Griffin makes film about Trump photo fallout
NEW YORK — Two days into the fallout of her 2017 photo posing with a fake severed head of U.S. President Donald Trump, Kathy Griffin says, she knew she should film what was happening.
She was losing jobs, making headline news and was 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 said. “The president and the Department of Justice shouldn’t make you unemployable and uninsurable.”
The problem was that 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, part documentary, part comedy. She financed it herself and carried a poster from interview to interview on a press day.
“Look, I made it at Kinkos, OK? I’m still on the D-list,” Griffin 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 standup that is edited into the film. (She tried to sell it as a standalone comedy special and “nobody would even look at it.”)
The film was well-received at SXSW this year. Fathom Events agreed to show it today in 700 U.S. theatres. 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 redhead? They got her, but she didn’t go down.’ ”
After today, Griffin is the first to admit she doesn’t know how fans can see it next. She’s hoping it gets picked up somewhere and she’d like to see it available internationally as well, teaching as much about Trump as Griffin.
“Now that I’ve travelled the world with this story, I know that there’s a genuine interest in: ‘Who’s this guy, what’s his deal, how does he operate?’ ”
She has learned to fend for herself by bankrolling her shows, learning about promotions and ad buys and even co-ordinating the concession and ushers.
“It was harder, but it sure kept me busy,” Griffin said.
She also had to buy metal detectors because “there were all kinds of incidents. A guy came at me with a knife in Houston,” she said.
Even though Griffin says some people remain convinced she’s a member of the Islamic State group, she refuses to apologize for the photo and points out that it didn’t break the law. (She did say she was sorry in the immediate aftermath, but later revoked it.)
“You can be offended by that photo all you want, that doesn’t bother me at all. But I want people to know I didn’t break the law.
“If you take a photo like that, you didn’t break the law. I didn’t violate the First Amendment in any way. If you take a photo like that, you didn’t violate the First Amendment in any way.”