Kathy Griffin said she thinks that she’s banned from appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for being ‘too controversial,’ but insiders close to the NBC late night star insist otherwise.
The 65-year-old comedian took to Instagram on Tuesday with a clip in which she said she has not appeared opposite Fallon, 51, since he took over the main NBC late night program in 2014.
‘I have not done the Jimmy Fallon show since it was on at 12:30 Eastern and Pacific,’ the Emmy-winning comic said. ‘So I guess I’m banned from the Fallon show, or inappropriate or too controversial – I don’t even know.’
Griffin was referring to his previous program, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, on which she made two appearances, in 2010 and 2011.
A source close to Fallon with knowledge of the situation told the Daily Mail on Wednesday that ‘there is no ban on Kathy Griffin.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Griffin for further comment on the story.
Kathy Griffin said she thinks that she’s banned from appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for being ‘too controversial,’ but insiders close to the NBC late night star insist otherwise. Pictured June 17 in NYC
The Oak Park, Illinois native continued, ‘When you’re banned from a show … they don’t usually tell you you’re banned, they just can’t seem to find room for you.’
Griffin made clear she doesn’t have a personal issue with Fallon himself in the clip.
‘I do like Jimmy Fallon,’ Griffin said. ‘I’ve met him a few times, and when I used to do his later show, he was always super nice to me. I do think it was a bad call for him to have convicted rapist Conor McGregor on.’
Griffin was referring to a 2024 court case involving McGregor, 37, in which he was sued by stylist Nikita Hand, amid allegations of sexual assault, which he denied.
In the wake of an eight-day trial in Dublin, the court awarded Hand about $285,000 and another $1.5 million in court costs.
The UFC staple in July of 2025 had lost an appeal in the civil court case following its ruling that he had ‘brutally raped and battered’ Hand in Dublin in December 2018. The appeal had been dismissed ‘in its entirety.’
Hand had filed the civil lawsuit after prosecutors in Dublin would not charge McGregor, citing a lack of evidence and low chance to convict.
McGregor denied the claims against him, calling them fabricated and saying that his relations with Hand had been consensual.
Fallon, 51, seen on The Tonight Show on June 15
Griffin said she felt Fallon made ‘a bad call’ in having Conor McGregor on the show last month
Griffin continued, ‘I think the Fallon folks made a mistake by having Conor McGregor on.
‘I think it sends yet another message to women and marginalized folks everywhere that we’re not equal and you can do anything to us and the perpetrators are still gonna be out there being glorified.’
She said that the appearance was reminiscent of President Donald Trump’s 2016 appearance on the show when Fallon ‘petted his hair’ in a move that would be panned after the election.
‘That didn’t sit well with me,’ Griffin said. ‘I think it’s time we make up our minds about who we’re gonna cancel and who we’re not.
‘Take it from the most canceled celebrity in history! … As the kids say, do better.’
Griffin earlier this year said she felt ‘uncanceled’ about nine years after she faced personal and professional consequences after posting a photo holding a severed head resembling Trump.
In February, Griffin told WUSF about her career rebound nearly a decade after the national controversy, which cost her lucrative jobs and landed her under federal investigation.
‘I think I’m uncanceled, which is a miracle to me because I didn’t think I would ever be uncanceled,’ Griffin said. ‘I didn’t work for seven years and then when I went back on tour last time, which I made a special out of, which is free on YouTube, it’s called Kathy Griffin My Life on the PTSD List.
A source close to Fallon with knowledge of the situation told the Daily Mail on Wednesday that ‘there is no ban on Kathy Griffin’
Griffin said that she understands she will forever be linked to the photo (which was snapped by photographer Tyler Shields), saying, ‘People still define me by it.’
Amid the backlash when the photo was published, Griffin lost a New Year’s Eve gig with CNN opposite Anderson Cooper.
Trump at the time tweeted, ‘Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!’
Griffin subsequently apologized for the photo in a video, saying, ‘I sincerely apologize. I am just now seeing the reaction of these images. I crossed the line. I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people – I get it.’
Griffin said the creative idea behind the image stemmed from Trump’s previous comments involving blood aimed at journalist Megyn Kelly.
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