May 30, 2017
A social media firestorm broke out Tuesday after a photo surfaced of comedian Kathy Griffin posing with a bloodied mask that bore a resemblance to President Donald Trump's head.
And she's not apologizing for it, either.
"Obviously, I do not condone any violence by my fans or others to anyone, ever," she tweeted hours after TMZ published the leaked photo on Tuesday. "I'm merely mocking the Mocker in Chief."
For good measure, the Emmy and Grammy award winner also posted a 15-second video to her Twitter account late Tuesday afternoon that shows her lifting Trump's mock head.
1/ I caption this "there was blood coming out of his eyes, blood coming out of his...wherever" Also @tylershields great Photog/film maker. pic.twitter.com/eKqr44NOl6
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) May 30, 2017
The photos sparked an outrage from social media users, many of whom noted they oppose Trump as they criticized Griffin's move.
I find trump's views & policies absolutely appalling, but Kathy Griffin's photo is disgusting & inappropriate. Promoting violence is wrong.
— Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) May 30, 2017
I despise EVERYTHING about Trump--the man & his policies--but what Kathy Griffin did was stupid & wrong.
— Kenny BooYah! (@KwikWarren) May 30, 2017
Dear Kathy Griffin,
— Mark Romano (@TheMarkRomano) May 30, 2017
Those who have no talent try to shock people for attention.
Quite pathetic.https://t.co/6aAmPRLz2v
Kathy Griffin needs to be investigated as an enemy of the state. Fake beheading of Trump is not a political statement, it's a direct threat
— William Z. Nardi (@willthethinker) May 30, 2017
While his father hadn't tweeted about the photo as of late Tuesday afternoon, Donald Trump Jr. joined the foray, rhetorically asking the Twitter world to imagine if a conservative-aligned star had done the same thing to former President Barrack Obama while he still held the office.
Disgusting but not surprising. This is the left today. They consider this acceptable. Imagine a conservative did this to Obama as POTUS? https://t.co/QdghcbIjS7
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 30, 2017
The picture was part of a photo shoot with Tyler Shields, a photographer known for a brush or two with controversy.
"(Shields) and I like to do images that make noise," Griffin said in a video posted to TMZ.
Shields defended the pictures in a Tuesday interview with Buzzfeed.
"Trump is the social media president," he said. "He is the most polarizing president we've ever had. With any type of person like that, art is going to be made about them."
