Kathy Griffin Under Fire for ‘Beheading’ Trump in Photo Shoot

    Raechal Shewfelt
    Editor, Yahoo Entertainment
    View photos
    Comedian Kathy Griffin’s new photo is causing a stir. (Photo: Tasia Wells/WireImage)

    UPDATED at 5:21 p.m. PT: Kathy Griffin posted a video apology this afternoon, captioned simply, “I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong.” In the video, she said, “I sincerely apologize. I am just now seeing the reaction of these images. I’m a comic. I crossed the line. I move the line, then I cross it. The image went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people. It wasn’t funny. I get it. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career. I will continue [to do so]… I ask for your forgiveness… taking down the image, gonna ask the photographer to take down the image, and I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far. I made a mistake, and I was wrong.”

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    Kathy Griffin is not one to sidestep controversy and Tuesday, she stepped right in it, when TMZ released a photo of the comedian that shows her holding the bloody “head” of President Trump.

    The photo — shot by equally controversial photographer Tyler Shields — did not go over well on social media.

    View photos
    Did Kathy Griffin go too far? (Photo: Tyler Shields)





    But then, Griffin expected as much, judging from the behind-the-scenes video that Shields shared on YouTube in which she joked about the reception the photo would get.


    “We have to move to Mexico today, because we’re going to go to prison — federal prison,” Griffin told Shields.

    Griffin shared the photo on Twitter with a caption referencing the infamous comments Trump made about former Fox News journalist Megyn Kelly in August 2015. At the time, Trump spoke to a reporter about Kelly’s demeanor as she moderated a presidential debate. “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes,” Trump told CNN. “Blood coming out of her wherever.”

    Griffin wrote, “I caption this ‘there was blood coming out of his eyes, blood coming out of his…wherever.’ Also @tylershields great Photog/film maker.”



    “OBVIOUSLY, I do not condone ANY violence by my fans or others to anyone, ever!” she added in another tweet. “I’m merely mocking the Mocker in Chief.”

    POTUS hasn’t responded to Griffin’s photo yet, but his son Donald Trump Jr. was not pleased.


    However, there were many liberals, including Chelsea Clinton, who were disgusted by the photo as well.


    Even Griffin’s pal Anderson Cooper was “appalled.”


    Griffin, who appeared on several episodes of The Apprentice in 2009 and 2010, has never been quiet about her disdain for Trump.

    “First of all, I know that fool, and he knows I know him,” Griffin told Elle.com in February. “He talked me into doing one of his charity things one time and hosting it.”

    She also has not-so-fond memories of a day spent on the golf course with Trump and Liza Minnelli.

    “It was on one of his golf courses — as if Liza and I golf! Although I think by the end of the day, he thought Liza and I were lovers, and I swear that’s fine with me,” Griffin said. “I don’t think Liza was too happy, but I was just kind of like, ‘Yeah, we’re lovers, whatever.’ I don’t find him to be someone who processes nuanced thought, and so he clearly thinks whatever he feels like thinking. But yes, I’ve had him say everything to me. Like, ‘So, you’re a female comedian?’ and I’m like, ‘Yes! Next thing you know, I’m going to want to vote!’ I’m embarrassed to say there are pictures online.”

    She should’t worry about that picture. The new one is the only one people will be talking about for a long time.


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