Kathy Griffin Says She Was 'Erased' Not 'Canceled' After Donald Trump Photo Scandal

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Kathy Griffin is speaking out about the fallout from her photoshoot involving a bloodied replica of former President Donald Trump's head.

Speaking with The New York Times, the comedian, 61, said the outrage from the 2017 incident caused her to be ousted from Hollywood and her life has changed since. The photo showed Griffin with a mask of Trump's severed head covered in ketchup.

"I wasn't canceled," Griffin said. "I was erased."

Former President Donald Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. reacted to Griffin's viral photo as did Chelsea Clinton and Griffin's former friend Anderson Cooper.

"​​I honestly never had a desire to make enemies," Griffin shared. "But I keep making enemies."

Prior to the scandal, she was performing several stand-up shows and executive produced her own show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, which aired on Bravo from 2005-2010.

After the scandal, the actress was fired from her annual New Year's Eve co-host job for CNN with Cooper and 25 theaters canceled her upcoming shows.

RELATED: Kathy Griffin Makes NSFW Joke About the Lung-Shaped Flowers She Received from Sia

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Griffin also said she received thousands of death threats, including some left on her mother's answering machine and others called into her sister Joyce's hospital room. The star was also investigated by the Secret Service and heard from the Department of Justice, according to The New York Times.

Producer Judd Apatow told the publication it's "seriously out of whack that she is struggling to get things back on the rails because something went too far in a photo."

RELATED: Kathy Griffin Says She's Officially Cancer Free: 'I Had Half of My Left Lung Removed'

Griffin returned to television for the first time in five years when she was cast in season 5 of HBO Max's Search Party as a conspiracy theorist named Liquorice Montague for four episodes. Shortly after filming the part, Griffin underwent surgery for lung cancer treatment.

She also toured in 17 countries and released her own documentary, Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story, which examines the fallout from the Trump photo scandal.

Last November, Griffin made an appearance on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live to announce that she was cancer free.