Kathy Griffin is very open about all the mistakes she has made since a 2017 photo of her holding a Donald Trump Halloween mask covered in ketchup went viral. The stunt cost her jobs and friends, she told SalonTV's Alli Joseph.

Griffin admits that she now realizes the political context around President Trump's personal shaming of her actions. "I was just a dangly, a shiny object to dangle and deflect," Griffin said. "When it happened to me, it was relatively new, but now we see Trump and his cohorts doing this on a daily basis."

The most painful part of the whole process, Griffin says, is not having significant public support, then or now. "I mean, you can make fun of Michael Avenatti if you want to, but I would have given my right arm to have some First Amendment attorney going on cable news five times a day saying, 'This is America. You may not like Kathy Griffin, but this photo is covered by the First Amendment and you all know it, and this shouldn't happen because it can happen to you.'"

Griffin stopped by "Salon Talks" after wrapping her recent world tour, "Laugh Your Head Off" to discuss how she is reshaping her career and personal relationships in Hollywood. In spite of the past year's adversity, Griffin says her resolve to keep telling the truth about the current state of affairs through humor is rooted in her Chicago upbringing with political discussions around the dinner table, and her effortlessly funny mother.

Watch the full episode to hear about Griffin's experiences with the FBI and how she first met President Trump back in the '90s during his guest appearance on "Suddenly Susan."


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