- Paul J. Gough, THR.com

NEW YORK Here's an on-air pairing that will probably never happen again after CNN's New Year's Eve telecast: Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin.

Griffin was co-hosting the CNN special telecast of Times Square on New Year's Eve with Cooper. The My Life on the D-List star got into hot water early Thursday morning with some choice words to a heckler that were captured live on the channel. It happened after the ball drop but while the telecast was still going on.

"Screw you. Why don't you get a job, buddy?" she told the hecker. "You know what, I don't go to your job and knock the d---- out of your mouth."

The remark had been made as the channel was about to go to commercial, which it did right after, according to a recording of the incident widely available on YouTube.

"We recognize that the comment made by comedian Kathy Griffin during the live broadcast was inappropriate. She did not know she was on the air at the time, and we removed it from the rebroadcast," said a CNN spokeswoman.

Griffin's rant was edited out of a rebroadcast early Thursday morning.

CNN did not have a delay on the broadcast. But perhaps it should have, since Griffin is known for a blue act and even on TV has made controversial remarks. One live comment in accepting a 2007 Emmy for D-List offended some Christian groups.

Earlier in the CNN telecast, she lampooned former CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck and asked for a pap smear given by medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

CNN is unlikely to get in any substantial trouble because there are no FCC rules regarding cable obscenity.