Kathy Griffin usually gets in trouble for trying to kiss Anderson Cooper (but who wouldn’t) on CNN’s coverage of the New Year’s Eve ball drop, but she upped the stakes with a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday.
Evoking shades of the Islamic State, the comedian isn’t getting laughs for the video of her holding a bloody replica of President Trump’s decapitated head.
1/ I caption this “there was blood coming out of his eyes, blood coming out of his…wherever” Also @tylershields great Photog/film maker. pic.twitter.com/eKqr44NOl6
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) May 30, 2017
“I caption this, ‘There was blood coming out of his eyes, blood coming out of his…wherever,'” she wrote on Twitter, referencing then-candidate Trump’s comments about debate moderator Megyn Kelly.
Griffin, an outspoken critic of Trump, followed that tweet with another, but she did not apologize.
“OBVIOUSLY, I do not condone ANY violence by my fans or others to anyone, ever! I’m merely mocking the Mocker in Chief,” she tweeted.
2/ OBVIOUSLY, I do not condone ANY violence by my fans or others to anyone, ever! I’m merely mocking the Mocker in Chief.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) May 30, 2017
The photos were taken by celebrity photographer Tyler Shields and leaked to TMZ on Tuesday. Shields defended the image.
“Trump is the social media president,” Shields told BuzzFeed News. “He is the most polarizing president we’ve ever had. With any type of person like that, art is going to be made about them.”
“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,” he added.
Dozens of social media netizens urged the Secret Service to get involved. The Secret Service responded in two tweets.
On it! @SecretService has a robust protective intelligence division that monitors open source reporting & social media to evaluate threats
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) May 30, 2017
Threats made against @SecretService protectees receive the highest priority of all of our investigations. #ProtectionNeverRests
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) May 30, 2017
“On it! @SecretService has a robust protective intelligence division that monitors open source reporting & social media to evaluate threats. … Threats made against @SecretService protectees receive the highest priority of all of our investigations. #ProtectionNeverRests,” the tweets read.
One thing Griffin did accomplish was to unite conservatives and liberals, Trumpeters and “snowflakes” (with a few exceptions).
GOP called obama mannequins hanging free speech but apparently Kathy Griffin doesn’t get that right pic.twitter.com/fr0ggnklNd
— Vishal (@vishsf) May 30, 2017
It was OK when RWNJs did this, but Kathy Griffin holding Trump’s head is off limits. RWNJ snowflakes. pic.twitter.com/hbQnSXxaIp
— NYgrooveX (@NYgrooveX) May 30, 2017
Hope everyone attacking Kathy Griffin was just as outraged when they hung a lifelike President Barack Obama from a tree after he was elected
— ♻️ Christopher Zullo (@ChrisJZullo) May 30, 2017
Donald Trump Jr., one of the president’s sons, tweeted his outrage.
“Disgusting but not surprising. This is the left today,” the president’s son tweeted. “They consider this acceptable. Imagine a conservative did this to Obama as POTUS.”
“I’m not sure there’s any human who dislikes Donald Trump as much as I do,” one user tweeted. “However, the Kathy Griffin photo is f—ing awful on every level.”
If you try to defend Kathy Griffin by saying “But the right did…”
Seriously stop. There is no defense.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) May 30, 2017
What Kathy Griffin did isn’t art or a statement…it was shitty and uncalled for.
And if you defend her…you are just as bad as she is.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) May 30, 2017
Matt Pierce from the Los Angeles Times tweeted: “My feed today has mostly been liberals disgusted by Kathy Griffin and conservatives asking why liberals aren’t denouncing Kathy Griffin.”
A year ago, comedian George Lopez tweeted a picture of a drawing depicting Trump’s detached head held up by Mexican drug lord El Chapo.
— George Lopez (@georgelopez) February 28, 2016
Here’s the picture that’s warming the hearts of trump supporters nationwide , hilarious ! No need to call the FBI pic.twitter.com/92B4Agvqzf
— George Lopez (@georgelopez) March 1, 2016
Marilyn Manson beheaded a Trump-inspired body in his music video for “SAY10” in November.
