set to launch a new leg of her *New Face, New Tour* show this week.

Though they share a last name, comedian Kathy Griffin still isn’t entirely sure who *The View* cohost — and former Donald Trump staffer — Alyssa Farah Griffin is.

“First of all, her name is Griffin, so she could be one of my cousins, so it would make sense that she’s MAGA. Some of my relatives are MAGA!” Kathy tells ** of the ex-White House communications professional (whom has since denounced the MAGA movement) as the comedian prepares to hit the road once again for the next leg of her *New Face, New Tour* stand-up show.

Before Alyssa resigned from her White House duties and joined *The View*’s panel in 2022, Kathy had long spoken about the Barbara Walters-created talk show in her act — including memorable stories about the late journalist voicing backstage her preference for Astroglide personal lubricant and Kathy’s numerous (unconfirmed and alleged) bannings from appearing on the talk show over the years.

‘The View’ cohosts Whoopi Goldberg, Ana Navarro, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Alyssa Farah Griffin.

ABC/MICHAEL LE BRECHT II

Now that she’s re-appeared on the show in recent years, Griffin admits to EW that, while Alyssa “was great” in the moment, she’s still “not sure which one she is” at the Hot Topics table.

“I know they all have different color hair now,” Kathy says of the panel, which also includes Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, and Ana Navarro. “I can’t keep track because I literally did the show when Barbara started it with f---ing Meredith [Vieira] and Lisa Ling and Star [Jones]. Remember Debbie Matenopoulos? That’s how far back I go!”

While her interactions with Alyssa were tame on her recent appearances at the table, Kathy weathered a wave of backlash — and even a Department of Justice probe — after she posed for a photo while holding a mask made to look like the bloodied head of Alyssa’s former boss, Trump, in 2017.

Kathy Griffin jokes Barron Trump sends her notes pleading, ‘Don’t kill my daddy’

Kathy Griffin reveals where she stands with Rosie O’Donnell after ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ mix-up

Kathy was eventually cleared of wrongdoing after a federal investigation, but she chronicled the aftermath in her 2019 documentary *Hell of a Story*, and has been open about how the industry (including friends like Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper) shut her out in the years after the incident.

Still, Kathy has slowly but surely returned to her roots on stage, and tells EW that her upcoming *New Face, New Tour* dates will include several of her signature, juicy celebrity stories — namely “stories I wasn’t able to tell when the person was alive” regarding *The View*.

“I tell a story about doing *The View* in my current tour. Even though Barbara is no longer even with us, people love that story because it’s so dishy,” Kathy says. “You can’t defame the dead, so now I can really riff on my backstage *View* stories. People still remember Barbara Walters and they can imagine her in that scenario, because we felt like we knew her even though she was unknowable.”

Kathy has a storied past with* The View*, after Walters was reportedly upset over the aforementioned Astroglide story. The comedian also famously sparred with conservative cohost Elisabeth Hasselbeck on the air, and revealed in a *Page Six* interview earlier this year that she used to leave the Hot Topics table with bruises on her legs.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our ******EW Dispatch newsletter******.***

“Barbara Walters, the late great, who I adored, did not care for me, so she kicked me under the table,” Kathy said, referencing her numerous co-hosting stints over the years. “And I used to leave that show with bruises, but proud of them.”

Kathy’s *New Face, New Tour* launches Friday in Tacoma, Wash., and runs through January 2027. See all of her new tour dates in the Instagram post above.

- Celebrities & Creators

- Entertainment Industry Roles

- TV Hosts & Presenters

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW TV”