Kathy Griffin mastered the formula for a successful autobiography launch years before she wrote her first page: equal parts steamy details and shameless publicity. And with her shrewdly titled autobiography Official Book Club Selection hitting bookshelves today, the My Life on the D-List star recently upped her ante by publicly discussing subjects even she, the queen of inappropriate disclosure, had not spoken openly about until now.
Last week, Griffin name-dropped bulimia and speed to pique the public's interest in her memoir. In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight's Mark Steines, Griffin discusses a few aspects of her life that might finally clinch that coveted invitation to Oprah's couch.
Opening up about her older brother Kenny:
"My brother Kenny who is now passed away and was a pedophile and went to prison and obviously wreaked a lot of havoc on my parents and the family...had an extremely profound impact on me. Maybe in some ways, the most influential relationship of my life. Meaning, when you grow up in a house with someone with that, I don't know if you call it energy, but he was violent. I saw him beat his wife right in front of me. You know, he was a pedophile. He was extremely sexually inappropriate with me ever since I was a teeny kid. It kind of shapes the way you see the world. For me, it is definitely tied into my trust issues I have with guys. [...] In a way, it maybe even contributed to me having a really dark sense of humor."
On Jack Black meeting her parents:
"I did date Jack Black a few times. I remember bringing him home, this is how long ago it was, I was still living with my parents. [...] So Jack had just been in the Tim Robbins movie called Bob Roberts (1992) where he played this wacky character and you know, he was very big in the comedy scene, and he's just adorable and so funny and so talented, and we went out a few times. And I actually brought him home to meet my parents and my mother said, 'He's got those shifty eyes. I don't trust him.' And then my mother said, 'He looked like a serial killer.' So there you go. So Jack Black makes quite an impression on the ladies' mothers."
On her relationship with Quentin Tarantino:
"I did also date Quentin Tarantino although I did not sleep with him and I did not have sex with him because he wanted to cuddle. [...] And I am telling you openly, and with shame, that I did not close the deal with Quentin Tarantino. And let's go with because he was so in love with me that he knew if we had sex once he would fall too deeply in love with me."
To see ET's interviewer Mark Steines react to Griffin's disclosures with muted horror, watch the extended interview.
ยท Kathy Griffin Pulls No Punches in New Memoir [Entertainment Tonight]