Jerry Seinfeld on Kathy Griffin’s Trump Photo: “I Don’t Understand the Big Deal”

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It’s been a week since Kathy Griffin’s now infamous photo, in which she posed with a bloodied replica of Donald Trump’s head, was posted (and then promptly taken down). In that time, Griffin has apologized repeatedly for the stunt, both online and at a tearful press conference, and a few fellow celebrities have come out to show their support. Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx previously made statements backing Griffin up, and now she’s got another powerful supporter: Jerry Seinfeld.

In an interview with PEOPLE at the David Lynch Foundation’s National Night of Laughter and Song, Seinfeld admitted that he didn’t see the big deal about Griffin’s stunt. Griffin’s photo shoot, he asserts, was just a joke that missed its mark. “Yes, it was another bad joke. Every comedian tells bad jokes,” Seinfeld told PEOPLE. “We all do it. That’s how we find the good jokes. So someone told a bad joke — so what, I don’t understand the big deal.”

Griffin, both in her video apology and during her press conference this past Friday, admitted that the photos were “too disturbing” and that they “crossed the line,” but insisted that she simply made a poor attempt at a politically humorous statement and that “you shouldn’t silence a comic.”

Regardless of the support Griffin’s received from comics and the public, the stunt has still cost her. She was fired from her hosting duties on CNN’s New Year’s Eve Show opposite Anderson Cooper, which she had hosted for ten years. She’s also lost various sponsorships, was uninvited from a speaking event with Senator Al Franken, and had the remaining dates on her current Celebrity Run-Ins tour cancelled.

Despite all of this, it appears Griffin will stay the course, promising during her press conference that she will continue to poke fun at Trump, adding “It’s scary to be a citizen, but it’s a great time to be a comedian.”

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Bill Tressler

Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.
Bill Tressler

Bill Tressler

Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.