Anaya Nolan
In 2017, comedian Kathy Griffin posted a picture of herself holding a mask styled to look like the severed, bloody head of then U.S. President Donald Trump. The image sparked controversy and led to questions about whether Griffin had broken the law. While some called for her arrest, legal experts argued that her speech was protected under the First Amendment, as it did not constitute a true threat that would put a reasonable person in fear for their life. Despite this, Griffin faced significant backlash, including being fired from her role at CNN and losing tour dates and sponsorships.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Protected under the First Amendment | Yes |
| Reasoning | People are allowed to wish the president dead, up to the point they express a real intent to harm him. To threaten someone, you need words that encourage some sort of action, and those words are absent in Griffin's photo. |
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What You'll Learn
Did Kathy Griffin's Trump photo constitute a true threat?
In May 2017, Kathy Griffin posted a video of herself holding a mask styled to look like the severed, bloody head of then US President Donald Trump. The video was taken down and Griffin apologised, saying she went too far. Despite this, she faced a Secret Service investigation for conspiracy to murder the president.
So, did Griffin's photo constitute a true threat? According to a law professor from the University of Minnesota, for Griffin's speech to be "unprotected" by the First Amendment, it would have to be a true threat, and that threat would have to put a reasonable person in fear for their life. Stanford Law professor Nathaniel Persily stated that "people are allowed to wish the president dead", up to the point that they express a real intent to harm him. He added that "to threaten someone you need words that encourage some sort of action", and those words were absent from Griffin's photo.
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Did the photo encourage action against Trump?
In May 2017, Kathy Griffin posted a video of herself holding a mask styled to look like the severed, bloody head of then U.S. President Donald Trump. The image was interpreted as a threat of violence against Trump, and Griffin was criticised for it. She was dropped by Squatty Potty as a spokesperson and fired from CNN's New Year's Eve broadcast with Anderson Cooper. All of her remaining scheduled tour dates were also cancelled.
In the aftermath of the incident, Griffin said that the Trump family was "trying to ruin my life forever". She also said that she was under a federal investigation by the Justice Department for two months and was on the No Fly List during that time. She was also put on the Interpol list and was detained at every airport during her Laugh Your Head Off World Tour.
In August 2017, Griffin talked about the photo during an interview on Australian television, saying, "Stop acting like my little picture is more important than talking about the actual atrocities that the president of the United States is committing". In November 2017, she appeared on Skavlan, where she retracted her apology, saying, "I take that apology back by the way. I take it back big time". She said she had received a lot of bad advice at the time.
In 2019, Griffin released a concert film, A Hell of a Story, based on the backlash she received for the Trump photo controversy.
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Did Griffin intend to harm Trump?
In May 2017, Kathy Griffin posted a video of herself holding a mask styled to look like the severed, bloody head of then US President Donald Trump. The image was taken during a session with photographer Tyler Shields, who is known for producing shocking imagery.
While Griffin's actions were protected under the First Amendment, the image sparked widespread backlash and a Secret Service investigation for conspiracy to murder the president.
It is unclear whether Griffin intended to harm Trump. However, she has faced significant backlash and professional repercussions for her actions, including being dropped as a spokesperson by Squatty Potty and fired from CNN's New Year's Eve broadcast with Anderson Cooper. All of her remaining scheduled tour dates were also canceled by their venues.
In the aftermath of the incident, Griffin stated that she never imagined that the photo could be misinterpreted as a threat of violence against Trump and that she had not intended to encourage any sort of action against him. She also emphasized that she had known Trump personally for 30 years and that he had been nice to her friend, the late Joan Rivers.
Despite her explanations and apologies, the incident had a lasting impact on Griffin's career and public image. She has since argued that she "permanently" lost at least one-third of her audience as a result.
While some may view Griffin's actions as a harmless joke or an exercise of her First Amendment rights, others may perceive them as insensitive, disrespectful, or even crossing the line into inciting violence. Ultimately, the interpretation of Griffin's intentions is subjective and depends on the perspective of the individual.
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Did Griffin break the law?
In 2017, comedian Kathy Griffin posted a video of herself holding a mask styled to look like the severed, bloody head of then U.S. President Donald Trump. The video was posted on her Instagram and Twitter accounts, accompanied by the caption: "I caption this 'there was blood coming out of his eyes, blood coming out of his... wherever'", referencing a comment Trump had made about Megyn Kelly.
The image sparked controversy and outrage, with many people calling for her arrest and interpreting the image as an implied threat against the president. In the wake of the backlash, Griffin removed the image and issued a public apology, stating that she had gone too far. She also faced a Secret Service investigation for conspiracy to murder the president, and was dropped by several sponsors and venues.
Despite the intense backlash, it is unclear whether Griffin broke any laws with her actions. Free speech is protected under the First Amendment, and for speech to be considered "unprotected", it would have to be interpreted as a true threat that puts a reasonable person in fear for their life. According to legal experts, people are allowed to wish the president dead, as long as they do not express a real intent to harm or threaten them. In Griffin's case, the absence of explicit words encouraging violence or threatening Trump led some legal scholars to conclude that her actions were protected speech.
However, others may argue that the graphic nature of the image and its potential to incite violence could be grounds for legal repercussions. Nonetheless, as of the time of writing, there is no public information indicating that Griffin was charged or convicted of any crime related to the incident.
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What was the public reaction to the photo?
The public reaction to the photo of Kathy Griffin holding a mask styled as Donald Trump's severed head was largely negative. Many people felt that Griffin should be arrested for what they saw as an implied threat against the President of the United States. She faced backlash and lost at least one-third of her audience as a result. All of her remaining tour dates were cancelled by their venues, and she was fired from her role in CNN's New Year's Eve broadcast with Anderson Cooper.
Some people, including law professors Heidi Kitrosser and Nathaniel Persily, defended Griffin, stating that her speech was protected under the First Amendment. Kitrosser and Persily argued that for the speech to be "unprotected", it would have to be a true threat that would put a reasonable person in fear for their life. They claimed that people are allowed to wish the president dead, as long as they do not express a real intent to harm them or threaten them with words that encourage some sort of action.
In response to the backlash, Griffin addressed the controversy head-on in her "Laugh Your Head Off" comedy tour and continued to provoke reactions with her boundary-pushing comedy. She also later retracted her apology for the photo, stating that she had received a lot of bad advice at the time.
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Frequently asked questions
While Kathy Griffin's decision to post a picture of her holding a fake severed head that resembled President Trump was highly controversial, it is protected under the First Amendment as freedom of speech. According to legal experts, for it to be considered a "true threat," the speech would have to encourage or imply an intent to cause harm, which was not present in Griffin's photo.
Despite not breaking any laws, Kathy Griffin faced significant backlash for her actions. She was dropped by Squatty Potty as a spokesperson and fired from CNN's New Year's Eve broadcast, where she had co-hosted with Anderson Cooper since 2009. All of her remaining tour dates were canceled, and she was placed on the No-Fly List, which prevented her from traveling. Griffin also claimed that she "permanently" lost at least one-third of her audience as a result of the controversy.
Initially, Kathy Griffin apologized for posting the image, saying that she went too far, and begged for forgiveness. However, in November 2017, she retracted her apology during an interview on Skavlan. She also addressed the backlash she received in her 2019 concert film "A Hell of a Story."
