CNN sacks Kathy Griffin over gruesome Trump video
Viral image called ‘disgusting and offensive’ Associated Press
NEW YORK — Kathy Griffin has lost a decadelong gig ringing in the new year for CNN as a backlash builds over her video displaying a likeness of President Donald Trump’s bloody, severed head.
CNN, which had called the images “disgusting and offensive” after Ms. Griffin posted the video on Tuesday, announced Wednesday it would not invite her back this year for the Times Square live New Year’s Eve special she had co-hosted annuallysince 2007 with CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
A New Mexico casino has also canceled a performance by Ms. Griffin, who was scheduled to perform at Route 66 Casino, operated by Laguna Pueblo, on July 22.
And a commercial endorsement deal was canceled just weeks after she landed it. Squatty Potty, a Utah-based company whose products include toilet stools and other bathroom accessories, said it was suspending an ad campaign that featured Ms. Griffin.
“We were shocked and disappointed” by the video, said Bobby Edwards, the company’s CEO. “It was deeply inappropriate and runs contrary to the core values our companystands for.”
“I am a true supporter of free speech, but feel Kathy crossed the line,” Mr. Edwards added. “I regret having to make these decisions, but have no choice.”
Virtually no one, not even the president’s most outspoken critics, defended the image. Instead, the words “vile,” “disgusting” and “unacceptable” united the social media response from both sides of the aisle and every social stratum.
Ms. Griffin’s video made Mr. Trump seethe.
Tweeting Wednesday morning, he said Ms. Griffin “should be ashamed of herself” for creating the video. “My children, especially my 11-year-old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!”
First lady Melania Trump issued a statement of her own:
“As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing. When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it.”
Ms. Griffin, a comic known for her abrasive style of humor, had apologized on Tuesday, conceding that the brief video,which she originally described as an “artsy-fartsy statement” mocking the commander in chief, was “too disturbing”and wasn’t funny.
“I’m a comic, I cross the line, I move the line and then I cross it. I went too far,” she says in her contrite followup video. “I sincerely apologize.”
Earlier in a tweet, Ms. Griffin had appeared to try to mitigate the effect of the image, “OBVIOUSLY, I do not condone ANY violence by my fans or others to anyone, ever! I’m merely mocking the mocker in chief.” That post was later deleted.
But it was too late.
Until Ms. Griffin’s photo went live, it seemed there was nothing negative a comedian could say about Mr. Trump that would get them in trouble; when Stephen Colbert — host of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” — recently went on a profane rantthat included a crude reference to the president’s mouth, #firecolbert spluttered briefly to life and quickly went out. Mr. Colbert saying, apologized, but to anyone who found his remark homophobic,not to the president.
Ms. Griffin’s comedy approach trades on a self-deprecatingstreak (she brands herself as mired on the “D List” of show biz) while she targets celebs who are higher up the food chain. She has never riled a celeb of the magnitude of Mr. Trump, but has gotten into trouble with her wisecracks.