It’s been nine years since the legendary comedian Joan Rivers passed away, but she is still missed by millions of fans to this day. In a new interview, Joan’s daughter Melissa is opening up about what her mother would have thought about the brutal cancel culture that has taken over our society in the years since her death.
Joan Would ‘Be Very Frustrated’
“I think she’d be very frustrated,” Melissa told Fox News when asked about cancel culture. “I think she would be happy that it’s swinging back towards the middle from such extremes.”
“I would have hoped that she would have gotten sort of grandfathered in not having to be so politically correct, kind of like Dave Chappelle,” she continued. “And I think she would have. But I do think it would be incredibly frustrating. Some people justifiably need to be canceled, some people do not. And I think we went through a phase where it was too much.”
Melissa Discusses Kevin Hart
Melissa went on to talk about how the comedian Kevin Hart was dropped as the host of the Oscars back in 2019 after tweets of his surfaced that were deemed to be homophobic.
“The material was taken out of context because at the time that [the jokes] was okay,” she lamented. “Would he have made those jokes now? No. At the time he made those jokes, those were okay. And the audience laughed. And I think that’s where she would have gotten frustrated. I don’t know about you, but I am not the same person I was even five years ago.”
“And that doesn’t mean things people didn’t say were wrong or outrageous or offensive or any of those things. But it’s very hard to judge people, including judge yourself, most importantly, of who you were 20 years ago,” she added. “The person I was when I started college was not the person I was when I left college. The person I was when I got my first job is not the same person. I mean, people have to evolve.”
Joan would have celebrated her 90th birthday on Thursday, and in this same interview, Melissa discussed what she would have done for this occasion.
“No, it would not have been a big blow out,” Melissa explained. “She would not have appreciated that. I think she probably [would have] wanted to spend it with some friends, me, and Cooper [Melissa’s son]. You know, I’m sure we would have done something, but not some big, huge celebration.”
Joan Being Honored
This comes as Joan is being inducted into the National Comedy Center museum with a dedicated exhibit that honors her life and work.
“I’m incredibly honored and excited that she will be a part of it,” Melissa said. “It’s a wonderful place to properly store the archives so that they are preserved.
“And in a funny twist of fate, my mother headlined their comedy festival in 2011… And at that festival they announced that they were going to do this museum,” she concluded. “And it’s really about the craft of comedy. It’s just a very nice bow [on it] that she was there when it was announced and that the archives are going to be on display there.”
Joan Rivers was a true icon, and there will never be another one like her. If only she were still around today to take on cancel culture, because voices like hers are needed now more than ever!