Kathy Griffin is feeling the fallout after images of her holding a bloody replica of President Donald Trump’s severed head were leaked Tuesday, and the comedian has been fired from her longtime New Year’s Eve gig on CNN.
The network announced its decision on Twitter on Wednesday.
“CNN has terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year’s Eve program,” the news network’s communications account tweeted
CNN has terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year’s Eve program.
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) May 31, 2017
Griffin’s co-host on the live CNN New Year’s Eve program, Anderson Cooper, said he was appalled by the photos.
“It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate,” he tweeted Tuesday evening.
For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate.
— Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) May 31, 2017
Though Griffin initially held back apologies for the images, in which she appeared stone-faced posing with the bloodied likeness of the president’s severed head, she changed her tune by 8 p.m. that evening after seeing the reaction online.
Kathy Griffin: CNN drops comic after ‘sick’ Trump stunt: Comedienne Kathy Griffin will no longer host CNN’s New Year show after a… #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/q9cgTrqpJG
— Raza Shaikh (@razashyd) May 31, 2017
RELATED: Social media cries for Secret Service investigation after Kathy Griffin’s gory stunt
“I’m a comic, I cross the line, I move the line, then I cross it. I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people. It wasn’t funny. I get it. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career. I will continue. I ask your forgiveness,” Griffin said in a video posted to Twitter just before 8 p.m. Tuesday.
She said she was taking down the image and would ask the photographer, Tyler Shields, to take it down as well.
“I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far, I made a mistake and I was wrong,” she said.
I am sorry. I went too far. I was wrong. pic.twitter.com/LBKvqf9xFB
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) May 30, 2017
The images were leaked to TMZ on Tuesday afternoon and drew a swift and stark response on Twitter.
The photographs were snapped by celebrity photographer Tyler Shields. Griffin and Shields acknowledged they expected the photographs would earn a polarizing response.
“I like to make things and let people make up their own minds about it, but I understand with this that some people will praise it, and some people will absolutely hate it,” Shields told Buzzfeed News.
But the response did more to unite liberals and conservatives in their condemnation of the sketch, which many said crossed a line — even Chelsea Clinton told her it was the wrong move.
This is vile and wrong. It is never funny to joke about killing a president. https://t.co/zIiuKoMyFw
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) May 30, 2017
