this is "nightline." >> tonight, she's the comedian who sparked outrage and universal condemnation with this vulgar photo shoot. a year later, kathy griffin says she has no regrets. >> i took the apology back because i realized the outrage really was [ bleep ]. >> now rebooting her career by doubling down on her rage against the president. >> i wanted to shame him. it. i don't believe it's human. >> you feel that you are a part of that problem? >> are you nuts? i'm the solution, baby. i deal in facts. this is a whole new world, honey. >> can her divisive routine keep fans coming back? mind-bending. you might have seen her walking upside down. eating a hamburger with her

feet. ow 17-year-old viral sensation sophie d abc ie turned torso-twisting into a family business. first the "nightline 5." i'm missing out on family outings because i can't find a bladder leakage product that fits. everything was too use. depend fit flex feels tailored to me. >> new depend fit flex underwear guaranteed to be your best fit. what if your skin could light up the room? aveeno positively radiant sheer daily moisturizer. lightweight hydration for positively radiant skin that lasts. avee aveeno. naturally beautiful results. >> number one in just 60 seconds.

good evening. thanks for joining us. kathy griffin has built a career on courting controversy.

but almost everyone agreed her photo shoot with a mockup of president trump's bloody severed head was way over the line. everyone, it turns out, except kathy. the comedienne now launching her comeback and ramping up her rage against the trump machine. here's my "nightline" coanchor dan harris. >> reporter: this is a moment kathy griffin says she thought would never happen again. >> behold! >> i know you've done this before but still, this is something to behold. >> there's nothing like it. i'm not a religious person. i call it the church. >> reporter: performing for a sold-out crowd at carnegie hall. this che of claic muse pick to host a comedy comeback. just a year ago -- >> outrage from all sides after that video of comedian kathy griffin -- >> that image -- >> nobody wants to see this, it wasn't funny, didn't work -- >> reporter: griffin's career on

the edge of ruin. did you think your career was over? >> yeah, i thought there was a good chance my career was over. >> reporter: this picture of kathy griffin holding a mock severed head of president donald trump stirred a national scandal. the comedian called a traitor, even a terrorist. what were you thinking? >> really? just -- okay, do you have a different question than i've been asked a year and a half? you're abc, act like it, goddamn it. >> that's the exact question you get every time? what were you thinking? >> i wanted to shame him, it, as i refer to trump, it. i wanted to shame it. i don't believe it's human. believe it or not, i'm not a megyn kelly fan, but i do remember him saying as you do, there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever. and i was doing a wacky photo shoot and i thought, all right, let's get a halloween trump match, ketchup on it, see if he likes it when there's blood coming out of his wherever. >> a storm of controversy -- >> i think it's disgusting and reprehensible -- >> is her career unioned?

what happens next? >> reporter: within hours of the picture going public a torrent of backlash. >> left, right, and from turned on me, everyone turned on me. >> reporter: donald trump jr. tweeting, disgusting but not surprising, this is the left today. and the president saying, kathy griffin should be ashamed of hea herself, my children, especially my 11-year-old son barron, are having a hard time with this, sick. chelsea clinton tweeting, this is vile and wrong, it is never funny to joke about killing a president. you didn't think that was going to cause any consternation when you did it? >> no, of course not. >> really? >> i was holding a halloween mask with ketchup on it. >> how is it not an indication of violence? >> it's a photo. have you seen the cover of "der spiegel"? have you seen any of the famous iconic covers of magazines? you can take any one of them and accuse them of inciting violence. also, i'm kathy griffin, the comedian. i'm not an elected. it's me. >> does that mean there are no lines for you? >> there's no lines for me.

>> reporter: others saw it differently. believing that griffin had crossed a line. she lost sponsorship deals, her spire tour was canceled, and cnn terminated her contract to host new year's eve. her cohost and friend, anderson cooper, tweeting, for the record, i'm appalled by the photo shoot kathy griffin took part in. it's clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate. >> i don't have a punch line for that one, the punch line was hurt. the punch line was "ouch." >> reporter: she said she received brutal and detailed death threats and was put under federal investigation. >> i was on the no-fly list. i was on the interpol list. i had to go overseas to make a living. i was detained at every single airport. they take your passport. they take your devices. they leave you alone in a room and you don't know what's going to happen and you can't ask. >> you had friends who told you, just go away for years? >> yeah, it was great. sharon stone, who i love, goes,

leave the country for eight years. i go, you leave the country for eight years, i have to make a living, i've got bills to pay. >> reporter: she would issue this apology video to twitter. >> i sincerely apologize. i'm just now seeing the reaction of these images. i'm a comic, i crossed the line. i move the line then i cross it. i went way too far interior months later, griffin would retract the apology, calling the fallout faux outrage. >> i realized is the outrage and the pearl-clutching really was [ bleep ]. >> i know you're no fan of his son, don jr. he raised a point, what if somebody had done this to obama? do you think that comedian would have received the same kind of ire? >> did you do any research? are you going to really act like you didn't see the eight years of all that crap on facebook with everybody's racist uncle sending somebody a picture of obama being lynched? >> we didn't have a prominent comedian hold up a mock severed head of president. if there had been i think it's a

fair question to ask, what would the response have been? >> first of all, barack obama never gave anyone a reason to hold up a photo like that. remember the "access hollywood" bus. barack obama was clean as a whistle, people just didn't like that he was black. >> should there be any limits on what you can say as a comedian? >> there are laws, you can't yell "fire" in a theater. i want to say, i want you do know i didn't break the law, i didn't do anything wrong. that photo is very much covered by the first amendment. >> reporter: throughout her career griffin has turned her personal turmoil into a serious edge. gaining notoriety for her off-color jokes on stage, perpetual insider fighting her way into the predominantly male world of comedians, kathy griffin became a household name in her show "my life on the d list." >> you know how you get to carnegie hall? >> you [ bleep ], [ bleep ]? >> what today? >> you're announcing revenue cities today. >> good. >> it's a good run of shows.

>> reporter: now a year after the photo shoot scandal, griffin is proving once again that she will not go down without a fight. >> my whole point of my kathy griffin laugh your head off tour is obviously, i'm very much leaning into the photo. i'm not acting like the elephant in the room isn't there roaring. because it is. but also it's a hell of a story. as last fall, fter testing the performing in 15 countries, she is on her way on this morning to "the view" to promote the u.s. portion of her comedy tour. >> you'll be two segments. >> he said maybe not two. >> are you ready for a check? >> one, two, three, four -- >> she caused uproar, made some powerful enemies. please welcome back the fabulous kathy griffin. >> i'm here! i'm alive. i'm just glad to be alive. >> i can't believe it's been a year since this. >> i know. >> a year this month that that picture was released. >> right.

>> and we already -- >> what a year it's been. >> yeah, yeah. >> i take the apology back. [ bleep ]. >> it's just me, everybody. kathy griffin, living legend. i'm just a person. no one cares. >> reporter: and outside radio city music hall, neither friend nor foe was safe. >> all right, let's see how long till someone notices. get it? it's me. take a picture, don't be [ bleep ]. come on. get in it. yes! >> fantastic, hello. >> oh my god, we're selfieing. >> why not? >> reporter: check this exchange with a couple who appear to be trump supporters. >> hi. oh, i don't believe you, really? you love trump? let's talk about it. how much do you love trump? why do you want to come up to me and talk about trump? what do you love about him? his policies? you think he's going to give you a tax cut, lady? you're a woman, let me guess, you held your nose because he grabs [ bleep ] and that's okay with you?

>> hey, relax. >> look at this guy start with me. she walk busy, "i love trump." >> i'll kick his butt. >> thank you, sir, you're an angel from heaven. >> can we get a photo? >> let's do it. >> i think most people agree one of the biggest problems we're facing is a coarsening our discourse. we have trouble even agreeing on a basic set of facts. do you have any compunction about or do you feel that you are a part of that problem? >> no. i don't -- are you nuts? i'm the solution, baby. i deal in facts. this is a whole new world, honey. you guys got to realize, it's different now. and i understand what you're saying about discourse and we should all be able to reach across the aisle. the other team doesn't do that. >> the michelle obama strategy of, they go low, we go high? you think unrealistic? >> i think it's great for most of the world. but as i say in my act, i love michelle obama. and i think it's great that she goes high. and i think most people should go high. it personally am very

comfortable down in the mud. >> you know what? get the [ bleep ] door, jesus christ, last time i checked i was a girl. >> sorry, but we've been talking about -- >> the switcheroo, right? >> we've been talking about the decline in civility and that was an example. >> that's right, you were uncivil. >> reporter: the same incivility that made her famous, about to light up new york city's carnegie hall to a sold-out crowd. do you get nervous? >> no. i get excited. >> so i would imagine you had moments -- >> imagine if you had talent, then you could do something like this someday. >> uh-huh. this interview's not going well. >> keep dreaming. i have two emmys and a grammy. i'm in the guinness book of world records. when i kick the bucket i want some female comic or person of color or gay person to say, that 57-year-old bird didn't let him take her down. i just won't go down. >> reporter: for "nightline," this is dan harris in new york city.

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social stars. >> reporter: if you ever come across a girl running like a spider -- twisting her body like a human pretzel -- or eating a hamburger with her feet, there's a good chance it's sophie dawson. she's a 17-year-old contortionist and youtube sensation with over 2 million subscribers. dawcie has the unique ability to fold her body like a jackknife, spin from a hoop suspended midair, and shoot an arrow with her toes. she's self-taught, studying gymnastics as a kid but realizing she had a different calling. >> i always loved gymnastics and dance. combine those two together. >> when did you know you were more flexible than the average person? >> i realized i was unique when i saw the contortionist from cirque du soleil online and i was like, wow, i can do that. >> my name's sophie dawcie and

i'm 14 years old. >> reporter: she hit it big two years ago on "america's got talent" quickly winning over the judges. even simon cowell. >> you're like something out of "game of thrones," aren't you? >> reporter: the performance earned sophie the coveted golden buzzer. and catapulted her into tween stardom. she's performed on "ellen." >> you ever have back issues? >> not at all. >> reporter: and has billboards and gigs around the world. >> look at this lighting, though. >> reporter: she's also become a family business for the dawcies. older brother zach is her youtube costar. >> what's up, everybody? you're welcome. >> thanks. >> reporter: he also shoots, edits, and coproduces her videos. does it make it easier that your brother is on the other side of the camera? >> yes, it does. my brother and i will play off of each other sometimes and it helps. because my brother and i get along really, really well.

>> sine, cosine -- >> reporter: mom home schools sophie to accommodate the busy travel schedule. and dad mike is not only road crew, but the performance equipment she performs with, mike builds it. sophie's the halftime show for a college basketball game at madison square garden. how do you get warmed up for a show like this? >> one thing i do is jump up and down like a lot. >> we can do that together. am i doing it right? >> getting super excited. imagine my routine. go out there. just perform my heart to the audience. >> and kick some butt? >> yeah, kick some butt. >> done. >> reporter: after hair, makeup, rehearsing, stretching, more stretching, and some setup by dad, it's showtime. ♪ ♪

with dad as her stagehand, sophie wows the crowd with her signature move. >> oh, geez. whoo! not only did she hit the target, she hit the center of the target. >> the amazing sophie dawcie! >> happy? >> super happy. >> this is actually really good right now. >> what's up, everybody? welcome back. >> reporter: back at the d abc ie home in southern california, the kitchen is more like a youtube studio. >> aww, it's a little stuffed animal! >>eporter: swey and this is my front room. as you can see, we don't have a couch here. any more. we have mats and my equipment. yeah, this house isn't a normal

house. >> reporter: and the backyard? it's not just for barbecuing. >> we have this giant aerial rig where i hang on my hoops and silks. and, yeah, i'm kind of taken up with it. >> when people watch you perform, you make it look so easy, no big deal. that takes a lot of work to get there. >> it's a lot of trial and error. like i'll be at home and i'll be trying these tricks and i'll fall a lot. but it doesn't matter how many times you fall, it matters how many times you get back up. bec finale of "america's got talent." >> reporter: sophie doesn't just practice moves, she invents them. >> nobody else has done this. i haven't seen anybody else do this. ♪ ♪ >> what's it like to walk around a city like this and get recognized by so many people? >> it's just so incredible, you know. the fact that you can inspire

that many people. when i was actually younger, i told myself, i'd written down on a dream board, when i grow up i want to travel the world and do what i love. and it's happening. check. check that off my dream board. >> reporter: she still makes time to have a little fun. can you chase those guys? for "nightline," i'm diane macedo in new york. >> just chilling, you know. the kindness of strangers atform.to the rescue a sy can you actually love wearing powerful sunscreen? yes! neutrogena® ultra sheer. no other sunscreen works better or feels so good. clinically proven helioplex® provides unbeatable

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as always, we're online at our "nightline" facebook page. good night, america, enjoy the fourth of july.