Kathy Griffin defends using private jet for new comedy tour

Kathy Griffin has defended using a private jet for her new comedy tour.

The 63-year-old stand-up has been splashing out on luxury travel despite being trolled by critics of her carbon footprint, saying she thinks travelling in style is “worth it”.

She told The Hollywood Reporter about jetting between venues on her My Life on the PTSD-List tour: “I joke that I’m losing money on this tour because of the jet.

“I know it’s spoiled, but it’s worth it.”

Kathy added her luxury travel choice lets her sleep with her “babies” — in an apparent reference to her four rescue dogs.

She also said it allows her to “avoid” Donald Trump supporters who “still feel the need to come up” to her at airports and tell her how “horrible” she is after she posted a mocked-up image of the former US president beheaded on social media.

Kathy was placed on the no-fly list for two months in 2017 while she was under a federal investigation by the Justice Department for posting a video of herself holding a mask styled to look like the bloodied head of then-president Trump, 78.

She apologised for the incident, but later said it was justified by Trump’s “unhinged” behaviour — adding in an interview with Australia’s Sunrise show: “I’m no longer sorry. The whole outrage was BS; the whole thing got so blown out of proportion.

“So the picture happened, the outrage was ridiculous, I made an apology, and now in light of all the crazy stuff that (Trump) and this administration are doing… he’s unhinged.”

Kathy said dealing with the fallout from the controversy cost her more than US$1 million (S$1.29 million) in legal fees, and said she fell into unemployment and became hooked on prescription pills — before she attempted to take her life.

She was dealt another blow when she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021, forcing her to have one of her lungs removed.

Four months after the operation she declared she was cancer-free, but earlier this year she was hit with more health woes as she underwent a second vocal cord surgery in hopes of restoring her voice.