Kathy Griffin feasted on her feud with Donald Trump as she boldly returned to the stage on Sunday night for her first stand-up performance since their infamous falling out.

The star walked out on stage to a cheering 3,000 at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles to host the Best In Drag Show, an annual fundraising event which raises money for AIDS awareness and treatment.

Griffin appeared proudly sporting a clean version of the bloody mask which sparked her feud with the president in May.

With her two middle fingers raised defiantly in the air, she then took a knee in protest against Trump, mimicking the hundreds of NFL players the president is now at war with over their on-the-field demonstrations.

Wearing the same blue pussybow dress in which she appeared in the controversial photograph with Trump's bloodied, severed head, she then whipped off the mask to reveal her short hair, the result of her decision earlier this year to shave her head in support of her cancer-stricken sister.

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Kathy Griffin wore a Donald Trump mask as she returned to the stage in Los Angeles on Sunday night, four months after being left 'unable to work' by her war with the president

It was her first work engagement since May when she was dropped by CNN and slammed by Hollywood friends after appearing in a photoshoot by photographer Tyler Shields holding up the mask as blood dripped from it.

Speaking to DailyMail.com after the show, Griffin said she felt empowered by her return to the stage and claimed she was only left unable to work because Trump 'put the word out' against her.

'I have not had the opportunity to make a living in my profession in my own country for months (and counting).

'I was happy to have the opportunity to address 3,000 people and speak out without fear,' she said.

The 56-year-old took a knee on stage in an extended show of her disdain for the president

In May, Griffin was fired from her New Year's Eve hosting gig with CNN and was globally admonished for appearing in a comedic photoshoot where she appeared holding up a bloodied version of the mask.

She later took part in a tearful press conference where she accused the president and his family of trying to ruin her life.

Speaking to DailyMail.com on Tuesday, Griffin maintained her belief that Trump torpedoed her career after the scandal.

She compared him to Harvey Weinstein and said both men represented a 'culture of controlling and influential men are armed with predatory tactics, sexual and otherwise.'

'My own Harvey Weinstein is named President Donald Trump.

Griffin cheerfully the removed the mask to reveal her new shorter haircut underneath

The star told DailyMail.com she was 'happy' to be able to perform 'without fear'

'He ‘put the word out.’ Let me explain what this means and how it relates to the Weinstein culture.

She claimed that just as Weinstein's industry threatened the victims of his alleged sexual harassment, Trump maliciously sabotaged hers because she took part in the photoshoot at his expense.

'One of their most obvious and oldest tricks is to ‘put the word out’ on women who they perceive to be difficult.

Griffin said Trump was her 'personal Harvey Weinstein' because he ruined his career when she went against him. Weinstein (pictured last week) and his decades of sexual harassment against female staff and actresses were exposed last Thursday

'Women who have rebuffed them or reported their behavior to no avail.

'When "The word is put out" on you, it is often believed without question. "I hear this actress is too difficult." "She needs to be smacked down and put in her place." "Really? Oh, then I believe you. She's dead to us…NEXT,"' Griffin said.

Griffin will take her tour to Australia and New Zealand later this month. She has also recently announced tour dates in London, Dublin, and Edinburgh.

Griffin sparked outrage in May after appearing in a photoshoot with a bloodied Trump mask

The president wages war on the comedian afterwards, labeling her as 'sick'

Melania Trump questioned Griffin's mental health and said the image disturbed 11-year-old Barron Trump (above with his parents in August) who thought it was real

During the immediate fall-out from her row with Trump, Griffin hired prominent attorney Lisa Bloom to steer her through the media storm.

Bloom also stood by Weinstein in the early days of his sexual harassment scandal last week. She has since stepped away from the movie mogul.

In May, Griffin was slammed for participating in the photoshoot with photographer Tyler Shields.

The president told her she ought to be 'ashamed' of herself and said that the images disturbed his family, particularly his 11-year-old son Barron who thought they were real.

Melania Trump, whose public comments are rare and ordinarily air on the side of conservative, reserved no judgement for the comedian.

'As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing,' said Melania just hours after a report emerged claiming that her son Barron initially thought that his father had been decapitated when he saw the image on TV.

'When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it,' she said.

It was at one stage reported that the Secret Service investigated the image as a genuine threat to the presidency.

Griffin pleaded for forgiveness in an emotional Instagram video immediately after the photographs circulated

Even some of the president's most vocal opponents condemned Griffin's stunt.

Chelsea Clinton abhorred it as 'vile and wrong' and Anderson Cooper, Griffin's CNN comrade, said: 'For the record I am appalled. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate'.

In an Instagram video on May 31, Griffin bowed to the public outrage.

'I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far. I made a mistake and I was wrong,' she pleaded with fans.

On June 2, Griffin appeared with attorney Lisa Bloom at a tearful press conference where she said Trump had ruined her life. Bloom represented Weinstein in the early days of his sexual harassment scandal last week but has since stepped away from him

On June 2, at her tearful press conference, her remorse was somewhat diluted.

'The president and his grown children and the first lady are personally trying to ruin my life forever.

'I am not afraid of Donald Trump. He is a bully,' she said, later adding: 'There's a bunch of old white guys trying to silence me!'

At the end of the appearance, she vowed to keep him as the subject of her material.

'I am going to make fun of him more now,' she said.

Griffin's self-titled stand-up tour will run in Dublin on November 8, London on November 10 and Edinburgh on November 11.