New Candid Photos Have Some Wondering About Kathy Griffin's Overall Health
Kathy Griffin's health has been a major topic in recent years.
Published July 3 2025, 2:23 p.m. ET
Although she's far from the only celebrity to be vocally anti-Trump, Kathy Griffin has become well-known in various corners of the internet for her opposition to the current president. Recently, though, Kathy has been a little bit out of the public eye. When new photos of the 64-year-old popped up online, they immediately had people talking.
The photos show Kathy without makeup, rocking her natural hair, and they were alarming enough to some people to make them wonder whether there was something wrong with her health. Here's what we know.
Is there any known problem with Kathy Griffin's health?
Kathy announced in 2021 that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer, even though she is not a smoker, and had to have part of her lung removed as a result.
More recently, Kathy announced that she had undergone a hysterectomy in order to prevent cancer.
"Happy Monday!" she wrote on Instagram. "I had a hysterectomy on Friday, that's right, they took out the uterus, the fallopian tubes, and the ovaries. Pre-cancerous, blah blah blah."
"Not to be an [expletive], but how do I NOT have a reality show to capture all of this???" she added. "I mean, you can't write it. It's too real."
When she had part of her lung removed, Kathy even explained that her voice was now higher because she'd had a tube pushed down her throat. "So now I'm like Minnie Mouse meets Marilyn Monroe," she explained. "It will heal, but I'm sort of enjoying it. I'm a good two octaves higher, I think. It's higher than Mariah Carey, I know that."
It's fair to say, then, that Kathy has had her share of health issues in recent years, but they probably don't have anything to do with the photo. Kathy has favored wigs since 2017, when she shaved her head in solidarity with her sister, who died that same year of cancer.
Naturally, then, seeing her natural hair and her face without makeup might be a jarring difference for some, but that's all this photo suggests.
Kathy has also been open about her mental health struggles.
In addition to two separate battles with cancer, Kathy also disclosed in a TikTok video posted in 2023 that she had been diagnosed with "complex PTSD." In the video, Kathy explained that she had been "plagued by panic attacks" over the past year.
"Sometimes they last a few hours or more typically, they last at least a full day if not multiple days in a row," she added.
"I feel silly even telling you this, because I always thought PTSD was just for veterans and stuff. During my attacks, I typically vomit quite a bit and often have to go to the ER just to get IV fluids," she said. "My PTSD attacks me in the mornings, so every single morning I wake up terrified to see if I'm gonna be OK or not. It hits me in my chest first, my chest starts to tingle, then it goes tight to my stomach, and then it's like OK, am I gonna start vomiting today from anxiety or not?"