Couple Wed by Kathy Griffin

3>No Joke: NYC Couple Wed by Kathy Griffin2008-03-10 07:43:59



NEW YORK (AP) — She has been a sitcom character, a sometime talk show host and the centerpiece of her own reality show. Now Kathy Griffin has appeared in an unlikely new role — minister.

The often provocative comedian — who raised some Christian groups' hackles by joking about Jesus while accepting an Emmy Award last September — became ordained through an online church to officiate Saturday at the New York wedding of two fans, Brian Anstey and Elka Shapiro.

"The request came in, and how could I say no?" Griffin, 47, told the Daily News. "I love that this couple just want to have fun. They're my kind of people."

Anstey, 31, is a fifth-grade teacher; Shapiro, 29, is a marketing director. Neither is affiliated with a religion, and "the major factor in our relationship is laughter," Shapiro said.

Griffin flew in from Los Angeles for the wedding at the Queens County Farm Museum. She performed a 10-minute service that ranged from telling raunchy jokes to having the bride recite the reception menu, according to the Daily News.

"It's so unusual and something we'll always remember," Shapiro said.

Viewers of Griffin's reality show, "My Life on the D-List," will be able to see the ceremony for themselves in June, when an episode involving the wedding is to air on Bravo.

Griffin said she was ordained online by the Universal Life Church and completed additional paperwork to meet New York State requirements. But she insisted her role in the wedding was a one-night-only performance.

Besides "D-List," Griffin has appeared as an acerbic columnist on the NBC sitcom "Suddenly Susan" and as a guest host of the ABC talk show "The View."