
This post deals with addiction and suicide, and might be triggering for some readers.
American comedian Kathy Griffin is best known for her polarising humour.
The 61-year-old has used her controversies, woes in relationships, run-ins with celebrities and disdain for conservative politics as comedic material for decades. But recently, it is her own mental health and addiction challenges that she has been discussing most, sharing her experience of becoming a "pill addict" at age 59.
And a lot of her addiction was catalysed by one event in particular.
Watch: Fiona O'Loughlin on the impact of alcoholism. Post continues below.
The lead-up to Griffin's drug addiction was fueled by public controversies.
E! Online's show Fashion Police was a point of contention for Griffin. She became the host of the show after comedian Joan Rivers died, and although Griffin's stint was short, she was swept up in the overall backlash.
When co-host Giuliana Rancic's made racially ignorant comments about Zendaya's dreadlocks at the Oscars, saying the then-17-year-old's hair made her look like she "smelled of patchouli oil… or weed", Fashion Police was on its last legs.
Speaking about her decision to leave, Griffin said on The View: "I kind of felt like I was being forced to comment about pictures of beautiful women in perfect dresses and say kind of bad things. As a feminist and a comic, it just didn't feel like the right fit for me."
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Then in 2017, Griffin posed for a picture where she held up a fake prop which was a replica of Donald Trump's severed head covered in blood. She had captioned her Twitter post: "There was blood coming out of his eyes, blood coming out of his … wherever," referencing Trump's inappropriate comments about journalist Megyn Kelly in 2015.
The comedic stunt was met with swift backlash from those across the political spectrum, and she did issue an apology, saying: "I sincerely apologise. I am just now seeing the reaction of these images. The image is too disturbing, I understand how it offends people. I've made a lot of mistakes in my career. I will continue. I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far, I made a mistake, and I was wrong."