(CNSNews.com) - Almost unrecognizable without make-up, the not-so-funny comedian Kathy Griffin apologized Tuesday night for a shocking photograph of her holding the bloody head of Donald Trump.
The fake beheading was part of a photo shoot, recorded on video by photographer Tyler Shields.
Griffin apologized in a video posted on Twitter, but only after seeing the furious backlash to her stunt.
I sincerely apologize. I am just now seeing the reaction to these images.
I’m a comic. I crossed the line I moved the line then I crossed it. I went way too far.
The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people. It wasn’t funny, I get it. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career. I will continue. I ask your forgiveness.
Griffin said she would ask the photographer to take down the image. “I went too far. I made a mistake. And I was wrong.”
President Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning that Griffin "should be ashamed of herself." He said his children, especially 11-year-old Barron, "are having a hard time with this. Sick!"
As part of the photo shoot, Griffin warns viewers that she has “fake blood” on her hands.
“I won’t give away what we are doing, but Tyler and I are not afraid to do images that make noise,” she says.
Griffin then takes a dripping head out of a bowl, holds it up for the camera, and eventually obeys the photographer’s command to drop it.
Griffin co-hosts CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast with Anderson Cooper, who – along with the cable network – expressed disgust:
CNN said it considered Griffin’s stunt “disgusting and offensive,” but in a statement, the cable network said it was “pleased to see she has apologized and asked that the photos be taken down.”
CNN said it is “evaluating” Griffin’s role in its New Year’s Eve broadcast “and have made no decisions at this point.”
Anderson Cooper, a longtime friend of Griffin, tweeted: “For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate.”