Kathy Griffin returns to the stage after controversy with Trump

Kathy Griffin says she hopes to make her return to the US stages by laughing about the disturbing picture that got her in trouble with federal authorities and that nearly ended her career. But he also has a warning in the middle of the jokes: "If it happened to me it could happen to you".

Griffin will embark this summer on a tour of North America that begins a year after she was widely criticized for posing for a photograph holding a bloody replica of a head of President Donald Trump. Ten months later, he does not bend.

"I'm the same girl I've always been, a hard-working, offensive, red-haired comedian, and I've been constantly trying to make them laugh," Griffin told The Associated Press. "Am I shocking sometimes? Insurance. Am I going too far? Hope so. That's my job".

The star of "Suddenly Susan" and "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List" lost income, received death threats, was denounced by Trump, ended up on a list of Interpol criminals and feared leaving her home. She said she was investigated by the Justice Department for two months.

"This should not happen to a US citizen," he said. He said he understands that people do not like the photo, but that it is protected by freedom of expression, as contemplated by the first constitutional amendment in the United States. "If there is an amendment that I am familiar with, it is the first amendment. I know it from the right and the other way around, that's how I earn my living. "

The comedian's life changed radically last May when the photo appeared.

"I never thought that photography would take flight at all. I've been doing 'shocking' things my whole career. " He called the incident "a false indignation."

He said there were some missteps, including an apology video created hastily after a "disastrous" press conference with attorney Lisa Bloom in which he said Trump was a "harasser," which made the disaster worse.

"My social networks were so crowded that I really thought, 'OK, I'm the most denigrated person in the world right now,'" Griffin said. "It has been a long time since I was able to process it in some way and discern what is real and what is not."

"I really believe that what happened to me can happen to you," he said.

During those dark days, Griffin said that many colleagues like Anderson Cooper walked away but a celebrity approached her, Jim Carrey, whom he did not know much about. He advised him to find comedy in the absurd situation he was going through.

"It meant a lot to me that he called me," he said. "Jim's advice was correct. 'Get involved in this subject and you'll find the comedy', and luckily I found a lot of comedy while hibernating. "

Something funny came inadvertently from her mother, who said she was watching television with the sound off and believed that her daughter had joined the Islamic State. "I do not think they're recruiting 57-year-old Irish-American comedians," Griffin said with a laugh. "I do not think I'm doing very well in the training camps, I've seen those videos."

Unable to go on tour in the United States, Griffin went abroad and performed in 23 cities in 15 countries. This summer he hopes to tour Mexico, Canada and the United States, with stops including San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Chicago and a sold-out show at Carnegie Hall in New York. The name of the tour is in itself defiant: "The Laugh Your Head Off World Tour" (The world tour laughs until losing its head).

"I'm trying to get people to forgive me and have people come back with me or give me a chance and it's interesting, it's really like it's been started from the beginning," said the comedian.

Griffin, who said many continue to send him Bibles, acknowledges that there are some places in the United States where he will never be welcome again and some TV shows that will never invite her again.

"I still have not won the full cast of 'The View'," he joked about this morning talk show.