JOAN RIVERS & MELISSA RIVERS' OSCAR'S RED CARPET RUNDOWN
Melissa Rivers Settles Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Over Joan Rivers' Death
"Moving forward, my focus will be to ensure that no one ever has to go through what my mother, Cooper and I went through," the 'Fashion Police' executive producer and co-host said in a statement.
The family of Joan Rivers has settled a medical malpractice suit against the New York City clinic where the comedian died."In accepting this settlement, I am able to put the legal aspects of my mother’s death behind me and ensure that those culpable for her death have accepted responsibility for their actions quickly and without equivocation," said her daughter Melissa Rivers in a statement on Thursday. (Read the full statement below.)
Joan Rivers died Sept. 4, 2014, at age 81. The comedian's death came days after she stopped breathing after undergoing a routine endoscopy at Yorkville Endoscopy in Manhattan.
Melissa Rivers filed the suit in 2015 in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, alleging that the doctors performed unauthorized medical procedures, as they were caught taking a selfie with the Fashion Police star while she was under anesthesia.
Melissa Rivers' attorneys Ben Rubinowitz and Jeff Bloom did not disclose the amount of the settlement, but said they wanted to "make certain that the focus of this horrific incident remains on improved patient care and the legacy of Joan Rivers," according to the Associated Press.
The lawsuit alleged that doctors at the clinic mishandled Rivers' procedure by performing a laryngoscopy on her vocal cords without consent, instead of an endoscopy. According to the AP, the suit claimed that when an anesthesiologist expressed concern over what the procedure would do to her ability to breathe, she was told that she was being "paranoid."
The autopsy revealed that Rivers' official cause of death was due to brain damage from lack of oxygen.
Read Melissa Rivers' full statement below:
The lawsuit concerning my mother's death has been settled. In accepting this settlement, I am able to put the legal aspects of my mother’s death behind me and ensure that those culpable for her death have accepted responsibility for their actions quickly and without equivocation. Moving forward, my focus will be to ensure that no one ever has to go through what my mother, Cooper and I went through and I will work towards ensuring higher safety standards in out-patient surgical clinics. I want to express my personal gratitude to my legal team for their wise counsel and prompt resolution of this case.
The clinic responded to the settlement Thursday night, telling the AP that it's committed to providing quality and compassionate health care services, and adding that both sides agreed to a settlement to avoid litigation.
Melissa Rivers says late mother Joan Rivers 'was never intent of hurting anyone' with ruthless comedy
After Melissa Rivers sold her mother Joan Rivers’ penthouse in 2015,
she had to go through the late star's belongings, which resulted in
exploring a treasure trove of jokes, letters, newspaper clipping and
even receipts she collected throughout her lifetime.
While the 49-year-old TV host and
producer was all too familiar with Joan’s mountainous collection, which
reportedly included filing cabinets with 69,000 quips to ensure she
never repeated a line, Melissa wasn’t expecting to share them with the
world.
With enough convincing, Melissa, along with Joan’s
friend and publicist Scott Currie, chose to share those rarely-seen
archives in a coffee table book, titled “Joan Rivers: Confidential,”
which was released earlier this year. It’s a loving homage to the raspy
voiced, razor-sharp comedian who died in 2014 at the age of 81.“We were having to go through everything in her apartment and start to close the whole thing after I sold it,” Melissa recalled to Fox News. “There was so much stuff in storage. My parents were these incredible record keepers. They also had files and scrapbooks.
"Scott kept saying to me, ‘There’s something in here… There’s a book here.’ And I was like, ‘Oh God, no there’s not.’ And he kept on me, convincing me. And I said, ‘Fine. If you can put something together and prove to me that there’s a book here then I’ll think about it. And he put something together… [I] sent it to my agent and it sold in a day.”
When asked if going through her mother’s belongings helped her cope with the loss, Melissa joked, “I’m not sure the book helped me cope, but it certainly helped get my storage bills under control.”
While Melissa wasn’t surprised by the discovery, as it was far from a family secret, fans will be shocked to learn that Joan, who was recognized as one of America’s most successful female stand-up comics, originally dreamed of a different role for herself.
“Well, she wanted to be a very serious actress,” said Melissa. “My grandfather was very funny. And my mother was always funny. And her sister was funny. Apparently, her mother was just very formal and not terribly funny. But they definitely had my grandfather, her father’s sense of humor. And they would always just be laughing. That was such an innate, comfortable space for her that eventually, that’s just where she landed. But the big thing was that she was going to be a serious, dramatic actress.”
However, the change in career plans worked for the brassy Brooklyn native. Her no-nonsense approach to comedy left millions of viewers in stitches. And no one in Hollywood was off-limits, not even the queen of glamour. Joan’s files revealed there were about 850 jokes dedicated to Elizabeth Taylor alone.
“Elizabeth Taylor became a favorite because, you gotta remember, women of my mother’s generation, they all wanted to be her,” said Melissa. “Every girl wanted to be ‘National Velvet.’ Every little girl wanted to grow up and be beautiful and glamorous — and the diamonds and the men fighting over her. This was their fantasy... And I think that’s where that all began.”
While many of Joan’s one-liners focused on Taylor’s weight gain over the years, the Oscar-winner didn’t seemed bothered by the seemingly vicious commentary. When mutual friend Roddy McDowall approached Taylor about Joan’s comedy, she gave a shocking answer.
“…The message that came back to my mom was ‘It doesn’t hurt me where I live,’” said Melissa. “Which is a pretty incredible answer. And as we saw the things that she did later in life, you get that. She always knew who she was, regardless of everything that was swirling around her."
And while some of Joan’s infamous jokes could have easily offended her targets, Melissa insisted she was never out to hurt anyone. And if Joan was aware that any of her subjects or their families were genuinely upset by her puns, she would immediately remove them from her act.
joanriver Follow
You look at the bulk of the material, and I would say a good 98 percent is self-deprecating with her as the butt of the joke,” said Melissa. “Everyone used to ask if it would upset my dad (TV producer Edgar Rosenberg) that she made so many jokes about my dad. And my mom would always say, ‘You aren’t listening carefully. The jokes aren’t about Edgar. The jokes are about me!’… It was making fun of herself… She was never intent on hurting anyone.”
But Joan easily gained both fame and famous fans, including former President Ronald Reagan and Prince Charles. Melissa explained humor was the reason behind their lasting friendships.
“President Reagan was funny,” said Melissa. “You forget, he was an actor and a great storyteller… And my mother’s dear friend was Nancy Reagan. So that was a friendship that lasted through the years.
"The same with Prince Charles… He’s a big fan of comedy. And has a huge, hilarious sense of humor… A real friendship developed between my mother and Prince Charles and Camilla. … The bond was truly made through a mutual sense of humor… In private, the whole family has great, great humor.”
Joan earned a lasting career by mercilessly insulting nearly anyone, living or dead and happily criticizing the couture worn by celebrities on the red carpet. But when cameras stopped rolling, she made sure to keep every reminder that her comedy made someone laugh — especially when that praise came from the type of star she once dreamed of becoming.
“She never lost the feeling of being a fan,” said Melissa. “She would always save all her correspondences. My mother was just as excited to receive a letter from a Meryl Streep as you or I would be. And that translated so much on the red carpet. She never stopped being a fan.”
joanrivers
Follow
The Patriot Conservative News Tea Party Network
liberalism + Socialism = Terrorism
Thanks for your Support
LLC 501C- 4 UCC 1-308.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Content
and Programming Copyright 2017 By Patcnews The Patriot Conservative
News Tea Party Network © LLC UCC 1-308.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT
PREJUDICE All copyrights reserved By Patcnews The Patriot Conservative
News Tea Party Network Copyright 2017 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials
herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be
reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast
without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter
or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the
content. © All Copyrights reserved By Patcnews The Patriot Conservative
News Tea Party Network
No comments:
Post a Comment