After initially defending a picture from her photo shoot with controversial celebrity photographer Tyler Shields, Kathy Griffin has issued a public apology for the image. The photo, which was originally published by TMZ, depicted the comedian with a stoic face holding a bloody head resembling President Trump. It was a piece of shock performance art that many on social media — including fans, celebrities, and politicians on both sides of the aisle — were decidedly not laughing at.
“I sincerely apologize,†Griffin said in a video posted on Twitter. “I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people, it wasn’t funny, I get it.†She added that she was taking down her posts of the image and that she was asking Shields to do the same.
Earlier in the afternoon, Griffin shared the picture on her own social-media account and offered the caption “There was blood coming out of his eyes, blood coming out of his … wherever,†a reference to Trump’s comments about Megyn Kelly during campaign season. She also praised Shields, a photographer who previously incited controversy with his celebrity photo shoots, including one with Glee’s Heather Morris that seemed to glamorize domestic violence and another of Lindsay Lohan with a gun in her mouth.
Update May 31: Trump has weighed in on the image, telling Griffin she should be ashamed of herself.