Kathy Griffin Nails The Hypocrisy Of Critics Calling On Michelle Wolf To Apologize
Kathy Griffin issued a staunch defense of Michelle Wolf to critics who are calling on the comedian to apologize for her roast at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
Wolf’s performance, a brutal takedown of several officials and journalists both present in the room and not, has won praise and sparked outrage. Some high-profile members of the media, including Fox News’ Ed Henry and MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, have called on Wolf to apologize for her remarks, particularly those about White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
In a series of messages posted to Twitter, Griffin said such calls were “absurd,” pointing out that the comedian was hired to perform a roast. Griffin also noted that the mainstream press does not regularly call on President Donald Trump to apologize for his more outrageous lies and remarks.
“So journalists are willing to demand that a comic hired to roast people apologize but they aren’t willing to demand that Trump or his staff apologize to people?” Griffin tweeted. “Is that where we’re at now? Can someone explain the difference to me?”
Wolf responded to some of her critics Sunday, reminding them that her jokes about Sanders attacked her behavior as the White House press secretary, not her physical appearance as many have concluded.
Griffin added to Wolf’s comments, saying Sanders was specifically attending the dinner to represent Trump, who skipped the event to host a campaign-style rally among his supporters.
“Stop acting like @michelleisawolf showed up at the playground and started making fun of Sarah Sanders in front of her children,” Griffin tweeted. “Sarah was there representing Trump, on the dais, at an event with a professional comic who was hired to do a roast.”
Take a look at Griffin’s full response in the tweets below:
A) Ok I have some thoughts on @michelleisawolf's act and the reaction to it from members of the press and other DC insiders. For the record, I was in the room last night. @michelleisawolf's set was great. She was hilarious and confident.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
B) First, @michelleisawolf took no prisoners last night. She roasted Trump, Pence, White House staffers, the media, media personalities. Everyone is focused on Sanders but that was only 1 1/2 minutes of Michelle's act. She went after everyone...as it should be.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
C) @michelleisawolf was hired to do a roast. That was her job. She wasn't hired to offer media analysis or be fair and balanced. She was hired to poke fun at powerful people. Not once did she punch down. She focused on the people/institutions that are powerful beyond measure
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
D) A comic's job is to go over the line and then push the line and go over it again. Great comics aren't supposed to be safe or careful. That would mean we're not doing our job. By pushing the line we force people to think differently, to ask questions, and disrupt the status quo
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
E) Comics by their nature are anti-establishment. They are charged with the often unenviable task of going after people in power. It's a lot easier to tell jokes about the difference between LA and NYC or cats and dogs.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
F) Enough with holding everyone else but the President of the United States and his staff to higher standards. This does not mean i don't recognize that investigative journalists at the NYT and WAPO etc are doing their part to expose this administration..what I'm concerned about.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
G) Is that journalists often say they can't use certain language about Trump because they have to be objective. Fine. But they're willing to use words like "mean" about a comic's act? How is it objective to offer subjective commentary about a comic's joke's about POTUS?
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
H) Trump chooses not to attend the #WHCD - instead the White House said Sarah Sanders was attending in his place. She sat on the dais where the President usually sits. So of course she was going to get some of the toughest jokes, she was Trump's proxy.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
I) The calls for the @whca and @michelleisawolf to apologize are absurd. They're coming from reporters and many Trumpers. Trump has famously (and he says this himself) never truly apologized because he thinks it makes him look weak.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
J) And no the apology for the Access Hollywood tape doesn't count because now Trump goes around telling people he doesn't think the voice is his per NYT. So cut the bullshit.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
K) Andrea, it was nice to meet you last night and I respect your work as a journalist, but when's the last time you demanded Trump or WH staffers apologize for their horrific statements? When's the last time you demanded Trump apologize for being a birther?https://t.co/tn9HkDOOq9
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
L) By the way for the @Scaramucci @dmartosko's of the world please tell me why anyone should apologize when Trump has never apologized for lying for years about Obama's birthplace and then at a press conference took no responsibility for it and lied again.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
M) I'll tell you what has the media so upset, because @michelleisawolf told the truth about them last night and the role they played in allowing Trump's rise. They hate to be called out on their bullshit, it's painful..I get it. But she said what needed to be said.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
N) So journalists are willing to demand that a comic hired to roast people apologize but they aren't willing to demand that Trump or his staff apologize to people? Is that where we're at now? Can someone explain the difference to me?
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
O) This administration (and the reporters who intentionally or indirectly support it) are always demanding that artists apologize. From the Hamilton Cast to me to @michelleisawolf. But they never apologize for anything.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
P) Also @michelleisawolf never talked about Sanders' appearance, she was talking about her character. But anyone pearl clutching over her comments and demanding she apologize needs to demand that Trump apologize for calling women fat pigs, slobs, talking about their bodies
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
Q) Not to mention, apologize for comments like "blood coming out of her..." - but no they haven't demanded that of him because they're terrified of Trump. Instead, they go after a comic who is paid to make jokes. They go after her instead of a man with real power. Pathetic.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
R) BS @dmartosko. Sarah was there on the dais as a proxy for the President. That’s how the White House billed It. Michelle couldn’t just focus on just Trump because he was too scared to show up. https://t.co/x76JdWjvDP
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
S) Stop acting like @michelleisawolf showed up at the playground and started making fun of Sarah Sanders in front of her children. Sarah was there representing Trump, on the dais, at an event with a professional comic who was hired to do a roast.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
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