Kathy Griffin says she’s rewriting the narrative nearly a decade after the photo that detonated her career.
The comedian is now declaring herself “uncanceled” following the firestorm over her 2017 image holding a mock severed head resembling President Donald Trump — a stunt that triggered intense backlash, cost her jobs, and sparked a federal investigation.
“I think I’m uncanceled, which feels like a miracle,” Griffin told WUSF. “After seven years without work, I finally got back on tour and even created a special, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the PTSD List, about the experience.”
At the time the photo was released in May 2017, just months into Trump’s presidency, outrage was immediate. CNN cut ties with Griffin, ending her long-running New Year’s Eve hosting role alongside Anderson Cooper. Sponsors distanced themselves. The Secret Service opened an investigation, though Griffin was later cleared of wrongdoing.
Now, she says she sees the moment differently.
“I’ve known Donald since the ’90s and worked with him,” Griffin said. “It’s bizarre that he singled me out, especially since he always acted intimidated by me in person.”
The image, shot by photographer Tyler Shields, was styled in a way critics said evoked extremist propaganda. Griffin quickly issued a public apology at the time, admitting she had “crossed a line” and that the image was “deeply disturbing.”
Years later, however, Griffin appears to be reframing the controversy as a turning point rather than a career-ending mistake. With touring work back on her calendar and a new special under her belt, she’s leaning into the resilience narrative — even if the image still defines her in the public eye.
Whether audiences have fully forgiven her is another question. But Griffin is betting that time — and persistence — have shifted the tide.
