Kathy Griffin was hit with death threats, “dumped” by the showbiz industry and had to shell out $1 million in legal fees over her infamous Donald Trump severed head gag.

Kathy Griffin was hit with death threats, “dumped” by the showbiz industry and had to shell out $1 million in legal fees over her infamous Donald Trump severed head gag

Kathy Griffin was hit with death threats, “dumped” by the showbiz industry and had to shell out $1 million in legal fees over her infamous Donald Trump severed head gag

The comic, 63, posted an image of herself in 2017 of her holding an effigy of the 77-year-old former ‘Apprentice’ judge’s face dripping with what appeared to be fake blood – leading to her being fired by CNN and having stand-up shows axed after it provoked a furious reaction from Trump supporters.

Kathy – who also went through the pain of filing from divorce from her husband Randy Bick in January – has now told Closer about the fallout over the row: “My industry dumped me. I was in the middle of a 50-city tour when that happened. Then, 25 cities all pulled out because of threats.

“The government started the official investigation against me, and my lawyers said, ‘This is a serious thing. They’re serious about charging you with conspiracy.’

“I spent a million dollars in lawyer fees. After that, I was stopped at every airport in the US and overseas.

“They take your phone, they take your passport. They wanted to end my career.”

She added about death threats being sent to her home: “The stuff that came to my house! The FBI would show up and go, ‘Miss Griffin, there is a credible threat against you. We have a duty to warn you.’

“I mean, that was my life. I was enemy No 1. Thank God my fans stayed with me.”

Kathy also told how she got the strength to get through the ordeal from her parents.

She added: “My dad, John, lived to 90. My mom, Maggie, until 99. There was just something about my family. They were rough.

“I’m not going to lie. The expectations were, ‘You show up at the dinner table. We’re going to have political arguments. We’ll talk about the day’s news.’

“I’m grateful I was raised with this expectation. You had to show up and know what you’re talking about. You couldn’t show up at the dinner table and go, ‘I’ve never heard of that.’

“My dad would say, ‘Read the paper.’ I still do that today. Whatever city I’m in, I open the show with local news.”

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