Kathy Griffin says she has been banned from The Tonight Show, turning a late-night booking gripe into the latest reminder that the blacklist, when it exists, tends to be personal. In a recent video posted to social media, Griffin said she has not done the Jimmy Fallon show since it was on at 12:30 Eastern and Pacific.
That detail matters because late-night talk show bans are rare. When they happen, they usually grow out of feuds, petty resentments, competition or behavior so outrageous that a host decides the guest is more trouble than the booking is worth. Griffin said she was left to guess whether she had been barred, inappropriate or simply too controversial, and she aimed her criticism at Fallon after he recently interviewed Conor McGregor. Griffin pointed out that McGregor was found civilly liable for sexually assaulting a woman in Dublin.
The claim lands in a long, messy corner of TV history where being unwelcome can mean different things. Bobcat Goldthwait trashed furniture on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 1993, then set his chair aflame on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 1994, an act that led to an arson charge, a $3,880 fine and another $698 payment to NBC for the damaged chair. Yet Goldthwait says he was never banned, even though he has not appeared on The Tonight Show in the three decades since.
Hugh Grant’s case was different again. Jon Stewart singled him out in 2012 as the worst guest in his then-nine-year history hosting The Daily Show, saying Grant was giving everyone grief the whole time and was a big pain in the ass. Stewart said he would never have Grant back. About a month later, Grant posted that his inner crab had gotten the better of him with a TV producer in 09 and said Stewart was right to give him kicking.
Griffin’s version is still the least settled of the three. Goldthwait’s behavior led to punishment and a long absence, and Grant was plainly unwelcome back. Griffin, by contrast, only said she guessed she was banned, which leaves open whether The Tonight Show formally shut the door or simply stopped inviting her. For now, that is the story: a comedian saying the invitation never came again, and a show that has not publicly said why.
