Daughter: Cancel culture would not have fazed Joan Rivers

Updated: Apr 15, 2022 / 06:25 PM CDT

(NewsNation) — Melissa Rivers thinks modern-day cancel culture would not have fazed her mother, comedian Joan Rivers.

Melissa Rivers joined NewsNation’s “Banfield” Thursday to discuss her new book “Lies My Mother Told Me: Tall Tales From a Short Woman.”

Joan Rivers passed away in 2014, before cancel culture really started to impact the careers of comedians. Melissa shared how she thinks her mom would have handled it.

NEW YORK, NY – MAY 15: Joan Rivers (R) and daughter Melissa Rivers attend the 2014 NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Upfronts at The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on May 15, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by D Dipasupil/FilmMagic)

“I think she’d be very upset,” Melissa Rivers said.

“I’m asked that all the time, and I think about it a lot. … “I always say (I hope) she would have been grandfathered in and given leeway, kind of like Dave Chappelle. But I don’t know.”

The late comedian’s daughter does think her mother would have rebelled.

“I honestly think at this point, she would be making fun of cancel culture in her act. I think that’s really the way she would handle it, is she would just take it head-on and be like, ‘what are you gonna do, cancel me? And make fun of cancel culture,” Melissa Rivers said.