Key Points
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Comedian Ryan Asher said she attended a party at Kathy Griffin’s home and encountered condescending celebrities.
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Griffin accused Asher of “lying” in the recollection and “clout chasing.”
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Rosie O’Donnell tells EW she “sensed [Asher] was uncomfortable” at the event, and confirms she gave the comedian some money.
Kathy Griffin clapped back at a fellow comedian for what the Emmy- and Grammy-winning stand-up comic called “lying” in a story involving allegedly condescending celebrities gathered for a lunch at Griffin’s home.
Comedian Ryan Asher appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Delta Work’s Very Delta podcast late last year and recalled what she described as an awkward situation among stars like Griffin, Sia, and Rosie O’Donnell at the My Life on the D-List star’s party. Griffin recently caught wind of the tale and reacted in an Instagram post on Saturday, alleging Asher wasn’t telling the truth about portions of the story.
“I was kidding about awards,” Griffin wrote, referencing Asher’s recollection that Griffin began the lunch by saying to the celebrity attendees, “Let’s all go around and introduce ourselves by our awards.”
Kathy Griffin/Instagram
Kathy Griffin calls out Ryan Asher on social media
Asher said that since she didn’t have any awards or many credits to her name, she decided to make a joke by saying, “Hi, I’m Ryan Asher, and I have $45,” to which she said the crowd — including Sia and O’Donnell — responded with a condescending “aww,” because it “made them sad,” she said.
“You are lying about the reaction to you saying you had $45,” Griffin continued. “You are clout chasing. Look, it’s not the biggest crime in the world. I mean, l’ve done it, l even had a 6-year television series where I made fun of my own clout chasing, so no hard feelings from my end. Honestly, I’m sorry you did not have a good time at one of my ‘salon’ parties. I want people to leave my house feeling happy, feeling like they made a new friend or two and feeling full of delicious food.”
In Asher’s story, she said that O’Donnell introduced herself by saying, “I’m Rosie O’Donnell from The Flintstones. Incredible. I couldn’t tell if they were joking, kind of, but they were saying them. They were saying the awards.”
Asher then claimed that the group “quickly moved on” after she made the joke about only having $45, which she admitted was actually not much of a joke after all, because that amount reflected what was in her bank account at the time.
Later, she said O’Donnell approached her and handed her $300 in cash. “She was like, ‘You can’t have $45,'” Asher said. “So, I took it, and I bought weed with it!”
In an email statement to EW, O’Donnell confirms that she gave Asher $300, and that she felt positively about the comedian.
“I liked her. I sensed she was uncomfortable there,” O’Donnell writes. “I understood her, young comic and all.”
In a subsequent comment underneath Griffin’s reactionary Instagram post, Asher clarified her words.
“Kathy. I knew you were kidding about awards,” the comedian replied. “I was still intimidated and felt like I had to think of something funny. The reaction did happen and was also funny. I’m not cloud [sic] chasing. It’s just what happened.”
Other commenters criticized Griffin for using her platform to call Asher a liar, while Delta then publicly invited Griffin to be a guest on Very Delta to tell her side of the story.
“@Kathygriffin the invite is still open for you to join us on @verydelta when your schedule permits,” Delta wrote on Griffin’s post. “You can share the truth from the salon event that @reen_machine ‘lied’ about. We would love you to share some of the celebrity encounters you have become so loved for sharing. We eagerly await your spirited recollections.”
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EW has additionally reached out to representatives for Griffin and Sia for comment.
Watch Asher’s story about the lunch at Griffin’s home in the Very Delta clip above.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly