Kathy Griffin Broke Down Shedding Tears: 'I made a horrible, horrible call … he broke me'

Kathy Griffin broke down in tears during a news conference the comedian and her lawyers held Friday to discuss the fallout from the comedian posing with a likeness of President Donald Trump’s severed head.

Griffin addressed the backlash that followed the photo being published on Tuesday, telling reporters her career is over after she says the Trump family systematically "mobilized their armies" against her.











"I'm going to be honest," she said through tears. "He broke me, he broke me, he broke me."


This is the first time Griffin has spoken out since she was relieved of her duties Wednesday as CNN’s New Year’s Eve host. When asked by a reporter if she has heard from her New Year’s Eve co-host Anderson Cooper, she shook her head while holding back tears.

"It's hurtful to me," Griffin said. "There's a bunch of old white guys trying to silence me and I'm just here to say that it's wrong."

She did not mention being dumped as Squatty Potty's celebrity spokesperson.

Griffin, 56, said she stands by the apology she issued hours after the photo first broke Tuesday saying she "feel[s] horrible" people took the photo as a threat of violence. She said she plans to continue to make fun of the president as is her First Amendment right, her lawyer, civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom reiterated at Friday’s press conference.


"I made a horrible, horrible call," she said. "Trust me, if I could redo the whole thing I'd have a blow up doll and no ketchup."

She also repeated her claim that the video was a parody, meant as a pointed comeback to Trump's remark last summer that journalist Megyn Kelly had "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of wherever."
The comedian confirmed she has been contacted by the Secret Service and said she fears being arrested.

The outcry against the comedian continues to grow with at least four venues announcing that they had canceled her performances. Venues in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania have canceled shows. The Community Arts Theater in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, posted on its website that the show had been dropped "due to the recent controversy surrounding Kathy Griffin and the concern for the safety and security of our patrons and staff."


"The message is clear," Bloom stated. "Criticize the president lose your job and that's what happened to Kathy...it stops here, it stops now."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Kathy Griffin WeighS in On Being Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Neighbors (VIDEO)

Oh, the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Kathy Griffin recently moved next door to Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's mansion in Los Angeles' Hidden Hills gated community, and now she's dishing on what it's like to be neighbors with the couple.

The Kathy Griffin's Celebrity Run-Ins author, 56, opened up about her new friends during an interview with Access Hollywood on Monday, November 28, quipping that she's their new caretaker and is "the most trustworthy person in their lives that would never say anything."

"It is so funny to me that my act is 15 feet away from me," Griffin joked. "We are right next door, and I don't know if the karma is worse for them or me, but I have to admit that they're fantastic neighbors. They don't make noise, they have a ton of security … they're really fantastic neighbors!"

The comedian revealed that the stars recently invited her over to welcome her to the neighborhood. "She's nice. I went over there a couple of weeks ago," Griffin explained of Kardashian. "I don't want them to feel weird that, like, obnoxious Kathy Griffin is next to them."

Griffin then joked that she didn't bring over a gift because "they're loaded" and "printing money in the basement" of their home. She added, "I will say that the thing I appreciated is [that] as we walked out — and [Kim] couldn't have been any nicer — we had a nice chat, and then I remembered. I go, 'Hey, don't get used to this, honey. We had a nice little visit, but you're not out of the act.' And she's like, 'I know, I know.'"

The author also revealed that she once spent a weekend with her late pal Joan Rivers, Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

"It was incredible!" she recounted of the royal visit. "They loved [Joan]. The joke of the weekend was, 'Look out, Camilla, because Joan's here and Chuck's got a little sparkle in his eye.'" WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:

Kathy Griffin Talks About Her Quarrels With Ellen DeGeneres: She Needs to ‘Support Women’

Kathy Griffin champions female empowerment — and disassociates with those who seemingly do not. 

Case in point: Ellen DeGeneres. In her new book, Kathy Griffin’s Celebrity Run-Ins: My A–Z Index, the two-time Emmy winner, 56, chronicles her encounters with more than 125 stars, but she admits there is one famous face she’s afraid to name. (Wink, wink: It’s 58-year-old DeGeneres.)

From left: Kathy Griffin and Ellen DeGeneres Santiago Felipe/Getty Images; Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

“I’m almost positive a certain beloved daytime talk show host once had me kicked out of a backstage dressing room at the Emmy Awards,” writes the comedian. “I can’t prove it, but this person, who has short blonde hair, has a mean streak that all of Hollywood knows about.”

So what’s the real deal? Griffin reveals exclusively to IPRESSTV the reasoning behind their beef. During a 2007 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, “Ellen did a monologue about how mean I am,” Griffin tells IPRESSTV. “I was in the dressing room like, ’S--t! You’re another woman comic, c’mon!’”

(In March of that year, DeGeneres bashed Griffin in an interview with Wmagazine. “I know she had a big thing about wanting to be on the show, and we didn’t book her,” she said. "She did a whole thing that I banned her from the show. I didn’t ban her from the show, because first you have to be on the show to be banned.")

As far as Griffin is concerned, they should be banding together. “I don’t know if Ellen gets that when I talk about women, I’m joking,”  says the author, who is dating marketing exec Randy Bick, 38. “I just feel really strongly about women supporting each other, especially women over 50 and women in comedy, because the people who still make decisions are still middle-aged white guys. We have to be better at not turning on each other.”

Don’t get her wrong, though. Griffin says she has “immense respect” for the 29-time Daytime Emmy award winner. “How could I not? Go, girl!” she adds. “I'm just saying that we would all be better served if we all just really be there for each other the way the dudes are. When you think about the guys who are in my age group, or even guys I started out with, like Kevin James and Ray Romano. They all help each other and hook each other up.”

The comedian’s new book, Kathy Griffin’s Celebrity Run-Ins: My A–Z Index, is on shelves now!