FRAZIER MOORE
AP Television Writer
NEW YORK — Kathy Griffin has lost a decade-long gig ringing in the new year for CNN as a backlash builds over her video displaying a likeness of President Donald Trump’s severed head. The content, pictured below, quickly went viral on social media, where it was widely criticized.
CNN, which called the images “disgusting and offensive” after Griffin posted the video on Tuesday, announced Wednesday it would not invite her back this year for the live Times Square New Year’s Eve special she has co-hosted annually since 2007 with CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
A New Mexico casino also canceled a performance by Griffin, who was scheduled to perform at Route 66 Casino on July 22.
And Griffin lost a commercial endorsement deal just weeks after landing 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 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 company stands for.”
“I am a true supporter of free speech, but feel Kathy crossed the line,” Edwards added. “I regret having to make these decisions but have no choice.”
Trump tweeted his displeasure with Griffin’s actions Wednesday morning.
Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017
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.”
Griffin, a comic known for her abrasive style of humor, apologized on Tuesday, conceding that the brief video, which she originally described as an “artsy-fartsy statement” mocking the president, was “too disturbing” and wasn’t funny.
But it was too late.
Griffin’s comedy approach trades on a self-deprecating streak (she brands herself as a member of the “D List”) as she targets celebs who are higher up the food chain. And while she may never have riled a figure of President Trump’s magnitude, the 56-year-old comic has gotten into trouble with her wisecracks.
In 2005 she was fired from her job as an E! network red-carpet commentator after joking at the Golden Globe Awards that actress Dakota Fanning, then 10 years old, had checked into rehab.
Two years later, while accepting an Emmy for her Bravo reality series, “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List,” she declared, “a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus.”
Then she held up her trophy and said, “Suck it, Jesus. THIS is my God now!”
Her appearance was during the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony, which wasn’t aired live but instead was taped for later broadcast by E! Her remarks were therefore edited. But reports of what she said drew fire from many, including Catholic League President Bill Donohue, who called it a “vulgar, in-your-face brand of hate speech.”
Griffin remained unrepentant.
“I have a no-apology policy,” she told CBS News in 2012. “No apologies for jokes. I apologize in my real life all the time. I say ridiculous things, I make mistakes constantly. But when I’m onstage, I’m at a microphone … it’s a joke!”
She said the fallout from her Emmy stunt was “heaven” for her: “I mean, it was comedy gold.”
