When did Kathy Griffin appear on The Late Show? Comedian calls Stephen Colbert a "d**k" for discussing her photo with Trump's decapitated head

Comedian and actress Kathy Griffin seems to be displeased with Stephen Colbert. On May 14, 2025, she shared a video on her YouTube channel, titled “Stephen Colbert Made Me CRY!” In 2018, Griffin was the first chair on Colbert’s late-night show.

While dealing with the segment producer of the show, she mentioned that she was not comfortable discussing the Trump head picture, which was released a year prior.

For context, the photo was of Kathy Griffin holding a mask as a severed head of Donald Trump, which allegedly led to repercussions in her career. Reflecting on that, she mentioned in the YouTube video:

“Stephen Colbert is an A-list comic. He has accomplished just about everything you can as a comedian and he is wildly talented and he is obviously very bright. But man, what a d**k! What a d**k! And to go for me of all people just to me, it had such a it was so laced with misogyny.”

The segment producer agreed to her request. However, after everything was finalised about what she would talk about with Stephen Colbert, the producer informed her that Colbert would like to discuss the photo.

She refused, citing that it had already been discussed and she wasn’t willing to do it. Imitating her reaction from that day, Kathy Griffin said:

“And let me tell you if you go down the road of talking about that picture, it can get really dark. And the details about the fallout from that picture are dark as well and you know, he knows that picture was covered and he knows that my investigation was BS.”

She then urged the producer to talk Colbert out of his interest. However, this attempt failed, and the segment producer informed Griffin that Stephen Colbert would bring up the photo during the conversation.

Here’s how it went down with Kathy Griffin after Stephen Colbert brought up the discussion about the photo

Kathy Griffin shared that when she walked out onto the stage, she focused on connecting with the audience rather than looking at Stephen Colbert, since getting the crowd on her side felt more important.

She sat down, smiled, and tried to present herself well. At first, the conversation started with lighter topics like Carnegie Hall, but it quickly shifted to the controversial Trump photo. Stephen Colbert questioned her with comments like “What were you thinking?”

Kathy Griffin glanced at the audience and realized she had two options. She could respond aggressively or stay calm and respectful, especially since she was on his show. She was polite and tried to defend herself.

However, as the moment got more emotional, she felt herself tearing up. Inside, she panicked, not wanting to cry, especially as a woman in comedy trying to prove she could hold her own in a tough, male-dominated environment. Speaking about the photo from that time, Kathy Griffin said:

“I have spent the last year dealing with the fallout from that photo which is covered by the First Amendment. I have, you know, been fully investigated by the Department of Justice. I was interrogated under oath etc etc.”

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Griffin also made a movie surrounding the controversy with the severed head photo. The movie, Kathy Griffin: A Hell Of A Story, was released in 2019.

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