Celebrity News June 02, 2017
Kathy Griffin Hits Back at Melania Trump, Tears Up Over Anderson Cooper at Press Conference
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Comedian Kathy Griffin faced the cameras and the controversy today surrounding a photo of her holding a mask that looks like President Donald Trump's severed head.
After immense backlash, Kathy is fighting back, starting with a press conference in L.A., where she told “Extra” and other reporters, “I'm not afraid of Donald Trump… he's a bully.”
The 56-year-old, who says her apology still stands, revealed she is now receiving death threats that are “constant and they are detailed and they are serious and they are specific.” She has also been contacted by the Secret Service.
Kathy was fired from CNN and had five tour dates canceled after Trump called the photo “sick" and his family spoke out against her and urged her employers to let her go.
Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!
@realDonaldTrump
Her attorney Lisa Bloom said, “The message is clear: Criticize the president, lose your job.”
During the press conference, Griffin admitted her career might be over, but she vowed, “I am going to make fun of him more now.”
The tearful comedian told the press he was trying to ruin her, “He broke me… and it's wrong.” Despite the takedown, Kathy said, “I have to stand up.”
When “Extra's” Renee Bargh asked about Melania Trump's statement questioning Kathy's mental health, Griffin replied, “I think there's a lot of people in this administration that seem, like, super nuts, and I think it's weird that you guys or anybody's acting like they're not."
Kathy became emotional when a reporter brought up her friend Anderson Cooper's tweet calling the shoot "clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate." Her response? A tearful Kathy said, “That hurt.”
For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate.
@andersoncooper
Griffin also gave a little backstory on the shoot, explaining that she and photographer Tyler Shields get together every few years with the intent of giving people something to talk about. The photo was inspired by Trump's comment that following a war of words with Megyn Kelly, she had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” Kathy wasn't paid for the shoot, and she doesn't think Tyler was either.
Bloom explained it this way, “It was a parody of Trump's own sexist remarks taken to an extreme level… she never envisioned it as a threat of violence against Trump.”
