Kathy Griffin: ‘I’m in Heaven’ Over Criticism of Scott Brown ‘Prostitutes’ Joke, Surprised Barney Frank Not a Fan of Hers

As left-wing comedian Kathy Griffin appeared on Thursday’s Joy Behar Show on HLN, she injected "I love it" as host Behar recounted that Griffin "got in some trouble ... over something you said on a recent episode of My Life on the D List." Griffin rationalized that the infamous joke she made about Republican Senator Scott Brown’s daughters being "prostitutes" was based on Senator Brown’s acceptance speech. Griffin: "The genesis of the joke, like, does anybody remember that the night he was elected, he made a joke – he was clearly making a joke – saying, ‘By the way, my daughters are available.’ And then, the Washington press beat up on him saying he was pimping out his daughters."

After later discussing the criticism that Democratic Congressman Barney Frank had also aimed at her over the incident, she declared that "whenever a statement is issued against me, I'm in heaven, I feel my next special is half written for me."

After asserting that "people got their panties in a bunch" over the "prostitutes" joke, leading Behar to add that Congressman Frank had also complained about her jab at Senator Brown’s daughters, Griffin poked fun at Frank in spite of her being an avid liberal and supporter of gay rights who had "admired" the openly gay liberal Congressman. Griffin: "Barney Frank got his panties in a bunch, which takes a lot because, apparently, when he and the boyfriend go to P-Town, there's a lot of panties in a bunch."

She went on to suggest that she was surprised that Congressman Frank was not a fan of hers: "And so I met with Barney Frank – who, of course, I admired – an openly gay Congressman, I'm thinking, ‘Oh, this is fantastic and he sat down with me for My Life on the D List,’ and spent half the interview telling me he'd never seen it, he didn't want to do it, his boyfriend likes me, that's why – I'm like, yeah, I've heard this all a million times before."

Griffin expressed her happiness at being criticized: "But, yes, whenever a statement is issued against me, I'm in heaven, I feel my next special is half written for me, and then I get to read statements aloud in my live shows, which you can go to KathyGriffin.net and see the many, many cities I've picked up for my current tour."

Regarding Congressman Frank, she sarcastically concluded: "He's one of my gays. He just doesn't know it because he doesn't know, you know, who I am, as usual."

Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Thursday, July 22, Joy Behar Show on HLN:

JOY BEHAR: Now, you got in some trouble for your own, on your own-

KATHY GRIFFIN: I love it. Yes.

BEHAR: -over something you said on a recent episode of My Life on the D List.

GRIFFIN: Do we have a clip?

BEHAR: Take a look. Of course we have a clip.

GRIFFIN: Scott Brown-

JOHN KING, CNN: That’s excellent.

GRIFFIN: -who is a Senator from Massachusetts-

DANA BASH, CNN: Yeah.

GRIFFIN: -and has two daughters that are prostitutes.

GRIFFIN, IN VOICE OVER: And now, a brief message from Bravo’s legal team: Scott Brown’s daughters are not prostitutes. We now return you to our regularly scheduled negativity.

BEHAR: Okay, now whose idea was the disclaimer?

GRIFFIN: Gee, I wonder, Bravo Legal?

BEHAR: But that was you. Wasn’t that your voice?

GRIFFIN: Well, I loved doing the voice over. The voice over is hysterical, in my opinion, and Emmy-worthy. Look, here’s the deal. The genesis of the joke, like, does anybody remember that the night he was elected, he made a joke – he was clearly making a joke – saying, "By the way, my daughters are available." And then, the Washington press beat up on him saying he was pimping out his daughters. So, on My Life on the D List, we actually had some real, you know, Washington insiders showing me, like, 15 pictures of people on the Hill, et cetera, and my joke was I didn’t know who they were. So they showed me a picture of Sonia Sotomayor, and I say, "Oh, the maid from Will and Grace." There’s the joke. Then they show me Scott Brown, and I go, "His daughters are prostitutes," meaning, like, word association. So people got their panties in a bunch-

BEHAR: Including Barney Frank.

GRIFFIN: Barney Frank got his panties in a bunch, which takes a lot because, apparently, when he and the boyfriend go to P-Town, there’s a lot of panties in a bunch. And so I met with Barney Frank – who, of course, I admired – an openly gay Congressman, I’m thinking, "Oh, this is fantastic and he sat down with me for My Life on the D List," and spent half the interview telling me he’d never seen it, he didn’t want to do it, his boyfriend likes me, that’s why – I’m like, yeah, I’ve heard this all a million times before. But, yes, whenever a statement is issued against me, I’m in heaven, I feel my next special is half written for me, and then I get to read statements aloud in my live shows, which you can go to KathyGriffin.net and see the many, many cities I’ve picked up for my current tour.

BEHAR: Okay.

GRIFFIN: What?

BEHAR: So you’re really feeling bad about it all?

GRIFFIN: I’ve – (LAUGHS) – Yes.

BEHAR: I mean, when Barney Frank turns on you – one of your gays – you have to start to wonder.

GRIFFIN: Hey, the gays, look, there’s a reason that that flag has colors. There’s many levels and colors. There’s not just – I mean, I make a joke about "the gays," but there’s many, many kinds of gay people like there are many, many kinds of straight people. And, you know, he’s one of my gays. (GETS SARCASTIC LOOK) He just doesn’t know it because he doesn’t know, you know, who I am, as usual.