‘The View’: Clay Aiken Sends Love to Kathy Griffin Despite Meghan McCain’s Rant

Clay Aiken is sending his love and support to Kathy Griffin amid her cancer diagnosis, despite Meghan McCain‘s resurfacing of past homophobic jokes the comedian directed at him. Shortly after The View co-host sparked controversy with her comments about the comedian, who underwent surgery Monday, Aiken took to social media to wish Griffin a “speedy recovery.”

Joining the crowds of people sending supportive messages to Griffin after she revealed on Monday her stage one lung cancer diagnosis, Aiken shared a throwback photo of himself and the comedian. Aiken made no direct mention of the McCain controversy as he sent “love and prayers for a speedy recovery” to Griffin, whom he called his “dear friend.” Aiken called Griffin “selfless and gracious” and ended the post by writing, “Get well soon Kathy. I miss your jokes!”

Aiken’s message of support for Griffin came just hours after McCain criticized the comedian on Monday’s episode of The View. During a segment that aired just after Griffin shared her cancer diagnosis, McCain declared, “I don’t like her, I’m never gonna like her” as she went on a long-winded rant about past homophobic comments she made about the American Idol alum. In the segment, McCain said Griffin “made very, very, very cruel and homophobic jokes about him before he was out of the closet,” adding that Aiken was “lucky he didn’t end up becoming an opioid addict” because of the bullying he faced. She went on to demand an apology from Griffin, “if she’s doing this kind of soul searching, for what could’ve happened with my good friend.”

Page Six notes that prior to Aiken coming out in 2008, Griffin referred to Aiken as “Gaykin” in her stand-up routines. At this time, Griffin has not responded to McCain’s remarks. The comedian, 60, announced Monday that she was diagnosed with lung cancer “even though I’ve never smoked!” Griffin told fans that the cancer is “stage one and contained” to her left lung.” On the same day, Griffin underwent surgery to have “half of my left lung removed.” Her representative later told Variety Monday afternoon that Griffin was out of surgery and in recovery. Her rep added that “the surgery went well and as planned, and the comedian is resting.”

Although there have been no further updates on Griffin’s condition, in her Monday post sharing her diagnosis, Griffin said her doctors were “very optimistic” about her prognosis. According to Griffin, the hope was that there would be “no chemo or radiation” following the surgery. She said she “should have normal function with my breathing” and be “up and running around as usual in a month or less.”