Kathy Griffin is no longer under federal investigation following a firestorm of controversy surrounding a photo of her holding a severed head bearing resemblance to President Donald Trump.
Back in May, Griffin caused a huge stir online when TMZ obtained a gory photo showing Griffin looking straight at the camera as she held a fake severed head that looked like Trump in her hand. The gruesome photo, taken photographer Tyler Shields, shocked liberals and conservatives alike. The backlash was so aggressive that CNN dropped Griffin from the network's annual New Year's Eve program. "CNN has terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year's Eve program," CNN's PR team tweeted the day after the photo went viral.
Griffin confirmed Friday on Twitter that the federal investigation into the photo is now closed. “TODAY. The @AP has to clarify. I am no longer under federal investigation,” the comedian, 56, wrote. “The case is closed, I have been completely exonerated. Finally.”
Griffin was reportedly interviewed by the Secret Service after the photos were released. "Kathy Griffin has been interviewed by the Secret Service, in-person, for over an hour," tweeted New York Magazine reporter Yashar Ali on July 3. "Investigation is still not closed."
"We're going to fully cooperate with the Secret Service in their investigation," Dmitry Gorin, Griffin's lawyer, said of the investigation at the time. "She basically exercised her First Amendment rights to tell a joke. When you look at everything in the media, all the times entertainers make videos or express themselves in other ways, you've seen an entertainer, let alone a comedian, be subject to a criminal investigation."
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