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.<\/b>
\nNEW YORK \u2014 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.
CNN, which had called the images \u00ab\u00a0disgusting and offensive\u00a0\u00bb after Griffin posted the video on Tuesday, announced Wednesday it would not invite her back this year for the Times Square live New Year’s Eve special she had co-hosted annually since 2007 with CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
A New Mexico casino has also canceled a performance by Griffin, who was scheduled to perform at Route 66 Casino, operated by Laguna Pueblo, on July 22.
And a commercial endorsement deal was canceled just weeks after she landed 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.
\u00ab\u00a0We were shocked and disappointed\u00a0\u00bb by the video, said Bobby Edwards, the company’s CEO. \u00ab\u00a0It was deeply inappropriate and runs contrary to the core values our company stands for.\u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0I am a true supporter of free speech, but feel Kathy crossed the line, \u00a0\u00bb Edwards added. \u00ab\u00a0I regret having to make these decisions, but have no choice.\u00a0\u00bb
Griffin’s video made Trump seethe. Tweeting Wednesday morning, he said Griffin \u00ab\u00a0should be ashamed of herself\u00a0\u00bb for creating the video. \u00ab\u00a0My children, especially my 11-year-old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!\u00a0\u00bb
First lady Melania Trump issued a statement of her own: \u00ab\u00a0As 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.\u00a0\u00bb
Griffin, a comic known for her abrasive style of humor, had apologized on Tuesday, conceding that the brief video, which she originally described as an \u00ab\u00a0artsy-fartsy statement\u00a0\u00bb mocking the commander in chief, was \u00ab\u00a0too disturbing\u00a0\u00bb and wasn’t funny.
\u00ab\u00a0I went too far, \u00a0\u00bb she says in her contrite follow-up video. \u00ab\u00a0I sincerely apologize.\u00a0\u00bb
But it was too late.
Griffin’s comedy approach trades on a self-deprecating streak (she brands herself as mired on the \u00ab\u00a0D List\u00a0\u00bb of show biz) while she targets celebs who are higher up the food chain. And while she may never have riled a celeb of the magnitude of President Trump, 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 child actress Dakota Fanning had checked into rehab.
Two years later, while accepting an Emmy for her Bravo reality series, \u00ab\u00a0Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List, \u00a0\u00bb she declared that \u00ab\u00a0a 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.\u00a0\u00bb
Then she held up her trophy and said, \u00ab\u00a0Suck it, Jesus. THIS is my God now!\u00a0\u00bb
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 \u00ab\u00a0vulgar, in-your-face brand of hate speech.\u00a0\u00bb
Griffin remained unrepentant.
\u00ab\u00a0I have a no-apology policy, \u00a0\u00bb she told CBS News in 2012. \u00ab\u00a0No 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!\u00a0\u00bb
She said the fallout from her Emmy stunt was \u00ab\u00a0heaven\u00a0\u00bb for her: \u00ab\u00a0I mean, it was comedy gold.\u00a0\u00bb
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EDITOR’S NOTE \u2014 Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore@ap.org .<\/p>\n

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