Controversial comedian Kathy Griffin says the Trump administration and its supporters tried to ruin her career after the infamous photo shoot featuring a mock, beheaded version of President Trump, saying she was punished because she was a “successful” woman.
Griffin made headlines back in May 2017 when she posed with a severed head meant to look like President Trump, presenting it to the camera the way an ISIS member would. The gruesome image immediately drew outrage on social media, while Trump called the photo "sick" and said Griffin “should be ashamed of herself.” She even lost her CNN gig as a result.
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Her former New Year's Eve co-host, Anderson Cooper, not exactly a fan of Trump, said even he was "appalled" by the photo shoot. However, Griffin feels that other celebrities, such as Johnny Depp and Snoop Dogg, haven’t been vilified to the same extent for similar attacks on the president.
Kathy Griffin reportedly feels betrayed by Anderson Cooper after being fired by CNN. (Reuters)
“I feel a lot of this is because I’m a 58-year-old woman. I’m a successful stand-up comedian, which flies in the face of everything Trump and his folks believe,” Griffin told Variety in a new interview. “I think my impression is they’re just offended by the audacity that I want to continue to work and be successful and I’m a self-made woman.”
The liberal comedian recently embarked on a comedy tour named “Laugh Your Head Off” and has a self-funded film coming out, but she continues to have a hard time finding the work she feels she deserves.
“I feel a lot of this is because I’m a 58-year-old woman. I’m a successful stand-up comedian, which flies in the face of everything Trump and his folks believe… they’re just offended by the audacity that I want to continue to work and be successful and I’m a self-made woman.”
“Even despite her touring success, every executive in town regarded her as an unemployable comic who’d crossed the line. She tried to shop around a comedy special, but Netflix and HBO passed,” Variety’s Ramien Setoodeh wrote. “She wanted to do a reality show about what it was like to have her First Amendment rights attacked by the president. That idea was met with crickets.”
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Griffin says the Trump administration, and its supporters, tried to ruin her career. (Getty)
She claims to “have a body of work that speaks for itself,” featuring two Emmys and a Grammy, and is perplexed as to why Netflix won’t give her a comedy deal. Griffin told Variety that she is essentially blacklisted by Hollywood as a result of her various controversies, but added that her gender and age also has something to do with it.
“There really aren’t very many well-known female comedians over 50,” she said. “And I think some of [the executives] are gobsmacked, going, ‘What’s this chick still doing around?’”
After the bloody photo made headlines, Trump and first lady Melania Trump released statements condemning the attack on their family. Trump added the picture took a toll on his 11-year-old son Barron as the first lady questioned Griffin's mental health. The far-left comedian initially apologized, but later recanted the apology.
Now, she is “very upset” that networks passed on her “genius” idea of hosting a special with porn star Stormy Daniels, but is optimistic that her fortune will change eventually despite the fallout over her controversial photo shoot, noting that "it’s been over a year and a half" since the incident.
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“I’m very acutely aware I’m tied to that photo for the rest of my life,” she said. “People confront me in the street. They think I’m ISIS. And then it becomes funny. At the moment it’s scary, and then I go home and go, ‘OK, really?’ I’ve just learned to accept that. I wish I could go the [Colin] Kaepernick route, where this ends in me getting a $100 billion Nike contract.”
Griffin is “very upset” that networks passed on her “genius” idea of hosting a special with porn star Stormy Daniels. (AP)
Meanwhile, Griffin has emerged as an outspoken critic of Trump on social media and is often a target of his supporters. The president’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has been known to mock her on Twitter, but she has a theory about who is spearheading the rivalry.
“Don Jr. doesn’t take a piss without asking Daddy first,” she said.
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