Kathy Griffin has revived the 6-year-old controversial photo that depicted her holding the served head of Donald Trump—this time editing the image in light of the former president's recent indictment.
Comedian Griffin took to Twitter on Tuesday to share an edited version of the image, which featured Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith's face in her place, while the original effigy was replaced with Trump pulling an animated expression.
The post came hours after it was revealed that the former president had been charged by the DOJ over his role in the events leading up to the January 6, 2021, uprising on the U.S. Capitol, which saw a gathering of his supporters attempt to frustrate the certifying of the 2020 election results.
Newsweek contacted Trump and Griffin via email for comment on Wednesday.
The new indictment alleges the then-president was involved in efforts to overturn the results amid his claims of election tampering, and that he initially made no attempts to try to stop the violence at the Capitol.
Trump was indicted on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.
DOJ special counsel Smith, whose office led the investigation, said in a news conference that the January 6 uprising was "fueled by lies—lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government: the nation's process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election."
Trump, who is the frontrunner in the 2024 GOP primary has denied any wrongdoing and accused Smith of "election interference" with his probe.
Griffin, who has been a vocal critic of Trump over the years, reacted to the news by posting the edited image on her Twitter account, which has been locked on a private setting for the past several months. The image was watermarked with the handle of Twitter user @PaulLeeDicks. Griffin opted to forgo adding a caption.
Suddenly Susan star Griffin had previously said that her decision to pose with the severed head of an effigy of the then-president in 2017 damaged her career.
Trump himself was a prominent voice in the backlash against Griffin, writing on Twitter at the time: "Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11-year-old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick."
The gory image, which was taken by celebrity photographer Tyler Shields, sparked a widespread outcry, leading to comedian Griffin issuing a public apology.
"I sincerely apologize," she said in a video posted to social media in May 2017. "I am just now seeing the reaction of these images[...]I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people. It wasn't funny. I get it."
She later retracted her apology, saying during an appearance on ABC's The View in 2018: "I take the apology back. F*** him[...]I'm not holding back on this family. This family is different. I've been through the mill."
Griffin went on to explain her reasons for taking back her apology, as she said: "The First Amendment is important. It's the first for a reason."
"People thought I was ISIS," she continued. "When my mother called—she watches Fox News and thinks it's real and thinks Bill O'Reilly is on vacation—that day, as crazy as it was, I was in a ball, sobbing, everything's over[...]I had to spend two hours convincing my mom I hadn't been recruited by Al-Qaeda."
"My mom got death threats in her retirement village, and my sister got death threats in her hospital bed, and I lost her to cancer—that's why I shaved my head," Griffin added. "That's how vicious it can be."
More recently, Griffin has stood in public support of former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll, who successfully sued Trump, for battery, as well as defamation over comments he made while denying allegations that he sexually assaulted her in a dressing room in New York City department store Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s. On May 9, a jury found Trump civilly liable of sexually abusing Carroll but not of rape, and Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages.
One day after the civil trial ruling, Trump appeared at a CNN town hall where he once again attacked and insulted Carroll as a "whack job," denied he ever met her and suggested the abuse claim was a "made-up story."
In response, Carroll is seeking an amendment to a separate defamation lawsuit she filed against Trump in 2019—which has been delayed through numerous appeals—in order to include the comments made during the town hall. She is now seeking an additional $10 million in monetary damages from Trump because he is continuing to publicly insult her.
Trump announced in July that he will appeal the defamation lawsuit after the DOJ recently ruled that the he is not immune from liability in the case.
In July, Griffin shared video footage of Carroll attending a dinner party at her California home. In the clip, Carroll was seen introducing herself to the celebrity guests, before telling them that she and her attorney were "the first people to hold Donald Trump accountable for his lies."
Trump is already facing a criminal case in New York relating to allegations of hush-money payments in the lead-up to the 2016 election; and another in Florida over charges of mishandling classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago residence last summer, following another investigation led by Smith.
In both cases, Trump has denied all wrongdoing and he has pleaded not guilty at arraignment hearings.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
