Last night, I stopped by Kathy Griffin’s book signing at the Borders in Columbus Circle. It was a total madhouse, and Kathy came out in a yellow party dress and insanely high heels to wave at her public. She did take a couple of questions before starting the reading, and one woman in the audience asked if Kathy needed a new assistant. Tiffany, Kathy’s assistant, wasn’t there that night, and Kathy explained that Tiffany was in her hometown going to a wedding. (“She’s the only person from her high school who doesn’t have, like, twelve kids,” quoth Kathy.) As you may remember, Kathy used to have two assistants, Jessica Zajicek and Tiffany Rinehart. When Jessica quit, Tiffany became assistant numero uno, but she’s currently doing the job alone. So, will Woman In the Audience get her wish? Kathy’s response:
No. You can send in an application, but Tiffany will burn it.
And there you have it – for the meantime, Team Griffin is staying as is.
As I reported last July and again this April, “Team Griffin” member and Kathy Griffin’s assistant Jessica Zajicek quit both her job and Kathy’s Emmy-winning Bravo show, My Life on the D-List. Though there’s been a lot of speculation about why Jessica left, ranging from the innocuous “she wanted to do something else” to the potentially-scandalous “she hated Kathy’s guts and couldn’t take it anymore,” Jessica has not offered up any official comment on the matter.
Monday night, the new season of My Life on the D-List debuted, and Kathy addressed Jessica’s absence with a very quick and brusque “Jessica has decided not to return and is pursuing other interests.” For now, former second assistant Tiffany Rinehart is working alone, and there has also been no mention of whether she’ll seek a new assistant to fill her old role. Perhaps Team Griffin has felt the effects of the bad economy and has had to cut back on hiring?
Either way, there’s no smoke, so for the time being there’s no fire. That said, if Jessica ever wants to give me an exclusive interview about the real reasons she quit her assistant job, I am all ears.
Although some gossip bloggers went back and forth about the status of Jessica Zajicek’s job as Kathy Griffin’s assistant, Jessica herself is confirming that she has definitely quit and will not be back either in Kathy’s employ or on My Life on the D List. That leaves former backup Tiffany Rinehart [in the picture, holding Kathy's Emmy) as the new #1 assistant - but will she get an assistant of her own to fill the vacant slot, or not? [Side note: there's something about a second assistant becoming the first assistant that makes me want to imitate a Miss America pageant host.] A press release for the upcoming fifth season of My Life on the D List reads:
Returning to the new season are Kathy’s ‘peeps’ assistant Tiffany Rinehart, tour manager Tom Vize, her beloved mom Maggie and her unruly dogs Chance and Pom Pom.
Um, I totally don’t get the Peeps reference. Can anyone out there with a better memory than me tell me what episode/reference it comes from?
Also, will Tiffany take over the Team Griffin blog that Jessica used to write? Right now if you go to the old TG link, you get an error message saying the page doesn’t exist anymore.
Not many celebrities are up for sharing the spotlight with their assistant. Kathy Griffin, on the other hand, is no ordinary celebrity as she’s proven recently by not only including her assistant in her reality show, but visiting the girl’s hometown of Tracy, California.
Now, I’m from California and can tell you that Tracy, stand-up town that it might be, is no Beverly Hills. Getting there involves more than 30 minutes in the car, some blah California scenery, and it tends to be a lot warmer or colder there than most people would expect. What I’m saying is that Kathy’s decision requires commitment, and it’s refreshing to see her going out of her way to get to know her assistant, whom she affectionately refers to as Princess Tiffany.
To read more about Kathy Griffin’s trip to the land of Princess Tiffany, click here.
Last night, I stopped by Kathy Griffin’s book signing at the Borders in Columbus Circle. It was a total madhouse, and Kathy came out in a yellow party dress and insanely high heels to wave at her public. She did take a couple of questions before starting the reading, and one woman in the audience asked if Kathy needed a new assistant. Tiffany, Kathy’s assistant, wasn’t there that night, and Kathy explained that Tiffany was in her hometown going to a wedding. (“She’s the only person from her high school who doesn’t have, like, twelve kids,” quoth Kathy.) As you may remember, Kathy used to have two assistants, Jessica Zajicek and Tiffany Rinehart. When Jessica quit, Tiffany became assistant numero uno, but she’s currently doing the job alone. So, will Woman In the Audience get her wish? Kathy’s response:
