In politics, as in comedy, relying on shock value to command an audience requires employing an ever-increasing dose of shock to have the same effect – until the audience becomes so desensitized that the tactic becomes impotent – take, for example, “comedian” Kathy Griffin’s latest attempt to recapture her “inglorious days.”
In a sad, desperate attempt to use shock value to gain attention over the weekend, Griffin resurrected a bit that worked for her eight years ago, when she posted an image of herself holding the severed “head” of President Trump during his first term.
In 2017, Griffin’s severed-head bit killed, drawing the attention of national media, conservatives, liberals – and even the Secret Service. Like a bad child acting out to get attention, she got it. But, she also paid a price, losing fans, gigs and a job as a paid spokesperson (albeit, for a toilet stool company).
This time, in a self-plagiarizing effort to one-up herself, she’s quadrupled the number of severed heads in her not-so-subtle call for violence.
In a video she posted on TikTok, Griffin is shown with sketches of the bloodied, severed heads of not one, but four, victims: Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg, SpaceX Founder Elon Musk and, of course, Pres. Trump.
Kathy Griffin apparently posted this video which appears to be decapitated heads including Trump
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 29, 2025
This should be investigated @FBI pic.twitter.com/IwLL5l9ta1
The audience response this time around appears to be: “Sorry, but I’ve already heard that one.”
Turning up the voltage in either politics or comedy (and this stunt tries to be both) eventually hits a point where it loses all its impact. Case-in-point: the attempt to use name-calling to prevent Donald Trump from winning the 2024 presidential election.
When calling your opponent Hitler doesn’t work, where can you go from there?
So, too, with Griffin’s severed-head routine. Maybe, she’ll be contacted by the Secret Service again, giving her another opportunity to pretend to cry and claim to be a “victim.” But, that bit’s already been played out, too.
Then, again, maybe her video wasn’t meant to be political, but just a call for “Death to all billionaires.” She’s certainly got good reason to be jealous.
After all, she’s worth only $50 million.