Kathy Griffin to Hold Press Conference to Address Controversial Photo Shoot, ‘Bullying From Trump Family’

Kathy Griffin and attorney Lisa Bloom have scheduled a press conference on Friday where Griffin will elaborate on her decision to do a photo shoot in which she held up a bloody prop that resembled Donald Trump’s severed head.

In a press announcement she posted on Twitter, Bloom said that she and Griffin will “explain the true motivation behind the image, and respond to the bullying from the Trump family she has endured.”

After she posted images from the photo shoot on Twitter on Tuesday, Griffin apologized, saying that she “went too far.”

Trump blasted Griffin for the image, saying that she should “be ashamed of herself,” and that his 11-year-old son, Barron, was “having a hard time with this. Sick!” Another one of Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr., also blasted Griffin, and challenged CNN for her role in its New Year’s Eve coverage.

CNN dropped Griffin from its New Year’s Eve telecasts on Wednesday. Griffin has not commented beyond an apology video she posted on social media.

The images were part of a photo shoot that Griffin did with photographer Tyler Shields.

Republicans have seized on the incident in an effort to tie Democratic candidates with her. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a Super PAC aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan, began airing a spot called “Kathy” that characterizes her as a supporter of Jon Ossoff, a Democrat seeking an open seat in a Georgia special election later this month.

“It’s not funny. These angry liberals will go to any extreme to elect Jon Ossoff,” the ad says.

According to the Washington Examiner, Ossoff’s campaign issued a statement in which they called what Griffin did “despicable,” and called on his GOP opponent, Karen Handel, to “demand this ad be pulled before any more children have to see these disturbing images on TV.”

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) on Thursday said that he believes that “it would be best” for Griffin not to take part in a planned July 7 event in Beverly Hills, in which she was told hold a conversation with him to talk about his new book. “I understand why Minnesotans were upset by this, and I take that very seriously,” Franken said, according to Politico. Republicans had been seizing on plans for the event to attack Franken.

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