Comedian Kathy Griffin apologised in a press conference for posing with a fake bloodied US President Donald Trump, saying that Trump ‘broke’her and now her career was now over.
Griffin has lost sponsorships and jobs, including her role as co-host of CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage with journalist Anderson Cooper, since a photograph and video from the shoot appeared on social media on Tuesday.
President Trump said the image of Griffin with the gory mask resembling him was sick and that it had traumatised his family, especially his youngest son, 11-year-old Barron.
“I don’t think I will have a career after this. I’m going to be honest, Trump broke me,” said Griffin, a two-time Emmy-winning performer known for her deliberately provocative brand of humour. She added that she had received death threats.
Griffin posted on social media late on Tuesday, saying, “I’m not afraid of Donald Trump, he’s a bully,” adding that she intended to continue making jokes about the president.
She also described herself as a provocative woman who has often had to deal with older white men in positions of power.
“What’s happening to me has never happened ever, in the history of this great country, which is that a sitting president of the United States and his grown children and the first lady are personally, I feel, trying to ruin my life – forever,” she said.
Griffin said the photo was intended to mock Trump’s comments during the presidential campaign, when he told CNN that Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her” when she moderated a 2015 presidential debate.
