For the second straight year, comedian Kathy Griffin ushered in the new year by saying something vulgar on CNN.
During the network’s live New Year’s Eve broadcast from Times Square, Griffin was joking with co-host Anderson Cooper about how to pronounce the first name of “balloon boy” Falcon Heene when she mumbled something that sounded a little like “Falcon” and a lot like the F-word.
Cooper hung his head, shook it and said “You’re terrible,” before resuming his banter.
The network said in a statement Friday that it “regrets that profanity was used during our New Year’s Eve coverage.”
During the same show a year ago, Griffin gleefully shouted at a heckler in the crowd and made a joke implying that the man performed gay sex acts for a living.
In a statement released by her publicist Friday, Griffin made light of the “balloon boy” joke: “Like every other serious reporter covering the now infamous balloon boy hoax, I struggled to pronounce his name ‘Falcon’ correctly and have gotten a kick out of how many ways I’ve heard it pronounced by other serious reporters. Just add me to that list and happy new year!”
Asked whether Griffin would be invited back next year, CNN spokeswoman Shimrit Sheetrit said planning for the 2011 celebration hadn’t yet begun.
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