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Comics rally around Kathy Griffin amid Trump photo controversy

<p>There won't be anymore spray-tanning, hair-dying or stripping with Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper on CNN's New Year's Eve countdown.</p><p>"Ladies and gentleman, Anderson Cooper has been spray-tanned," Kathy Griffin said during CNN's 2016 New Year's Eve broadcast. "We're live from Rio; we are live from Rio."</p><p>CNN <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNPR/status/869965698969350144" target="_blank">said Wednesday</a> it ended its agreement with the 56-year-old comedian to appear on the network's annual broadcast.</p><p>The decision came one day after images and video of Griffin holding a fake, decapitated head resembling President Donald Trump were released.</p><p>While Griffin and photographer Tyler Shields removed the images from their social media accounts, they're still <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2017/05/30/kathy-griffin-beheads-donald-trump-photo-tyler-shields/" target="_blank">available online</a>.</p><p><b>SEE MORE: <a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/kendall-jenner-s-pepsi-ad-receives-major-backlash/">Pepsi Pulls Kendall Jenner Ad After Major Backlash</a></b></p><p>Hours after video from the photoshoot went public, <a href="https://twitter.com/kathygriffin/status/869703678550171648" target="_blank">Griffin apologized</a>.</p><p>"I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far. I made a mistake, and I was wrong," Griffin said in a video posted on her Twitter account Tuesday night.</p><p>But the damage was done. Reports published Wednesday said Trump's 11-year-old son, Barron, saw the photos on TV and at first thought they were real.</p><p>Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/869874798087819264" target="_blank">tweeted Wednesday</a> morning that Griffin "should be ashamed of herself." He also said his children, especially Barron, "are having a hard time" with the photo.</p><p>First lady Melania Trump called the image "very disturbing" and said it "makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it."</p><p>Griffin had co-hosted CNN's New Year's Eve programming with Anderson Cooper since 2007. This year brought them their <a href="http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/cnn-delivers-its-best-new-years-eve-ratings-ever/315840" target="_blank">best ratings yet</a> in a key demographic.</p><hr><b>Trending stories at <a href="http://www.newsy.com">Newsy.com</a></b><ul class="inline-related-links"><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/cleveland-fires-officer-who-shot-and-killed-tamir-rice/">Cleveland Fires The Police Officer Who Shot And Killed Tamir Rice</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/u-s-tests-ground-based-missile-defense-system-on-icbm/">The US Is Flexing Its Anti-Missile Muscles Over The Pacific Ocean</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/us-won-t-extend-laptop-ban-to-flights-from-europe/">The US Isn't Expanding Its Laptop Ban - For Now</a></li></ul>
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(CNN) -- Kathy Griffin's comedic cohorts are rallying around her after a controversial photo sparked outrage from critics who thought the comedienne took it too far.

Griffin has been caught in a firestorm of criticism over photos published earlier this week that shows her holding up a bloody head resembling that of President Trump.

Griffin released a video apology about the incident.

But that didn't stop the backlash, which came from both conservatives and liberals. CNN fired her as co-host of the network's annual New Year's Eve program.

"Shazam" host Jamie Foxx told Entertainment Tonight on Thursday "as comedians sometimes you do go beyond, past the line."

"I still love Kathy Griffin," Foxx said. "She went past the line, she'll pay for it in the way she pays for it, and we'll go out and we'll laugh with her again."

"Don't kill the comedian," Foxx added. "There's a lot of people out here doing really bad things and every time a comedian says anything, says something about peanuts, [people say], 'You're peanut-shaming!' [A comedian] says something about dolphins [people say], 'Oh my god, you're a dolphin-shamer.' We're the comics, we're entertainers, we don't mean any harm."

Actor Jim Carrey agrees.

At the premiere of the Showtime comedy "I'm Dying Up Here" on Wednesday, Carrey also spoke to "Entertainment Tonight" about the controversy.

"I think it is the job of a comedian to cross the line at all times, because that line is not real," Carrey said. "If you step out into that spotlight and you're doing the crazy things that [Trump] is doing, we're the last line of defense. And really, comedians are the last voice of truth in this whole thing."

Sen. Al Franken, who rose to fame as a comic and cast member on "Saturday Night Live," told CNN he plans to appear with Griffin in a few weeks as part of a promotional tour for his new book.

He said he believes the comic can come back from the controversy.

"Kathy's a friend and she's a terrific comedian, but this had no business being in our public discourse," Franken said. "And I talked to her. She has apologized -- a real, fulsome apology. She's actually begged for forgiveness, and I believe in forgiveness."

Attorney Lisa Bloom tweeted on Thursday night that she will be represent Griffin. The pair is holding a press conference on Friday to talk about the impetus for the photo and the "bullying from the Trump family."