Kathy Griffin has claimed that CNN president Jeff Zucker 'got very offended' when she asked for a raise just days before the network's New Year's Eve special in 2016 and fired her - but then turned around and rehired her with a slashed salary.
Griffin, 61, told the The New York Times that she contacted Zucker 10 days before the New Year's Eve special and explained that she was 'carrying more of the prep work' than CNN co-host Anderson Cooper and deserved more than her $80,000 contract.
Zucker 'got very offended,' she said.
'He started yelling at me and he literally said something like, 'Who do you think you are calling here demanding a raise?' And then something came over me. And I just lost it. I just started screaming. I'm Kathy [beep!] Griffin, Jeff, that's who I am,' Griffin told the Times.
Griffin's response was perceived by Zucker as a threat to bail on the show, and in a call to Griffin's lawyer, she was fired.
Griffin told the Times she called Zucker again, this time begging him to take her back. She was rehired, but her pay had been slashed by 20 percent.
Kathy Griffin told the Times that she contacted CNN boss Jeff Zucker 10 days before the New Year's Eve special and explained that she was 'carrying more of the prep work' than CNN co-host Anderson Cooper and deserved more than her $80,000 contract
Zucker told the Times this month that he has long supported Griffin's career, but called her demand for a raise so close to New Year's Eve 'completely out of line.'
Griffin said Zucker 'got very offended' when she asked for a raise just days before the network's New Year's Eve special in 2016 and fired her -- but then turned around and rehired her with a slashed salary
Zucker told the Times this month that he has long supported Griffin's career,
