When the infamous photo of Kathy Griffin with a severed Donald Trump head made headlines back in May, many were speculating how much damage the photo had caused and whether it was a career ending mistake. It’s been eight months and after an apology, retraction of the apology, federal investigation and death threats, in a piece by the Hollywood Reporter, Griffin ruminates on how one picture exiled her from Hollywood indefinitely.
Griffin remains firm that the she’s receiving a disproportionately severe punishment, especially given the other scandals plaguing Hollywood today. “I didn’t commit a crime,” Griffin told the Hollywood Reporter. “I didn’t rape anybody. I didn’t assault anybody. I didn’t get a DUI. I mean, my God, there are celebrities that f*cking kill people.”
Not only had the public ostracized Griffin, but close friends, like Anderson Cooper, did not support her and some cut her out completely. For both PR reasons and safety reasons because of the death threats, venues canceled Griffin’s appearances. Now, the FBI helps Griffin sort through the hate mail she regularly. “There’s a pile that we think is harmless,” she said. “And a pile that’s questionable. And then there’s a pile that the FBI says you put in a Ziploc bag and give to them. That’s my life now.”
Crisis experts advised her to take time off, which wouldn’t be very hard given no venue or network wanted her anyway, but she rejected that idea. “I was like, ‘I’ll tell you what: You go away for five years,'” she told THR. Instead, she found success internationally, where there was minimal outrage over the picture. She boldly named it the “Laugh Your Head Off” tour and used a lot of her recent scandal for material. She was going to return to America, but when Andy Cohen replaced her for the CNN New Year’s Eve show and then acted like he didn’t know who she was when asked by TMZ whether he talked to Griffin about it, Griffin had another not-so-PG outburst blasting Cohen and a CNN exec.
Griffin thinks society doesn’t forgive females as easily for their mistakes. “When you’re a woman, you get one f*ckup, and it’s over. When you’re a guy, you get chance after chance after chance,” Griffin said. That isn’t stopping Griffin from trying to move forward though. “The minute I do something that makes money, they will all love me again,” she said. “When I’m dead, I’ll be a legend. But not now.”
Even though companies aren’t working with her, she still criticizes Trump regularly on Twitter and jokes about her own scandal.
Yep. Get on that “guys”. I’m a reeeeal serious national security threat? https://t.co/TposNx5XWy
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) January 26, 2018
Kathy Griffin is definitely still Kathy Griffin.