While Kathy Griffin has found herself now “begging for forgiveness” following the controversial photo shoot she did with Tyler Shields featuring a bloodied, beheaded Donald Trump, the comedian, 56, has rarely had to apologize in the past for her over-the-top humor.
The Grammy-winning funnywoman found herself in hot water back in 2007 while accepting the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program for her reality show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. During her acceptance speech, she joked about Jesus to the audience: “Now, 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. He didn’t help me a bit. If it was up to him, Cesar Millan would be up here with that damn dog. So all I can say is suck it, Jesus, this award is my God now!”
After being condemned by the Catholic League, the Academy released a statement saying that her speech, which was pre-taped, wouldn’t be televised in any capacity. Griffin apologized, but still joked: “Am I the only Catholic left with a sense of humor?”
The comedian also caused a bit of controversy for abruptly backing out of her position as Joan Rivers’ replacement on E!’s Fashion Police in 2015 after some fans felt she let Rivers down. During a March 2015 interview on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show, Griffin explained that in hindsight she probably shouldn’t have taken the gig.
“I don’t really feel it was my best work, I’ll be honest,” Griffin admitted, adding that she felt inclined to take the job. “Melissa [Rivers] was the one who called me and said, ‘You’re the only person that I feel my mom would have given her blessing to.’ For me, Fashion Police is not Joan’s legacy. As a 54-year-old female comic still in the game, what Joan did was so much bigger than that.”
Griffin, who has lost her endorsement deal with Squatty Potty and was fired by CNN following the Trump photo shoot, was also fired back in 2005 by E! after she joked that then 11-year-old Dakota Fanning had entered a drug rehabilitation facility. E! later released a statement apologizing for Griffin’s comments.
Relive the latest of her drama in the video above.
