Joan Rivers Still on Life Support, Daughter Says

Image by Getty Images

By Anne Cohen September 2, 2014

Joan and Melissa Rivers // Getty Images

Melissa Rivers has confirmed that her mother and “Fashion Police” co-host Joan Rivers is still on life support.

“On behalf of my mother and our family, we are extremely grateful for all the love and support we’ve received. At this time, she does remain on life support,” Melissa Rivers said in a statement.

The 81-year-old lady of comedy was placed in a medically-induced coma at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York after she stopped breathing during a minor throat procedure on August 28. Though she remains on life support, she is apparently making some small but positive steps towards recovery.

“It’s a slow process, but she’s on the road to recovery,” a source told E! News. “She’s getting better. Don’t believe all this ridiculous speculation.”

Melissa Rivers, who flew to New York with her 13-year-old son Cooper, has thanked Rivers’ fans for their support during this difficult time.

“Thank you for your continued love and support,” she said in a statement released Sunday. “We are keeping our fingers crossed.”

“She is a rock. She is calmer than I’ve ever seen her,” the same source said of 46-year-old Melissa. “All these reports about doomsday are not true. She is her mother’s daughter and she’s tough as nails. She’s the person keeping everyone together.”

According to a friend, Joan was laughing about “going in for a little procedure” on the night before the operation.

What a fighter. Get better — we miss you.

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO