Kathy Griffin still working and hustling after Trump photo

NEW YORK >> Kathy Griffin says two days into the fallout of her 2017 photo posing with a fake severed head of President Donald Trump, she knew she should film what was happening.

She was losing jobs, making headline news and the topic of widespread scrutiny, not to mention the subject of a government investigation into whether she was a credible threat.

“I kept saying, ‘I think this is an important, historic story,’” Griffin told The Associated Press. “The President and the Department of Justice shouldn’t make you unemployable and uninsurable.”

The problem was no one wanted anything to do with her. So, she picked up her iPhone and began filming. There’s no glam, no production crew — not even microphones. Griffin says she just knew she needed to capture what was happening in the moment and to keep it real.

The result is a feature film, “Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story” that’s part documentary, part comedy special. She financed it herself and carried a poster from interview to interview on a recent press day.

“Look, I made it at Kinkos, OK? I’m still on the D-list,” she quipped, referring to the Bravo reality series that earned her two Emmy Awards.

The documentary portion gets raw, Griffin said. “Like ugly Kathy, no makeup, crying.” But it’s also funny. Griffin taped stand-up that’s edited into the film. (She tried to sell it as a stand-alone comedy special and “nobody would even look at it.”)

The film was well-received at SXSW earlier this year. Fathom Events agreed to show it July 31 in 700 U.S. theaters. What happens next is anyone’s guess — Griffin just knows she will keep hustling and she’s not giving up.

“I just want people to know you don’t have to go down. You can take a few punches, but after I kick the bucket, I want somebody to go, ‘You know that crazy red head? They got her but she didn’t go down.’”