It might seem like we're staring the pink elephant dead in the eyes when we start a story about Kathy Griffin by talking about her inappropriate behavior. But what else is there to say? The actress-comedian is, above all else, inappropriate.

She's been banned from appearing on just about every major television talk show (she's been "rebanned" from "The View," something she said is "historic and hilarious"), she so consistently — and intentionally — sticks her foot in her mouth that it seems like she's just decided to leave it there, and she even jokes about the terminally ill. Gasp!

And Griffin, who is scheduled to perform at the Waikiki Shell tomorrow night, is gloriously unapologetic about it all — and with good reason. Her questionable behavior has landed her a leading role in a successful reality show about her life as a comic and has made her, despite her protests to the contrary, a bona fide celebrity. Her show, "My Life on the D-List," starts its fourth season June 12 on the Bravo network.

Griffin, on the phone from her New York City hotel room, was downright down-to-earth. And besides being less shrill than she is on stage, Griffin is just what one might expect from the loud-mouthed comedian with something to say: irreverent, offensive and hilarious.

I have to ask: How's life on the D-List?

Life on the D-List is busier than you might think. Sometimes I think about changing the name of the list.

Last night I actually did something that I thought was very A-list. I went to an upfront for the first time in my life. But I think they're (the Bravo network) just desperate because they lost "Project Runway," so they put me out there. And I think I was inappropriate and probably offended a lot of people and I barely had my job this morning, as usual.

You're not really a D-list celebrity. You know that, right?

I have examples for every time someone tells me that. Because while I'm flattered by the notion that I'm not, I also know that you're sorely mistaken.

At these upfronts, "TV stars" have photo booths where they sit there and people line up to have their pictures taken with the celebrities — you already know this is going to be a disaster, right?

So, it's time for me to go to my Kathy Griffin booth and I tell them that I don't want to do a booth because I know no one's going to come. But they tell me that I'm going to have a really popular booth. I get there and there's one guy in line. So I tell them that I knew this was going to happen and that I'm not doing my booth. And they tell me that people will come.

Then I notice that there are a few people in line — and they're all people who work there. So then I made my tour manager Tom stand in line and take pictures with me twice, and that's how I know I'm still on the D-list.

OK. You might have convinced me.

I always do. And by the way, I literally ran into Kathy Lee Gifford, the woman that I'm so often mistaken for. She is now on the "Today" show, which apparently proves there is nothing you can do to stay off TV. It was great to run into her because people so often come up to me thinking I'm her.

Wait. What? People really mistake you for her?

I like to think it's just the name thing, but I get a LOT of: "Oh, there's Miss Gifford" or "I can't stand that Kathy Gifford." Or they'll call me Kathy Lee Griffin. There are a lot of variations.

I should have made Kathy Lee come to my booth — and she would be like, "And you are?"

So when did you discover that self-deprecation and irreverence work for you?

When it stopped me from getting my (butt) kicked by the pretty girls. I went to Catholic school and got the Catholic beat right out of me.

Did you always want to be a stand-up comic?

No. I wanted to be a sidekick. I wanted to be Rhoda from the "Mary Tyler Moore Show" or Elaine from "Seinfeld." And I did. I was able to live my dream and I was a sidekick and I still love being a sidekick.

I did things a little backwards. I did acting first and then got into standup.

Let's talk about your views on censorship in comedy. You don't like it.

No. Not at all.

Why is it OK for you to say things during a comedy routine that I can't say at work or in some other setting?

That's exactly the barrier that there must be. There MUST be places for people to say heinous things.

I agree that there should be restrictions on what you can say in the workplace and what you can say at the daycare center. I agree that there are places where my material shouldn't be allowed.

However, those same rules started to apply in places where they shouldn't, and all of a sudden you couldn't say things in a comedy club that you used to be allowed to say. And that kind of frightens me.

After 9/11, if I told the most innocuous, innocent Bush joke, people would actually boo and think you were un-American. I would be standing in a comedy club thinking, wait a minute, I'm a comedian making fun of the president. Every comedian makes fun of their parents, makes fun of their boyfriend and makes fun of the president. And that makes me un-American? I had been doing Clinton jokes a few weeks earlier and they were a big hit.

That was something that I was able to see firsthand and, of course, I rebelled against it and I actually think that's why more people started coming to my shows than ever before. They were looking for a speakeasy; someplace where they could hear what they were thinking.

So, yes, I believe there should be censorship in the appropriate places.

Do you think that having an audience helps hold you accountable for what you say?

Of course. That's the thing about live performing: You know immediately when you've crossed the line. And it's actually the same for television. If I say something on a talk show that's inappropriate, people are blogging about it two seconds later.

The thing about censorship is that it already exists. The checks and balances are in place. The world lets you know pretty darn quickly when you've gone too far.

What I feel proud about with regard to comedy in general is that it's one of the last bastions of holding people and places accountable. A big part of my act is that I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid.

I watch Oprah, too, but I don't think she's Jesus.

Is there anything you won't joke about?

No. There's nothing I won't joke about. But it's not that there's nothing I won't joke about at any time.

When I first started out, I had a rule that I wouldn't joke about people with cancer or AIDS — until I had friends who were suffering from AIDS or cancer. And no one wants to hear an AIDS or cancer joke more than they do. I realized that those are the people who need the laughter most. If you know how to do it and if the environment is right, then anything should go.

The perfect example of that is when I performed in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was very nervous, wondering what's appropriate and what's inappropriate, and then you realize that you're in a war zone and nothing's appropriate and anything goes.

We taped an episode of the show at Walter Reed Army hospital and I found out that nobody has a sicker sense of humor than an amputee. That's how they cope, and that's why I don't have those never-say-this or always-say-this rules anymore.

What inspires you?

I live for stuff like those Miley Cyrus pictures — and I don't even mean the Vanity Fair pictures — because of the hypocrisy of her going all over the Internet saying she's a Christian and that Jesus rocks and yet there she is. Jesus rocked the shirt right off her back, apparently.

People are always offended by what you say. Does it ever get tiring?

You know, there's no rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes stuff gets to me, and other times it rolls off my back. Sometimes the stuff I read makes me cry and sometimes it just makes me laugh. I don't know.

What I DO know is that nothing stops me. For all the talk shows that I'm persona non grata from — Regis and Kelly, Letterman and Leno, Conan — nothing stops me from saying what I want to say.

The ultimate thing for me is making my audience laugh, and more people are coming to my shows than ever, more people are watching "The D-List" than ever and so I'm going to keep doing it.

Nobody should ever be told to stop saying something. The bottom line is that nobody is hurt in my shows. No one is leaving the show crying, no one has physical injuries. Oprah will be fine. Ryan Seacrest will be fine. These people will survive me.