Exiled Comic Kathy Griffin Plans Return To Hollywood: 'I Didn't Commit A Crime'
Kathy Griffin, nearly a year out from her Hollywood exile, opens up about the Donald Trump photograph that cost her a career.
In May 2017, the outspoken comic was shunned from the entertainment industry after getting photographed with a fake bloody decapitated head of president Donald Trump. The image sparked immediate outrage and astronomical repercussions on her life. Not only has Griffin lost jobs and countless friends over the infamous photo, but she also had to deal with death threats and federal investigations.
Griffin attempted to apologize for her controversial actions in a YouTube video three months after the incident, but it fell on deaf ears, especially after she retracted her apology in a disastrous press conference.
In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, Griffin is defiant and definitely not beaten. After all, she says, it's not like she committed a crime.
"I didn't rape anybody," Griffin continues. "I didn't assault anybody. I didn't get a DUI. I mean, my God, there are celebrities that f**king kill people."
Griffin believes her gender may have played a role in her sentencing.
"When you're a woman, you get one f***up and it's over," Griffin says matter-of-factly, pointing out that men in the industry are given multiple chances over their mistakes.
Crisis experts told her to retreat from the public eye for five years, but instead the fallen comic took her Laugh Your Head Off Tour on the road. In Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Singapore, Griffin turned her scandal into gold with the controversial photo giving her material for her act in more distant countries.
After finding an eager audience overseas, the exiled comic is now plotting a comeback to North America.
Even with personalities like Jimmy Kimmel and former student J.J. Abrams willing to give her a chance, it's proving to be a slow climb back as networks are still unwilling to give her camera time.
Still, the comic is looking forward and keeping busy with writing, creating videos, and even working on new material for her shows.
Griffin's boyfriend calls it a day-by-day process, but she's convinced she'll get her shot once she starts earning big bucks again.
"When I'm dead, I'll be a legend," Griffin says. "But not now."
I'm grateful that I had the chance to share my story with @THR and @SethAbramovitch. https://t.co/qeXTb7XNB9 pic.twitter.com/OtCab3t8V7
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) January 31, 2018
