UPDATE: President
Donald Trump responded to Griffin’s photo via Twitter on Wednesday, May
31. “Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children,
especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this.
Sick!” he wrote.
ORIGINAL STORY: Kathy Griffin took to Twitter on Tuesday, May 30, to apologize for a photo that showed her holding a bloody, decapitated head resembling Donald Trump, after she was slammed on social media by liberals and conservatives alike.
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
“Hey everybody, it’s me, Kathy Griffin,” she said in a video message on Tuesday. “I sincerely apologize. I’m just now seeing the reaction to these images. I’m a comic. I cross the line. I move the line then I cross it. I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people. It wasn’t funny. I get it. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career, I will continue. I ask your forgiveness. Taking down the image. I’m going to ask the photographer to take down the image and I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far. I made a big mistake and I was wrong.”
https://twitter.com/kathygriffin/status/869703678550171648
Griffin caused outrage across the internet on Tuesday after the image taken by photographer Tyler Shields surfaced online. “Tyler and I are not afraid to do images that make noise,” the comedian said in a behind-the-scenes video posted on YouTube.
The president’s son Donald Trump Jr. condemned the photo, tweeting that it was “Disgusting but not surprising.”
On the other side of the aisle, President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton‘s daughter, Chelsea Clinton, wrote on Twitter, “This is vile and wrong. It is never funny to joke about killing a president.”
This is vile and wrong. It is never funny to joke about killing a president. https://t.co/zIiuKoMyFw
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) May 30, 2017
Several conservatives expressed outrage online and called for Griffin and photographer Shields to be investigated and arrested. The U.S. Secret Service responded to the controversy, tweeting that it was “On it!” and adding that the branch “has a robust protective intelligence division that monitors open source reporting & social media to evaluate threats.”
Anderson Cooper, who has hosted CNN’s annual New Year’s Eve broadcast with Griffin, tweeted on Tuesday night: “For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate.”
Oliver Darcy, CNN’s senior media reporter, tweeted comments from a CNN spokesperson, who said, “We found what she did disgusting and offensive. We are pleased to see she has apologized.” Darcy added that the New Year’s Eve special was being evaluated.
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