Kathy Griffin: Not Afraid to Feud

March 10, 2011— -- As Kathy Griffin gears up for her Broadway debut with her new show, "Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony," the "has-been comedian" said she hoped the "has-been" Gov. Sarah Palin has purchased a ticket.

In an interview with ABC News' Bill Weir, the Emmy award-winning actress and comedian talked about her recent feud with Palin, who has called out Griffin numerous times for picking on her family.

"What I think is so funny is she's taking a page out of the Kathy Griffin playbook," she said. "I know this game, you know? So I was just thrilled and delighted when she mentioned my name."

During an appearance on FOX News this week, Palin chastised Griffin for making jokes about Palin's 16-year-old daughter, Willow. While ringing in 2011, Griffin declared her New Year's resolution to bring down Willow Palin for posting a homophobic slur on Facebook.

"When I was asked, you know, who are you going to make fun of this year, I was like, how about someone who goes on Facebook and calls someone the F-word?" Griffin said. "If you're going to do that, you're going to hear from me."

A long-time advocate of the LGBT community, Griffin was serious for a moment and talked about the issue of actual bullying, referring to the incident at Rutgers University where a student committed suicide after he was bullied.

"Look, if you think a comedian is a bully, what that tells me is you've never been bullied," she said. "If that's your idea of a joke, bullying somebody, than you know what, that's very different."

Palin, who called Griffin a "has-been," had also complained about Griffin's getting ready to play a Tea Party-like character based on the former Alaskan governor on an upcoming episode of "Glee."

"I am very flattered by it because Ryan Murphy, the creator, I'm pretty sure he wrote the character for me because of my various fake controversies I've been in with the Tea Party," she said.

Kathy Griffin vs. the Palins

The Palins have been the butt of Griffin's jokes for years. While performing at the Marine Corps Air Station in California in December, Griffin was booed after she made a crack about the former "Dancing With the Stars" contestant Bristol Palin's weight.

"I knew they were going to boo," Griffin, 50, said. "And there was that moment, and boy they woke up."

No one seems to be off limits when it comes to being a target in Griffin's stand-up comedy shows: celebrities, politicians, FOX News correspondent Bill O'Reilly, Catholics, her mother, all just are feeding her material, she said.

"I love a certain angry letter from really any religious group because then I can read it on stage the next night, so it helps me," she said.

The controversial Charlie Sheen definitely does not get an exemption.

"The Charlie Sheen story is just truly a gift for comedians," she said. "It's not like we have to harp on that one crazy thing he said, it's so many crazy things … the words he chooses are just plain funny."

She doesn't even give herself an exemption. Griffin has been very open for years about having several plastic surgeries, including liposuction, which she said almost killed her. In her best-selling autobiography, "Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin," she included graphic photos of the botched procedure.

"I can't stand these celebs who say I wouldn't change a thing," she said. "Well, good for you, you liar. I would change everything. ... I would have done a ton of things differently. I wouldn't have had the liposuction because it didn't work at all."

She said that after what she went through, she decided to stop obsessing about body image and even boldly posed in a bikini with Paris Hilton on an episode of her Emmy-winning show, "My Life on the D-List."

"I did it as a joke," she said. "After that I had magazines calling me and saying you have a banging bikini bod. It took me kind of psychologically not to give so much of a you-know-what anymore."

Kathy Griffin Headed for Broadway

But one obsession that has continued to plague the comedian is her love for junk food.

"It's a struggle, I mean look, I love junk food," she said. "I was raised on on fast food and Hamburger Helper ... and I struggle with it every day because, you know, I don't crave salads. When I hear these actresses say, 'Oh, I crave spinach,' I want to choke them."

In the end, it's all fun and games. Underneath all that banter is Griffin's pure love for stand-up, an art she will carry with her into her Broadway show opening Friday at the Belasco Theater in New York City.

"I love performing live," she said. "Performing live really is my favorite thing. It's uncensored, the fur really flies. I mean if you think the stuff I say on TV is bad, come on down here. Get your butt in the city, and we'll see how long you last before you walk out."