Kathy GriffinVerified account

B) I am in a position of tremendous privilege. I have access to resources that allowed me to deal with this in a way others who aren't as privileged couldn't have. And that's exactly why I'm speaking out, I don't want this to happen to someone who doesn't have my resources.

D) So the mask photo was meant to be a play on those sexist comments about Megyn.."blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.." FYI, I am no Megyn Kelly fan, she has made horrible racist remarks, but there's no doubt Trump's comments about her were sexist

E) The photo shoot for the Trump mask photo was actually for new photographs for my tour/headshots etc. We decided to do the Trump mask shot at the last minute. My assistant went out and bought a $10 dollar halloween mask and ketchup...that's it. This wasn't some elaborate setup

F) Did I know the photo would cause controversy? Of course..but I thought it would be a one or two day thing. My point was to do something provocative in an attempt to keep the spotlight shining on his sexism. In my mind that's the role that comics are supposed to play...

G) Our job is to shine a bright light on issues people are afraid to talk about, speak truth to power, push boundaries, take risks, and by being provocative...force people to pay attention to important issues. And yes..we often do that through humor but provocation is also a tool

H) Trump's sexism during the campaign and before he ran for office were no secret, but by May last year I was nervous that all of the Russia stuff and the chaos Trump was causing was taking the focus off what his misogyny. I felt it was important to make a big bold statement

I) Two things in hindsight. The point was sending a message about his sexism "blood out of her eyes..." - not about an image of a head (or in this case a mask), so I would have probably done a blowup doll instead of a mask. That wouldn't have pleased Trump but wouldn't have

J) Allowed the message I was pushing for to get totally co-opted. The second thing I would have done was handle the release differently. The photographer asked me when he should put it out and I told him to do it when he felt best. Not releasing the image with context

L) As most of you know when TMZ put up the photo the sh*t hit the fan. Death threats started flowing in...critical tweets from Democrats/progressives...nasty tweets from Republicans. The night the photo came out I got an urgent call from Rosie O'Donnell.

M) First thing Rosie said to me was "what if Daniel Pearl's mother sees this?" Call me naive, but I had not thought of that connection. Rosie told me I should delete the photo/video and apologize. For the first time in my career as a comic, that's what I did.

N) My video apology, specifically when I said "I’m just now seeing the reaction to these images..." was in reference to anyone who has dealt with what Daniel Pearl's family did. After I posted the apology, things did start to calm down..until the next morning..

P) After my apology video, things started to calm down..but the next morning...Trump tweeted this which started a process I was completely naive to which I like to call the Trump wood chipper.https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/869874798087819264?lang=en …

Q) I learned that day the power of the presidency and the power of the Trump machine. Immediately the death threats started pouring in again but more violent and serious than the previous night. The news networks broke into their programming to put his tweet up.

R) The way I like to look at it is Trump is the most powerful news director and campaign director. A tweet from Obama was just a message..a tweet from Trump is an order to his millions of followers and the news media. And that day I was the target of that order.

S) People will say to me "well you started it, he was just responding.." Ok...I was a comic/citizen responding to the President. I was punching up...he decided to punch down and use his following to go after me. Was that appropriate use of presidential power? I don't think so.

U) I have the first amendment right to put out these images. People may not come to my shows, they may not buy my books, but I have the right. It was just plain wrong for the President of the United States to use his power to come after me or anyone else he is offended by.

V) No other president in modern times has used his power this way and that's why I keep speaking out about this. I don't want this to happen to others and while it doesn't always make for uplifting interviews - I'm not going to stop shining a bright light on this.

W) By this point with POTUS and FLOTUS weighing in the death threats were coming in at a rate we couldn't keep up with. The FBI told me that there were real credible threats against my life. I had to hire security, people were calling my poor 97-year-old mom threatening her.

X) Again, after I posted that apology video things were calming down, Trump reignited all of it. It was terrifying. In the midst of all this, bomb threats were being called into my shows that had already been scheduled. I later learned the bomb threats were robo calls.

Y) Venues started to cancel my shows. I don't blame them, they were getting bomb threats and threats from donors about pulling funding. I bring this up though to point out a key fact...my shows weren't cancelled because ticket holders..my fans..wanted their money back.

Z) The shows were cancelled because the President of the United States and his family were offended by an image I released and decided to unleash an army on me. That's what's not right..that's what I object to. I'm an adult, I can deal with fallout..I've dealt with it before..

BB) This led to the perception that there was a movement against me, not just of Trump supporters but that everyone was against me. People don't take the time, and I don't blame them, to learn and realize my show cancellations were because of organized/fake bomb threats.

CC) I could sell a lot more tour tickets if I just stopped talking about all of this and focused on telling jokes about the Kardashians. But I feel a responsibility to keep talking about this abuse of power because one day it's not going to be a famous comic that deals with this

DD) It's going to be your daughter or son, your sister or brother, who says something that the president, his family, and their administration find offensive and will have their lives ruined.