Lihi Griner: "I felt I was being exploited, it was really exploitation. I would bring more than anyone"
Almost two decades after becoming one of the most recognizable figures in the entertainment world, Lihi Griner does not apologize for who she is. In an interview with "Intimi," she returned to viral moments, controversial statements, and the decision not to let herself be exploited. And yet, after all, Griner tries not to take herself too seriously.
Lihi Griner burst into the public consciousness almost two decades ago and has since become one of the key figures in the world of entertainment and reality TV in Israel. Griner broke through on "Big Brother" and has since continued to star in programs, broadcast on the radio, and even made a professional turn in recent years by becoming a doula. Last night (Wednesday), in an interview with Rafi Reshef on "Intimi," Griner returned to the statements that caused a great stir, and of course, to the things she said about Avivit Bar Zohar that became cult.
When she was younger, she moved to live in the United States, where she experienced a tragedy when her father died of a heart attack after a workout at the gym. Twenty years after arriving in America, Griner decided to return to Israel alone, integrated into "Big Brother" immediately upon her arrival, and stirred up drama from the very first moment. "I was so fresh in the country that I didn't understand that 'Big Brother' was such a watched program. I didn't believe that Israeli programs were so successful," she admitted, but added: "I followed my heart, all the time. I didn't understand that I had to account to others."
"Intimi" with Lihi Griner is available for viewing now on 12+
"They brought in your fiancé while you were having another relationship there, unpleasant situations. Did you deal with the question of whether you were a pawn? If I had been eliminated in the middle of the season, or right after the whole incident happened, maybe I would have come out scarred. But because I stayed until the end, I said 'Thank God', everything is for the best."
In the interview, Griner also addressed what became her most viral clip of all time, the moment on Hanoch Daum's program where she broke down in tears over the behavior of Avivit Bar Zohar, who "launched a partner at my wedding." In response to the question of whether she didn't realize in real-time that Daum was mocking the situation, she replied: "The whole program he was mocking me. It was one of the funniest things. This monologue is one of the most pathetic things. I was so ashamed when I saw it. I said 'Oh my God, how pathetic'. Today, when they take the sound and laugh at it, I'm happy. The fact that I can laugh at myself is life-saving. Unfortunately, I am impulsive, I have a lot of emotion, and everything I feel, I let out."
"You once said 'I am the ugly Israeli'. What did you mean?" - "That I have the chutzpah, the humor. I meant that I understand food, and music, and yes, I'm loud and I have the stress that everyone has. I am an Israeli."
Let's go back to the Avivit Bar Zohar scene. "Very painful things come out of there, it's not a joke. I knew who I was inviting to my wedding. I just didn't like the part where she came with someone new that we didn't know about at all. Creating items is something you do when you are at a launch."
Griner emphasized that she chooses not to be offended by things that happened, and that she does not feel that she was exploited. "I don't get offended. Do I feel that I was exploited? I also exploit them. I know how to leverage, I give the media and productions what they want. I never said 'no comment', there is no such thing."
Another testament to Griner's ability to stand her ground was when it was revealed about six years ago that she would receive only half the amount offered to Ruslana Rodina for participating in "Golstarot". At first, Griner quit the production, but eventually joined for a few days of filming for about fifty thousand shekels instead of the hundred thousand she was supposed to earn for two weeks of filming. In the interview with Reshef, she explained the decision to almost give up on the project: "I have a problem that I am a justice fighter, that's where my lack of tact is. It really wasn't fair, and I felt here that I was really being exploited. It was exploitation, okay? Because I know that what I will bring to this program is much more than any of the girls there," she stated.
Over the years, Griner has gotten into trouble several times for controversial statements that drew anger. One of them was when she expressed her opinion on the Meron disaster where 45 people were crushed to death. Griner apologized for the things, and in the interview added: "Over a thousand people sent me WhatsApp messages, attacked me from every corner. People cursed me, and I am a girl who loves religion very much, returned to the country, very Zionist. I have already flown to Uman three times, and what they wrote about me was that I hate Haredim."
"I was nervous, I was sad. 45 people died in vain during Corona. We weren't supposed to gather like that at all, it was forbidden," she continued to describe and explained how humor helped her in this case as well: "This sound of 'strangers are calling me' became very viral. Liel Eli made a dance out of it, and I sent her a message saying thank you very much. It later turned into humor."
On another case that caused a stir where she attacked an inspector who wrote her a ticket, and called him a "little Yemenite who looks like my ass" and later apologized, Griner said with humor in the interview: "I regret the story I uploaded, but I am allowed to curse him to this day because I paid him."
