Joan Rivers was a highly-awarded comedian who started her career in the ’50s and gradually made a name for herself by making numerous appearances on television series like The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where she became a frequent guest host. This eventually led her — much to Carson’s annoyance — to hosting her own talkers The Late Show with Joan Rivers and, later, The Joan Rivers Show. She also authored several books and forayed into the movie industry, starring in films such as The Swimmer and Serial Mom.
All through her career, Rivers was known for her quick wit and controversial remarks, which sparked controversy but also garnered her a dedicated fanbase. She passed away on September 4, 2014, at the age of 81, after undergoing a routine medical procedure on her vocal cords that resulted in complications and cardiac arrest.
Melissa Rivers, Joan Rivers’ daughter, says her mom would be frustrated with the cancel culture in today’s comedy world
Melissa Rivers, the daughter of the late comedian, recently expressed her perspective on what her mother’s potential stance toward cancel culture would have been if she were to be alive. During an interview with Fox News Digital, which also coincides with her mother’s 90th posthumous birthday, Melissa conveyed her belief that her mother would find the influence of cancel culture on comedy deeply worrisome.
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“I think she’d be very frustrated,” the 55-year-old admitted. “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. 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 Rivers believes that “people have to evolve” over time
During the interview, Melissa decried the quickness of the comedy industry to bar acts that are considered offensive without giving such comedians the benefit of the doubt. To buttress her point, she cited the case of Kevin Hart when he was selected to host the 2019 Oscars, but had to step down because of the backlash and criticisms he got from his previous tweets and standup acts that were considered homophobic.
Melissa stated that people should not be too fixated on the past as there is always room for improvement. “The material was taken out of context because at the time [the jokes] were okay. 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,” she told the news outlet. “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, on who you were 20 years ago. 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.”