As New Year’s Eve fast approaches, Kathy Griffin is coincidentally making the rounds, months after being fired from CNN‘s annual Times Square broadcast over her controversial photo that showed her holding the decapitated head of President Trump. Shortly after that incident, Griffin (who later apologized and then retracted the sentiment) held a somewhat cringeworthy press conference, in which she lashed out as Trump as a “bully” who shattered her career.
Upon further reflection, Griffin has spoken with Politico about the power of Trump’s Twitter feed, which he used to label the photo as “sick” and upsetting to his youngest son, Barron. The comedienne and provocateur attributes her swift downfall to POTUS’ Twitter account, which she calls “the greatest programming director ever.” Griffin had much more to say:
“I think [the photo] would have been gone in a week without his tweet. Trump knows what would be perceived as something hysterical and he loves hysteria. There are millions of people who think I’m a member of ISIS to this day.
“I wish I could tour in the U.S. without getting shot — I know I can’t. I was in the middle of a 50-city tour when the tweet happened. It was canceled in 24 hours.”
Griffin does, however, note that she’s still able to successfully tour outside the U.S. and has recently finished an international tour of 15 countries. Yet she accuses Trump of using her photo as a distraction from his firing of James Comey, although that seems like a stretch since her photo (and Trump’s tweet) didn’t hit the airwaves until three weeks after Trump unceremoniously dumped the FBI director.
The comedienne also says she was subjected to a constant stream of death threats on Twitter and “had to go offline” as a result. While she certainly pulled an ill-advised move with her shock-jock image — which was photographed by Tyler Shields, who previously directed Marilyn Manson’s video that shows the singer beheading a Trump-esque figure — and should have expected some backlash, death threats are obviously another matter altogether.
It remains to be seen whether Griffin will lash out on New Year’s Eve during the airing of CNN’s festivities. Probably?
(Via Politico)