NEWSKathy Griffin Turned Down $1.4 Million to Join 'The View': 'This Show Is Too Good for Me'
Kathy Griffin revealed she turned down an opportunity to join 'The View.'
Kathy Griffin revealed she turned down a $1.4 million offer to co-host The View.
Taking to her YouTube channel, Griffin shared when she flew from Los Angeles to New York to make several appearances on the hit talk show, she had to cover the cost of her own wardrobe and glam.
A Huge Offer
Kathy Griffin recalled getting an offer to join 'The View' after more than 24 conversations happened.
She said the conversation of her joining the show as a full-time co-host happened more than 24 times with ABC before she was officially offered a seat in the mid-2000s. The popular comedian added the network was auditioning other candidates while talking with her, which is why she wanted an answer sooner than later.
“Eventually I said to my agent, ‘OK, tell them if they’re going to offer me a permanent chair, please tell them to just offer me the chair or not,'” Griffin said, noting they finally gave her the $1.4 million offer.
'Going to Be Honest'
Kathy Griffin shared why she declined to join 'The View.'
“I am just going to be honest,” she shared of why she opted not to accept. “I had to turn it down because at the time between doing [the reality show] My Life on the D-List and touring, I was making about 10 [million dollars] a year.” Griffin was also busy caring for her parents, adding she turned down the offer because she would have had to “uproot” her entire life.
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Barbara Walters Wasn't Happy
Kathy Griffin said Barbara Walters wasn't happy when she turned down the offer.
While she felt confident she made the right choice, the fiery redhead shared Barbara Walters was less than enthused about her decision.
“I remember when they offered me the job, Barbara Walters said backstage one time before we were about to go out and do the live show, ‘They say we have chemistry, I don’t really see it but they say we do.’ And I loved that,” Griffin dished. “I said, ‘Of course we do Barbara, people love when I give you s---’ And then she just rolled her eyes.”
Griffin said she pulled Walters aside to tell her she was turning down the role.
“I want you to know why I’m going to say no,” she recalled telling her. “It’s not that I think I’m too good for this show, it’s the opposite: this show is too good for me.”
Kathy Griffin said it wasn't 'feasible' for her to join 'The View' full-time.
She told Walters how much money she was making, even going as far as to offer to show the popular television journalist her tax returns.
“I don’t want you to think I’m blowing smoke, but between moving costs and I’m so entwined with my mom and dad. I have a house in Los Angeles, and it just isn’t feasible for me to do, but I want you to hear it directly from me,” Griffin added of what she said to Walters, who was less than thrilled with their chat. “She didn’t care,” Griffin concluded. “[ABC] didn’t up their offer by a penny. I think I might have said something like, ‘Can you meet me halfway? And they didn’t.’ But there’s the real story.”
