Joan would have found cancel culture ‘frustrating’
Joan Rivers’ critically witty commentary has earned her a place as one of the top female comedians of all time.
Despite her biting critiques of fashion, celebrities and more, the late, great media personality mainly steered clear of being canceled.
Her daughter, Melissa Rivers, believes that the “Fashion Police” host would have found cancel culture “frustrating.”
“I think she would be happy that it’s swinging back towards the middle from such extremes,” the 55-year-old told Fox News recently.
Joan — who died in 2014 at age 81 — also would have been puzzled by the current landscape of comedy.
“Joy” star Melissa added that she her mom “would have gotten sort of grandfathered in not having to be so politically correct.”
“Some people justifiably need to be canceled, some people do not,” she said. “And I think we went through a phase where it was too much.”
Melissa also revealed that her mom’s “sensitivity” would shock people, adding that her “vulnerability” allowed her to be “sensitive.”
“The person you saw on stage was not the person she was in real life,” she went on.
Melissa, a former “Apprentice” host, reflected on her relationship with Joan and how they “were in a great space” before the latter passed on.
“We were both lucky that I knew she loved me, and she knew that I knew she loved me and I loved her, and that she knew I loved her,” Melissa recalled.
“There was nothing left to say. People are always like, ‘Did you feel like you needed to still tell her anything?’ And I was like, ‘No,’” she added. “We both knew how much we mattered to each other. And that I think I’m very blessed by. There was no unfinished business, no anything left unsaid.”
Joan, a Brooklyn native, was inducted into the Jamestown, New York-based National Comedy Center museum on June 8 — what would have been her 90th birthday.
An exhibit showcasing her comedic life and career has also been unveiled, containing an archive of more than 65,000 original jokes — retained on file cards — spanning from the start of her career in the 1950s to 2014.
“I am so honored that my mother’s archives will have a home at the National Comedy Center. To be included with the legends of comedy who are represented at the National Comedy Center is amazing. My mother would have been thrilled to be seated at the best table,” Melissa said in a statement.
Joan began her work as a funny woman in the 1950s and was a frequent guest on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.”
She broke barriers in 1986 when she became the first woman to ever host her own talk show, titled “The Late Show with Joan Rivers.”