The 5 Most Memorable Kathy Griffin Moments

Fearless and controversial, comedian Kathy Griffin has made a tremendous impact on the world of entertainment over the last two decades. From her attacks on Oprah to her frequent stand-up specials to stunts like pretending she's dating Levi Johnston, the star of My Life on the D-List (or co-star, along with her mother Maggie Griffin) knows how to draw attention to herself.

Griffin had a starring role in Suddenly Susan and made cameos in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Ugly Betty, The X-Files, Law and Order SVU, and Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" video.

But none of those make the list of the 5 most memorable Kathy Griffin moments, selected for their cultural impact and the number of laughs and/or controversy they created.

5 Kathy throws down with Elizabeth Hasselbeck on The View

Griffin has appeared on The View numerous times, getting banned, unbanned and rebanned for revealing personal details about Barbara Walters in her stand-up act, including a hilarious bit where Griffin describes chasing down Walters in the backstage bathroom.

Griffin's most notable appearance came in 2010, when Hasselbeck confronted Griffin on-air about her material and Griffin replied, "This moment is what I live for... bring it!" Kathy hasn't been invited back since.

4 Kathy swears on CNN New Year's Eve with Anderson Cooper

One of Griffin's greatest achievements is annually turning serious newsman Anderson Cooper into a giggling schoolgirl on CNN's live New Year's Eve coverage, while creating controversy and scoring ratings at the time.

It started on New Year's 2009 when Griffin responded to an off-camera heckler. Thinking the show had gone to commercial, Griffin yelled, "I don't go to your job and knock the d---- out of your mouth."

People were offended, but the ratings were big, so Griffin came back for 2010. That year, she said the F-word while purposely mispronouncing the name of balloon boy Falcon Heene. And she came back again in 2011, which was a relatively tame appearance for her, although she did try to undress Cooper and tossed his glasses off their riser.

3 Kathy's memoir Official Book Club Selection takes on Oprah, hits #1

In 2009, Griffin released her memoir and titled it "Official Book Club Selection" in a joking effort to make people think it had been chosen as one of Oprah's book club picks. The book revealed interesting bits about Kathy's cosmetic surgery and her encounters with people like Paris Hilton, Jack Black, Brooke Shields and Conan O'Brien.

Though Oprah never picked it, the book was actually a great read, providing insight into Griffin's family life and her inner demons as she struggled to become successful in a male-dominated field. And it even hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

2 Kathy steals the show on Seinfeld

Griffin appeared on an unremarkable episode of Seinfeld in season 7. Some time later, during an HBO special, she talked trash about Jerry, saying he was rude to her when she was on set. Jerry saw the performance and thought it would be clever to write that incident into his show.

So Griffin's character Sally Weaver returned for a season 9 episode of Seinfeld, where she created a one-woman show called "Jerry Seinfeld is the Devil" that relentlessly mocked him. Her hilarious performance made that episode one of the best during Seinfeld's final season on the air.

1 My Life on the D-List wins the Emmy! (twice)

Kathy's My Life on the D-List became one of the best reality shows on tv. For six seasons, the cameras followed the comedian as she attempted to go from D-list to A-list but never quite made it.

Emmy voters rewarded her in 2007 with the award for Outstanding Reality Program. A shocked Griffin delivered a speech in which she mocked people who thank God for winning awards. "Suck it, Jesus, this award is my god now!," she declared, earning her both widespread scorn and praise.

If Emmy voters were offended, they didn't show it - Griffin won the Emmy again the following year.

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