Kathy Griffin was questioned by Secret Service agents for more than an hour, according to reports, as part of an ongoing investigation over photos of the comedian holding a prop designed to look like Donald Trump’s bloody, severed head.
The photos in question, taken by celebrity photographer Tyler Shields, drew widespread condemnation, leading Griffin to apologize, call the photo shoot a “mistake”, and admit that she had crossed the line. She has since been fired from CNN and reportedly received death threats over the stunt. Her criminal lawyer has characterized the case as a free speech issue. “She basically exercised her First Amendment rights to tell a joke,” he said at a news conference in June. “When you look at everything in the media, all the times entertainers make videos or express themselves in other ways, you’ve never seen an entertainer, let alone a comedian, be subject to a criminal investigation.”
And yet Griffin is hardly the first celebrity to come under federal scrutiny: Her investigation is reminiscent of that of Ted Nugent, who was interviewed by the Secret Service in 2012 over a series of comments made during an NRA meeting, including saying the president should “suck on my machine gun” and suggesting that “if Barack Obama becomes the next president in November, again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.” Nugent was ultimately not prosecuted and was Trump’s guest at the White House in April.
No word yet on whether Johnny Depp, who recently joked about assassinating Trump, will also face an investigation of his own.
