How Kathy Griffin ruined her own career via Social Media:
Kathy Griffin is just one of the many public personalities who used their influence on social media inappropriately and swiftly learned there are more appropriate ways to make your opinions known.
Who is Kathy Griffin?
According to Wikipedia: “Kathleen Mary ‘Kathy’ Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American actress, stand-up comedian and television writer and producer. She is also an LGBT rights advocate. She hosted her own talk show, Kathy. From 2007 until 2016, she presented the New Year's Eve celebrations from New York City for CNN along with Anderson Cooper.” (Wikipedia, 2023).
What incident led to Kathy Griffin’s demise?
On May 30th, 2017 Kathy Griffin posted a photograph of herself wearing a blue blouse; standing in front of a blank white background; holding a likeness of, then sitting President, Donald Trump’s decapitated and bloody head; being held up in the air by her right arm by his signature wild orange hair. The photograph was eerily reminiscent of the beheadings often committed by terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab. See the photo below:
Important points to understand:
The United Stated is a federal constitutional republic. This affords our citizens many rights not enjoyed by citizens of other countries. The First Amendment to our Constitution states the following: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (U.S. Const., First Amendment). The important take away from the First Amendment with regards to the Kathy Griffin incident is that in the United States, unlike in other countries such as China and Cuba, Griffin has the freedom of speech. She can, with certain exceptions, say and express herself in almost any way she wants. She did just that. She made a statement with the photograph she posted. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. But did she pass the social media etiquette test? Clearly, the answer to that question is NO. Because common sense is a dwindling trait with many people today, there are a multitude of websites to help guide you with many of today’s common tasks. One website posting that is relevant to the Kathy Griffin incident is titled “The Ultimate Social Media Etiquette Handbook” (https://www.techipedia.com/2008/social-media-etiquette-handbook/). Its title says it all. If you use social media in anyway form or fashion, reading and understanding what is posted on this wonderful website should help you avoid 99.9% of social media pitfalls. Griffin violated several points of “The Ultimate Social Media Etiquette Handbook” and she did it in a shocking way. Was her goal to be shocking? The likely answer is yes. Did she anticipate the scope of the fall out she would ultimately receive? That answer is, probably not.
Reactions:
The internet and news outlets immediately condemned Griffin for her inappropriate post. Articles condemning her post were released the same day she released her photograph and continued for some time after. I could not find any posts that condemned her for being anti-Trump, which is good because it shows a support for the freedom of speech. All of the condemnation was geared toward how she went about doing it. Adherence to social media etiquette could have saved her career while allowing her distaste for Trump to be known. In fact, according to The Hollywood Reporter an internet new website, “CNN Cut[s] Ties With Kathy Griffin on [the] ‘New Year’s Eve’ Show After Trump Photo Stunt.” They also published the following: “Griffin apologized for the images, despite initially defending them. ‘I sincerely apologize,’ she said in a video on Twitter. ‘I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people, it wasn’t funny, I get it.’ She added, begging for everyone’s forgiveness, that she will ask the photographer to take down the image.” (Hollywood Reporter, 2017). President Trump understandably reacted with the following on his Twitter account: “Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11-year-old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!” (Hollywood Reporter, 2017). First Lady Melania Trump reacted with the following: “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.” She added that as a mother, wife and “a human being,” the photo is “very disturbing.” (Hollywood Reporter, 2017). And lastly one last quote from The Hollywood Reporter displays the effect the social media post had on her sources of income and it states: Squatty Potty, a Utah-based bathroom products company, also suspended its ad campaign featuring Griffin “to demonstrate our commitment to a culture of decency, civility, and tolerance.” CEO Bobby Edwards said in a statement Tuesday that the photo “was deeply inappropriate and runs contrary to the core values our company stands for.” (Hollywood Reporter, 2017).
Did she learn her lesson?
Do you remember my assertion that common sense is a dwindling trait with many people today? Well consider this, Kathy Griffin re-posted her controversial decapitation photograph on Twitter in November of 2020. Just three years later. (See The Wrap’s Article titled: Kathy Griffin Re-Posts Photo of Fake, Bloody Trump Head, https://www.thewrap.com/kathy-griffin-re-posts-photo-of-fake-bloody-trump-head) Did it pass the social media etiquette test this time? The answer is certainly NO. Did the photograph have the same impact on her career as it did the first time? My opinion is no or at least not in the same way. The original post damaged her career in such a spectacular fashion that she will likely never have the same impact on any issue that she once had. Social Media Etiquette is clearly an important factor to consider when using any social media platform. If I were a personal friend of Kathy Griffin I would have strongly advised against this type of post and guided Kathy to another way of expressing her distaste of Donald Trump. She not only harmed herself with this post but she killed the career she once had when all she had to do was to take a step back, think about how others would receive her photographic statement, and maybe, review some free guidance on Social Media Etiquette.
References:
Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, April 13). Kathy Griffin. Wikipedia. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Griffin
Huff, L. (2017, May 31). CNN cuts ties with Kathy Griffin on 'New Year's Eve' show after Trump Photo Stunt. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from
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