CNN has booted Kathy Griffin from its New Year’s Eve coverage for her disturbing photoshoot holding up a faux severed and bloody head of President Trump.
The network said in a statement Wednesday, “CNN has terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year’s Eve program.”
Griffin has co-hosted CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live” broadcast with Anderson Cooper since 2007.
After the controversial image of Griffin went viral Tuesday, sparking widespread backlash on both the right and left, Cooper tweeted, “For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper also denounced the imagery on air.
Griffin later apologized for the disturbing photo in a Twitter video Tuesday night, saying, “I went way too far. I made a mistake and I was wrong.”
Meanwhile, Trump on Wednesday blasted Griffin for the disturbing stunt.
“Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!” President Trump tweeted at about 7:30 a.m.
First lady Melania Trump said in a statement Wednesday, “As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing.”
“When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it,” the statement continued.