Whitney Cummings lit up CNN New Year’s Eve Live special with her fiery jokes that included a reference to Anderson Cooper‘s former co-host, Kathy Griffin.
Cummings made an appearance on the CNN special and immediately got into taunting Cooper and Andy Cohen.
“Was that thunder?” Cummings asked the co-hosts as she took the stage in Times Square amid a rainy night.
Cummings continued, “Are you sure? I thought it was Kathy Griffin screaming at you from the street? Are you sure? I think she’s cursing.”
Cooper reacted, adding, “Well, no doubt.”
Griffin co-hosted the New Year’s Eve Live special with Cooper from 2007 until 2017, developing the format where the comedian made the news anchor uncomfortable with her risky jokes. Griffin was cut from the CNN special in 2017 after backlash over a publicity photo that depicted her with an effigy severed head of Donald Trump. Cohen, was named the new co-host in 2017 and has been with the show since.
Cummings promoted that in 2025, she will continue with her comedy tour, noting that she’s “playing bigger and bigger venues.” The comedian then took a job at CNN’s ratings, adding, “I thought being a mom would mean that less people want to come see me. I’m now playing, like 3000-seat theater, which is about the viewership of CNN these days.”
Cummings was given space to roast 2024 to “hold 2024 accountable for its behavior,” mentioning several big names in entertainment.
“This was the year that people were behaving so poorly we started being wistful about murderers,” Cummings said. “Remember, this was the year we were like, were the Menendez brothers so bad? Were we too hard on the Menendez brothers?”
Cummings was referring to the brothers who were convicted in the 1990s after they murdered their parents. Netflix dramatized the events in Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, bringing the case back into the spotlight and making people advocate for their release.
“White supremacy groups reached record highs,” Cummings said in another one of her jokes. “It got so bad Ariana Grande became white again.”
Cummings also took shots at Hollywood, saying, “We also started watching older women in movies. Equality or insanity? You tell me.”
“Demi Moore was in a movie called The Substance showing that Hollywood is ready for a woman in her 50s to star in a movie as long as a hot 28-year-old wears a leotard for most of it,” she added. “Pam Anderson is getting Oscar buzz for a movie she did wearing no makeup. Guys, it’s not progress if you call it brave.”
Cummings also took a shot at Disney, saying the “Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia put money into Disney, so just know there won’t be any girl characters in the next Cars movie.”
Cohen was not exempt from Cummings roast, making the Watch What Happens Live host the punchline of a joke about the movie Joker.
“This is the year everyone hated the movie The Joker, but if you do love watching men descend into insanity in a couple of hours, you get to watch Andy Cohen do the countdown,” she joked.
At the end of her roast, Cummings said, “I can’t believe you guys are still letting me go. This is amazing. I love CNN. Please stop me, Andy, because I will just keep going… No censorship on CNN. Love you, guys.”
