Kathy Griffin On Photo Shoot: Comedian Accuses Trumps Of Bullying, Says She’s Gotten Death Threats [Updated]


UPDATE [6/2/2017, 1:10 p.m.]

Kathy Griffin commented on her photo shoot and her motivation for shooting it at a press conference live-streamed by TMZ on Friday. According to Griffin, she did the photo shoot as a reference to President Donald Trump’s previous comments about journalist Megyn Kelly having “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out everywhere.”

Griffin’s lawyer, Lisa Bloom, blamed the Trump family for Griffin losing her job at CNN through their “bullying.” Kathy, for her part, claimed that she will continue referencing the President in her act, just as she has lampooned other presidents as part of her work as a comedian. She also accused her critics of misogyny, as male artists such as shock rocker Marilyn Manson (real name Brian Warner) had gotten away with more shocking acts, yet didn’t suffer as much damage to their public image.

According to the Washington Post, backlash over the photo shoot has gotten so bad that Griffin claimed she had been receiving death threats. Aside from Bloom, Griffin has retained the services of criminal attorney Dmitry Gorin, who is representing the comedian in an ongoing Secret Service investigation.

Regarding Barron Trump, Bloom stressed that it’s a parent’s responsibility to filter what their young children watch, and denied that Griffin was trying to target 11-year-old Barron in any way, as some have accused.

Original Report:

There’s no doubt that Kathy Griffin’s photo shoot featuring the comedian holding what looked like the severed, bloodied head of Donald Trump created a huge uproar. And while she’s been silent since posting an apology for her involvement in the photo shoot, she announced Thursday night that she will be holding a news conference on Friday to clear the air, while also claiming that the Trump family has “bullied” her since the photos were published on Tuesday.

TMZ was first to break the news of this new development on Kathy Griffin following her photo shoot with controversial photographer Tyler Shields. The publication notes that Griffin, 56, has hired attorney Lisa Bloom, who will be joining her in a news conference on Friday morning. While details on the conference are still scant as of this writing, TMZ cited Bloom, who said that her client will “lash out” at Trump, and explain why she feels that the President’s family has been “bullying” her over the shocking photos she took with Shields.

Soon after photos of Griffin holding up the bloodied Trump head were published, the comedian asked that the photos be taken down, and issued an apology for going too far. But as Fox News wrote, the apology wasn’t enough for Donald Trump, who lobbied that CNN dismiss Kathy from her job as New Year’s Eve show host. Trump would even make sure that CNN did as he had asked, tweeting the following request:

“Dear CNN, I must have missed your statement banning your commentator #KathyGriffin from future shows. Please resend. Thx.”

Far from being placated, Trump also tweeted that the Kathy Griffin photo shoot made him “sick,” while also traumatizing his youngest son, 11-year-old Barron.

According to the Washington Post, First Lady Melania Trump issued a statement on Wednesday that expounded on what her husband had said, casting doubts on the mental health of the people behind the photo shoot.

“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.”

Eleven-year-old Barron Trump’s reaction to the Kathy Griffin photo shoot has been a key talking point in the ongoing controversy. [Image by Saul Loeb – Pool/Getty Images]

Donald Trump’s oldest son, Donald Jr., had likewise chimed in with his two cents on the matter, the Daily Mail wrote yesterday. While he had most recently alleged that Jeopardy! champion and children’s author Ken Jennings went below the belt when he tweeted about Barron Trump’s shocked reaction to the Kathy Griffin photo shoot, he had also asked that CNN fire Griffin for the stunt, while describing it as an example of how “the left today” reacts to a president whom they don’t like.

“Disgusting but not surprising. This is the left today. They consider this acceptable. Imagine a conservative did this to Obama as POTUS?

“Will CNN keep putting her on air for things like the New Years celebration???”

The strongly-worded comments from members of the Trump family are nothing surprising for Griffin. Colleagues have described her as someone who doesn’t have any filter, with TV executive Jeff Zucker telling the New York Times in 2008 that she doesn’t “have a seven-second (censorship) delay in her head.”

Until this week’s decapitated Trump head photo shoot, Kathy was traditionally unapologetic as a comedian who proudly crossed lines and that, the Washington Post wrote, has gotten her banned several times from talk shows and performance venues. And while she is no longer connected with CNN, she did ruffle feathers on the network’s 2009 New Year’s Eve show, using the “f-word” when talking about controversial “balloon boy” Falcon Heene.

TMZ will be live-streaming the Lisa Bloom/Kathy Griffin press conference on the photo shoot controversy at 9 a.m. PT later on today.

[Featured Image by David Becker/Getty Images for iHeartMedia]

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