Kathy Griffin: 'I wish I could tour in the US without getting shot'

[Gingersnap]

Kathy Griffin: 'I wish I could tour in the US without getting shot'
BY REBECCA SAVRANSKY - 12/27/17 11:51 AM EST

Kathy Griffin: 'I wish I could tour in the US without getting shot'

Comedian Kathy Griffin says that she has been welcomed abroad, but wishes she could go on a tour in the U.S. "without getting shot."

“They were thrilled to have someone come over and make fun of Trump,” said Griffin, who recently finished up a 15-country world tour, during an interview with Politico published Wednesday.

“I wish I could tour in the U.S. without getting shot — I know I can’t. I was in the middle of a 50-city tour when the tweet happened. It was canceled in 24 hours.”

Griffin faced widespread backlash earlier this year after she posted a controversial photo posing with a fake decapitated head resembling President Trump.

The president at the time weighed in on the controversy, tweeting that Griffin should be "ashamed of herself" and that his children were having a "hard time" with it.

Griffin apologized but in the fallout had multiple shows canceled and was fired as co-host of CNN's New Year's Eve coverage.

Griffin told Politico that Trump's Twitter feed is the "greatest programming director ever."

"The minute he tweeted that tweet about me, it was literally breaking news on every channel," she said.

She accused Trump of using her as a "tool" to distract from "his bad news of the day."

“After that, I had to go offline because of the death threats,” she said. “He didn’t use my handle in his tweet, so he didn’t have my followers coming after him.”

Still, she said her answer is to "keep producing funny stuff."

“My YouTube [channel] is lit. I really do have a real story to tell. In my live act, I talk about the interrogation with the feds and how everybody turned on me on every platform," she said.

"I still can’t tweet a picture of my new puppies without getting all hateful responses in broken English.”

Griffin pulled a stunt (not unusual for comics) and it backfired on her. I'd guess that most people would have taken her initial apology at face value and she could have restarted her routine after a bit of a hiatus. Instead, she later doubled down on her concept and repudiated her apology publicly.

Well, that ticked people off.

I doubt Griffin is in any actual danger from American audiences. I mean, who wants to do time for ridding the world of a comic? I do understand why club owners just don't want the headaches of hiring her and then dealing with the hecklers.

Nobody knows but I wouldn't be surprised if CNN was already not renewing her contract for the New Year's Eve gig. Pretending to blow a gay man on a show that probably attracts family viewing was already harshly criticized.

The Hill

[gary m]

Well, somebody has to be the first dead celebrity of 2018.

She is as good a choice as any.

[Lanie]

Griffin pulled a stunt (not unusual for comics) and it backfired on her. I'd guess that most people would have taken her initial apology at face value and she could have restarted her routine after a bit of a hiatus. Instead, she later doubled down on her concept and repudiated her apology publicly.

Well, that ticked people off.

I doubt Griffin is in any actual danger from American audiences. I mean, who wants to do time for ridding the world of a comic? I do understand why club owners just don't want the headaches of hiring her and then dealing with the hecklers.

Nobody knows but I wouldn't be surprised if CNN was already not renewing her contract for the New Year's Eve gig. Pretending to blow a gay man on a show that probably attracts family viewing was already harshly criticized.

The Hill

I am sure she has received death threats and there are no full guarantees for her safety. I do think she'll more than likely be okay. Madonna isn't dead yet. I heard that Steven Colbert has been really anti-Trump on his show. He's a comedian. He's still alive.

And I do think that if Griffin had just let things cool down instead of forever acting like the victim, then this would have gotten better.

Bill Maher (another comedian) said something absolutely horrible years ago and still has a career.

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/09/5-comedians-who-got-in-trouble-for-911-comments.html

Less than a week after the World Trade Center attacks, the nerves of the general public were frayed, raw and very sensitive as we tried to recover from the horrors that played out that day. So when Bill Maher, on his former talk show Politically Incorrect, said, “We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That’s cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building? Say what you want about it…not cowardly,” the already ruffled feathers of a reeling U.S. populace got even more ruffled. Though the host issued an apology, the show never really recovered and was canceled the following June. Maher obviously came out of it with a better deal, moving to HBO where there are no advertisers to appease nor censors to skirt around.

So, you can recover from a bad fallout. I remember how sensitive people were after September 11th, so I can imagine that really hurt Maher at the time.


But since Griffin can't seem to recover (mostly due to her own whining), she needs to find another line of work. I know that sounds horrifying (No, not joking). It can be done though.

[Gingersnap]

The public is pretty forgiving if a (very) little time is involved. She shot herself in the foot.

Trump Derangement Syndrome appears to a real thing.

[Lanie]

The public is pretty forgiving if a (very) little time is involved. She shot herself in the foot.

Trump Derangement Syndrome appears to a real thing.

Psst! I have TDS.

[phillygirl]

I wonder why her haters are those that speak "broken English". Odd demographic considering what we're told about Trump supporters and Trump haters. Are they Syrian refugees?

[Newman]

I am sure she has received death threats and there are no full guarantees for her safety. I do think she'll more than likely be okay. Madonna isn't dead yet. I heard that Steven Colbert has been really anti-Trump on his show. He's a comedian. He's still alive.

Produce 'em, sez I.

Lay 'em on the table. Police reports, too.

Otherwise it's just whiny bullshit.

[Gingersnap]

I wonder why her haters are those that speak "broken English". Odd demographic considering what we're told about Trump supporters and Trump haters. Are they Syrian refugees?

I wondered abut that myself since Griffin had pretty much zero appeal to blacks or Hispanics. I assume it means incoherent whites but who knows really?

[Lanie]

Produce 'em, sez I.

Lay 'em on the table. Police reports, too.

Otherwise it's just whiny bullshit.

I realize this is going to come off as harsh and some might take it personally (and I'm sorry for that), but as zealous as some Trump supporters have been the past year or so (hitting people at rallies, hitting protesters with cars, etc), I honestly have no problem at all with believing that some of them would threaten people. That doesn't make what Griffin did right. She's lucky she didn't go to jail.

[Newman]

I realize this is going to come off as harsh and some might take it personally (and I'm sorry for that), but as zealous as some Trump supporters have been the past year or so (hitting people at rallies, hitting protesters with cars, etc), I honestly have no problem at all with believing that some of them would threaten people. That doesn't make what Griffin did right. She's lucky she didn't go to jail.

Some people are nuts.

But I won't take her word that she's received "death threats" unless she produces them.

Is there any convincing reason why she wouldn't produce them?

[Lanie]

It's occurred to me that perhaps I should provide documentation for why I believe some Trump supporters are this crazy. First of all, there are a lot of crazy people out there, especially with politics. Second, here are some links. Sorry if they're not all considered appropriate.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-supporters-threaten-union-boss-children-carrier-union-chad-jones-a7462566.html

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/cnn-employees-receiving-death-threats-harassing-messages-from-trump-supporters-report/article/2627924

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progres...f-trump-loses/

(And this one above definitely happened. You can search it further). They did threaten to hurt people if they didn't get their way with Trump winning.


I guess that's enough. The point is some of these people are nuts. And yes, I know. Some Obama supporters were nuts too. I'm not sure if it was quite to this extent, but the point is it's very possible for some of the more extreme Trump supporters to threaten Griffin.

One thing I've noticed about the conservative side is that when people challenge them on a pressing issue, their answer is to say the bad stuff isn't happening or isn't nearly as bad as believed.

[Newman]

I realize this is going to come off as harsh and some might take it personally (and I'm sorry for that), but as zealous as some Trump supporters have been the past year or so (hitting people at rallies, hitting protesters with cars, etc), I honestly have no problem at all with believing that some of them would threaten people. That doesn't make what Griffin did right. She's lucky she didn't go to jail.

This reads as if you're referring to James Field, who killed Heather Heyer at Charlottesville with his car.

He's a bad guy, according to this WaPost portrait, but "Trump supporter"?

[Newman]

It's occurred to me that perhaps I should provide documentation for why I believe some Trump supporters are this crazy. First of all, there are a lot of crazy people out there, especially with politics. Second, here are some links. Sorry if they're not all considered appropriate.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-a7462566.html

From the article:

But within an hour of Mr Trump tweeting his remarks, the union boss said he started to receive threatening phone calls.

“You better keep your eye on your kids, we’re coming for you, we know what car you drive, things like that,” he told MSNBC.

Yet he said was not phased by the harassment, telling the network he had “been doing this job for 30 years, and heard everything from people who want to burn my house down or shoot me.”

He added that he is “not concerned about it and I’m not getting anybody involved. I can deal with people that make stupid statements and move on.”

Again, we're asked to take the word of a supposed victim, here a "union boss," who gives us plenty of reason to be skeptical of his reporting.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/cn...rticle/2627924

Your assertion depends on the credibility of the Daily Beast, but more important, this was a very controversial story in which CNN threatened to dox a gif-making Reddit user:

The Daily Beast reported that the parents and wife of Andrew Kaczynski, a CNN investigative reporter behind a story describing how the network tracked down the Reddit user who created the Trump wrestling GIF, has received around 50 harassing phone calls. Trump tweeted out that GIF over the July 4th weekend.

More intimidating messages have been sent to other members of the investigatory unit of which Kaczynski is a part, the K-File. The report notes the messages likely originate from Trump supporters.

"The only thing I worry about is somebody getting hurt," a CNN insider told the Daily Beast. "These far-right trolls are really threatening people and coming after people. Somebody's gonna do something stupid at some point."

Some CNN critics have criticized Kaczynski's story because he left the door open to publishing the Reddit user's name. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, even alleged CNN may have committed extortion.

In the story, Kaczynski wrote that CNN is not publishing the name of the Reddit user, known as HanA**holeSolo's, "because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again."

"In addition, he said his statement could serve as an example to others not to do the same," Kaczynski wrote.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progres...f-trump-loses/

This was a fun piece to read, but it's not serious, Lanie. It's a far left site posting in late October 2016 about the apocalyptic consequences of Trump promising to write a book called What Happened if he lost:

Trump claims he will only accept election results if he wins.

The basket of deplorables is planning on violent confrontations if their candidate loses the 2016 election.

Last night, at the third and final presidential debate, Trump refused to commit to honoring the 2016 election results. When asked if he would accept the outcome of the election Trump said:

I will look at it at the time. I will keep you in suspense.

(And this one above definitely happened. You can search it further). They did threaten to hurt people if they didn't get their way with Trump winning.


I guess that's enough. The point is some of these people are nuts. And yes, I know. Some Obama supporters were nuts too.

James Hodgkinson? Antifa? Those, however, are violent criminals, not just deplorable people lobbing threats.

To their credit, the Progressive Secular Humanist here does post a public statement by a GOP governor that was very controversial at the time, though it's far from an actionable death threat:

Matt Bevin, the Republican governor of Kentucky, also threatened armed violence if his candidate lost. Gov. Bevin said if Trump loses and Clinton wins the election, then the bloodshed of “patriots” and “tyrants” may be necessary.

I'm not sure if it was quite to this extent, but the point is it's very possible for some of the more extreme Trump supporters to threaten Griffin.

Yes, it's possible. And plenty of people who believe it is happening are claiming it has happened to them, personally.

They know other believers will take their word for it. In that respect I think they have a lot in common with the Muslim women who recently and falsely claimed Trump supporters were harassing them.

So if it has happened, show your work, so to speak. As they say in Missouri, Show me, Kathy.

One thing I've noticed about the conservative side is that when people challenge them on a pressing issue, their answer is to say the bad stuff isn't happening or isn't nearly as bad as believed.

Well, Lanie, consider the closing sentence of this last piece:

Bottom line: Trump and his supporters are dangerous, and pose a real threat to the nation.

They may truly believe that. I'm among those who don't, and who say the bad stuff isn't nearly as bad as believed.

[Newman]

this one goes out to Kathy Griffin!

A Brenda Lee chestnut:

[Celeste Chalfonte]

A Brenda Lee chestnut:

Not her finest work. But on point, sort of.