EXCLUSIVE Kathy Griffin stumbles upon scene of fatal freak accident on her afternoon power walk in Malibu

Daily Mail​

23-05-2025

Kathy Griffin found herself in the middle of a terrifying situation when her afternoon power walk in Malibu led her right on to the scene of a freak fatal accident.
The outspoken comedienne, 64, still recovering from a recent hysterectomy, stumbled upon a chaotic emergency site on a residential street while on a stroll with a male friend last Saturday.
The LA County Sheriff's Department later confirmed a man was electrocuted and killed by a live powerline after it was knocked down by a falling branch during a tree-trimming service.
Griffin, who was spotted in the same Malibu neighborhood earlier this month, appeared visibly shaken by the incident and ultimately cut her walk short and headed back home with her friend, exclusive DailyMail.com photos show.
Dressed in a gray quarter-zip athletic sweatshirt, leggings, and sneakers, with her signature red hair pulled back in a ponytail, the firebrand comic looked more pale and alarmed than fiery during the incident.
Authorities say Honglei Chong, 46, grabbed the fallen powerline and was electrocuted. Chong died at the scene..
The tree-trimmer was not injured in the accident.
Prior to Saturday's outing, Griffin had been spotted in public for the first time since undergoing a hysterectomy in early April to treat a pre-cancerous condition.
Although she seemed to have her energy back post-surgery while logging her steps with a female companion, she appeared pale, frail and almost unrecognizable, DailyMail.com photos showed.
Her gray pallor was almost as startling as what appeared to be the bloody, severed head of Donald Trump she posed with in a notorious 2017 satire that nearly tanked her career.
Contrasting with the jarring paleness of her skin, her signature bright red hair fell loose around her shoulders while it seemed her hairline was receding, and she had either a scalp condition or bald spot.
Known for her biting humor and criticism of Republicans, the Catholic League and celebrity culture, Griffin has opened up about her history of health struggles, starting with a binge eating disorder as a teen.
Griffin appeared visibly shaken by the incident and ultimately cut her walk short and headed back home
Dressed in a gray quarter-zip athletic sweatshirt, leggings, and sneakers, with her signature red hair pulled back in a ponytail, the firebrand comic looked more pale and alarmed than fiery during the incident
She also has spoken out about her long string of cosmetic procedures ranging from a breast augmentation, nose job and lip tattoo to a botched LASIK surgery in 2003 that partially blinded her in one eye and complications from a 1999 liposuction that nearly killed her.
She also has struggled with her mental health, especially since a photo of her holding what looked like Trump's hacked-off head triggered heavy pushback starting in 2017.
Trump, tweeting about the image at the time, wrote: 'Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11-year-old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!'
Griffin, along with her then-elderly mother and dying sister, received death threats during the biggest controversy of her controversial career.
The Trump administration placed her on its no-fly list and its Justice Department spent at least two months investigating whether the photo she posed for constituted a conspiracy to assassinate the president. Nothing came of that probe.
Still, the image caused her career to nosedive, at least temporarily. Talk shows and theaters canceled her appearances, and CNN ended her annual stint co-hosting its New Years Eve show with Anderson Cooper from 2009 to 2017.
'I wasn't canceled,' she told the New York Times. 'I was erased.'
Griffin has repeatedly spoken out about the incident since, and revisited it yet again last week when she complained that Stephen Colbert ambushed her and made her cry during a 2018 interview about the controversy.
The comedian called Colbert 'a d**k' in a YouTube video published May 14, where she billed the interview as a 'bullsh*t ambush'.
Griffin, who is famed for playing the victim over the Trump incident, also argued the CBS host's line of questioning was 'laced with misogyny,' and accused Colbert of punching down on a 'D-list celebrity'.
The claims came seven years after the sit down in question, and nearly eight after the controversy that caused Griffin to lose her plum hosting gig at CNN.
Her career took a nosedive after she infamously shared a photo of her holding what looked like Trump's hacked-off head on social media in 2017
The interview with Colbert months later saw her lightly pressed about the May 2017 photo-up.
Griffin said she'd just been questioned by the Secret Service over the photo and had begged with Colbert to avoid the topic.
First, showrunners obliged, she said – before recalling how they shifted course at the 11th hour.
The comic compared the ensuing experience to a grilling one might expect on '60 Minutes' instead of a satirical talk show. She claimed Colbert – a comic as well – 'kept going and kept going' with his questions.