Kathy Griffin took to Instagram today to apologize for her photo shoot that featured her holding up a bloody mask of President Donald Trump. She said,
“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 beg for your forgiveness. I went too far. I made a mistake and I was wrong.“
On Tuesday, photographer Tyler Shields, known for provocative images, released photos he did of Griffin that immediately set the internet ablaze.
The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, called the imagery “disgusting but not surprising.”
Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Trump’s one-time campaign rival Hillary Clinton, called the photo “vile and wrong.”
“It is never funny to joke about killing a president.”
Griffin was accused of encouraging violence,
“OBVIOUSLY, I do not condone ANY violence by my fans or others to anyone, ever! I’m merely mocking the Mocker in Chief.”
Griffin is an outspoken critic of Trump and knew the images would be controversial. In a behind-the-scenes video posted by Shields, Griffin asserted to the camera that she and Shields were
“not afraid to do images that make noise.“
In the same video, Griffin and Shields are shown presumably reviewing footage from their session, and Griffin jokes:
“We have to move to Mexico today, but we’re going to go to prison –federal prison…We’re not surviving this, okay?“
(via CNN)