Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper aren’t friends anymore after Trump photo scandal
By Ross Semple
Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper had one of our favourite celebrity friendships. They were like a double act, with Kathy’s zany antics and inappropriate jokes always managing to fluster serious news anchor Anderson.
Unfortunately, the friendship is over, as Kathy reveals that Anderson did not reach out to her for months following the scandal after she posted a picture of herself holding a blood-covered severed head made to look like Donald Trump.
In a revealing interview with The Cut, Kathy reveals what happened in the aftermath of her sharing the image, and subsequently apologising and staging a press conference. Trump tweeted about the situation, mentioning Kathy directly, and Kathy lost her job hosting CNN’s New Year coverage alongside Cooper as well as multiple live gigs amounting to around $1 million in lost earnings.
Many celebrities were critical of Griffin at the time, with Cooper himself tweeting: “For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate.” While Griffin recognises that her friend was in a difficult position considering his job as a journalist, she said that she was disappointed that she did not receive a text or phone call before the tweet went out.
In fact, Cooper did not reach out to her at all. Four of his CNN colleagues did, but he did not contact Kathy himself until August 10, months after the controversy ignited. Despite this, Anderson made it seem like he was still friends with Kathy in a July episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. He said: “Yeah, we’re still friends, and look I said what I said about — I didn’t think what she said was appropriate, but I wish her the best and I hope she bounces back.”
Kathy admitted that she was hurt by this, especially as she had not heard from him. When he did reach out earlier this month via text message, Kathy replied by telling him that their friendship was over. A source close to Anderson told The Cut that the anchor was “shocked and upset by the photo, and while he was not ready to talk to her personally about it, he still considered her to be a friend, and was publicly supportive when asked about the controversy.”
After a few months away from the limelight, Kathy is about to embark on her ‘Laugh Your Head Off’ world tour, which includes dates in the UK.
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