It was the photo that shocked the world.
In 2017, comic actress Kathy Griffin shared a snapshot of her holding a bloodied Donald Trump head aloft, ISIS style.
The reaction was instantaneous, and almost uniformly bad.
And WORSE!
D-Lister Kathy Griffin featured a HEADLESS Trump! pic.twitter.com/FBPkpIXKpf
— Montgomery Granger (@mjgranger1) February 9, 2026
Griffin apparently didn’t expect the universal backlash. She apologized and watched her self-described “D-list” career collapse. Cancel Culture hadn’t fully blossomed yet, but she was effectively canceled.
Comedy clubs turned her away. So did CNN. And understandably so.
That image was ghoulish, slicing through ideological barriers in ways that united an often fractured culture. Any threats against a U.S. president, real or imagined, should be off-limits.
We could all agree on that, at least, at that moment.
A scrambling Griffin later took back her apology, and she spent the next few years rebuilding a shattered career. She even participated in a 2019 documentary chronicling the extreme fallout.
A lot has changed since 2017.
Fantasizing about President Donald Trump’s death quickly became normalized by Hollywood entertainers.
- Snoop Dogg
- Charlie Sheen
- Josh Whedon
- Johnny Depp
- Madonna
It’s now acceptable to say the Butler, Pa. assassination attempt on the former (and future) President in 2024 didn’t happen. Just ask John Cleese, John Leguizamo and Rosie O’Donnell.
Had Griffin shared that ghastly Trump visual in 2026, chances are the culture at large would collectively shrug. Not a single Democratic politician, perhaps save Sen. John Fetterman, would decry the imagery.
Heck, Griffin might see a career boost as a result.
The comic all but said as much in a new interview, describing herself as “proud” to have shared the image.
“Oh, I think I’m uncanceled, which is a miracle to me, because I didn’t think I would ever be uncanceled …People still define me by it. Now, I really own it, and I absolutely lean into it, because I was right, and I was ahead of my time.” [emphasis added]
She’s not wrong about the last part, but there’s a catch.
RELATED: GROWING LIST OF STARS BROKEN BY TRUMP
Had any entertainer, either in 2017 or last week, shared a similar photo featuring, say, Gov. Gavin Newsom or President Joe Biden, the fallout would be significant.
Gigs canceled. Deals unstruck. Roles rescinded. Any possible comeback would take years to happen, assuming it ever did.
Can you see the (D)ifference?
Griffin shouldn’t be permanently canceled for that awful image. It’s up to audiences whether her live act is worth their hard-earned dollars. She did pay a stiff price for her cruelty. And, like disgraced comic Louis CK, it’s up to patrons whether to support her work or not.
It’s still a sorry statement that her incendiary act is no longer considered beyond the pale. It’s the new, twisted normal.
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