# Joan Rivers has gotten bitter **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2011, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427 "2011-02-15T06:53:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/1 "2011-02-15T06:53:04Z")
When did she get so bitchy? I know she’s abrasive, but recently sshe’s become jsut plain MEAN! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/2 "2011-02-15T06:58:29Z")
Wasn’t she always? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/3 "2011-02-15T07:02:26Z")
She just seems to be much more acerbic. She used to be funny acerbic, now she’s just mean. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/4 "2011-02-15T07:03:39Z")
As far as I know, she has always been a vicious harpy and has never been funny. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/5 "2011-02-15T07:07:25Z")
Elizabeth Taylor fat jokes were the mainstay of her career in the seventies and eighties. And then despite having been made a star by Johnny Carson, she started a talk show of her own without telling him and then tried to hire Fred de Cordova, Carson’s long time executive producer. She’s always been a hateful, no class bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/6 "2011-02-15T08:15:25Z")
Have you seen the [recent documentary](http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/movies/11joan.html) that was made by a crew that spent a year with her? I never realized just how nuts the woman is. She also lives impossibly above her means by her own admission. Her penthouse in NYC looks like Versailles and she has a huge staff whose compensation includes private school tuition for their kids. She admits that she could live comfortably indefinitely if she sold the penthouse and downsized her lifestyle to a level still far above most people, but she insists on lavish that forces her to keep working and she turns down hardly any paying gig. Woman is neurotic as hell. The most terrifying thing in the documentary is the beginning when her face is shown without makeup. She said in a promotional interview she’d rather have done a nude scene with makeup than that scene- in addition to the liver spots and lines that most people have when they’re her age (118 I think) add lots of visible incision lines and scars from the surgeries. You watch it and think “What a crazy bitter bitch”. She’s since put her penthouse on the market. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/7 "2011-02-15T09:56:05Z")
She’s always been a bitter bitch. She had some lucky breaks, and her brand of bitter was the flavor of the year for a couple of years…but watch some of her old stuff. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/8 "2011-02-15T11:22:32Z")
Yeah, I think one of the strangest things to happen in my life is when she somehow became an elder statesperson of the entertainment industry. Didn’t she have a show on E! where she just made fun of people’s appearance? ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/9 "2011-02-15T11:56:50Z")
She still has that show. I’m unlucky enough that my DVR catches the first couple minutes of it every week when it records the Soup. I learned everything I need to know about her and her toxic daughter watching them on Celebrity Apprentice. Now whenever I see her, all I can think of is the hateful bile she managed to put into the phrase “a _ **POKAH PLAYAH!!!** _”. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/10 "2011-02-15T12:22:20Z")
Wow, interesting responses. She has always come off to me the way everyone has described already. However, since starting to listen to comedy podcasts, and now that her movie came out, I’ve been surprised to hear the praise quite a few comedians have given her. Judging just by those people, she is apparently the sweetest, nicest person around. Now I think I’ll have to see that movie. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/11 "2011-02-15T14:58:14Z")
In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=595443&highlight=kelly+osbourne) I expressed the same opinion. Yes, insult comedy has always been Ms. Rivers stock-in-trade, but I think she’s taken it to a level where she just comes off like a cunt. I’m practically the last person to declare anything off limits when it comes to a joke but when one’s reperatoire consists \*solely \*of appearance putdowns (the lamest form of “humor” there is, imo) the bottom of the proverbial barrel has been scraped. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/12 "2011-02-15T15:40:13Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The most terrifying thing in the documentary is the beginning when her face is shown without makeup. She said in a promotional interview she’d rather have done a nude scene with makeup than that scene- in addition to the liver spots and lines that most people have when they’re her age (118 I think) add lots of visible incision lines and scars from the surgeries. I started watching that but had to turn it off for some reason and haven’t finished it - I thought that was one of the best movie into sequences I’ve ever seen! It’s her mask literally being applied to her. Fascinating! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/13 "2011-02-15T15:57:10Z")
As others have noted, she’s ALWAYS been a bitter and insecure person. But as others have not noted, VERY few healthy, sane, secure, happy people are standup comedians! Joan Rivers is definitely the type who’ll whine and moan for hours on end about how “I love Kathy Griffin, just ADORE her, she’s a dear friend… but of course you know, that bitch stole her entire act from me.” But you know what? That kind of sniping is routine in the comedy business. MOST standup comics are like that! MOST of them are insecure, petty backstabbers and whiners! Hang out backstage at any comedy club and you’ll hear LOADS of guys making the same gripes: 1. “Oh sure, I could be a big star too, if I wanted to sell out and do lame crap like (Jerry Seinfeld).” 2. “I KNEW (Dane Cook) back when he was a nobody- he stole a bunch of MY bits. That should be ME getting big bucks and starring in HBO specials.” 3. “I knew (Chris Rock) back in the day. I love the guy, LOVE him. We were real tight. But, just between you and me, he was always kind of an asshole.” Change the names to whoever you want. That’s just how standup comics are… a lot of musicians too, come to think of it. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/14 "2011-02-15T17:00:46Z")
That ‘reality’ show she has with her daughter is typical Stupid and they must be paying her a lot. It is so Stupid. I can just picture them, the women and the producers, sitting around a table thinking up zany situations and faux-fights : “Let’s have Joan sneak into the shower and take a naked picture of Melissa”. “Oh, that’ll be good - how about a big chase around the living room after, and Melissa screaming in outrage?” I can’t help it, I adore The Fashion Police show. They bleep more and more of Joan’s words out, and you can fill in a swear word yourself, but this is getting kind of tired and desperate. It was amusing the first few times, but now it just seems staged, a bit desperate. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/15 "2011-02-15T17:12:40Z")
Like everyone has said I think she got bitter several decades ago. I always thought it was ridiculous that she was allowed to critique the way other people dress when she always looks like she was crashed into by a gay leopard, zebra and ostrich. I also don’t know whether to feel sorry for her daughter or hate her for basing her whole life/career on her mother’s coat tails. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/16 "2011-02-15T17:13:45Z")
I can’t believe I’m doing this, but… I kinda like her. Sure, she does mean comedy, but she throws herself on the fire before anyone else. And god help me, she is often on point with her fashion critiques on Fashion Police. Forgive me. I can’t help digging her a bit. ETA: I haven’t seen her reality shows. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/17 "2011-02-15T17:29:23Z")
I have an aquaintance that in L.A. made money doing a Joan Rivers impersonation for corporate gigs. How sad is that? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/18 "2011-02-15T17:32:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Joan Rivers has gotten bitter Well, that’s understandable. I mean, **her** GoDaddy commercial didn’t end with a hook designed to trick the gullible Teeming Millions into thinking that the online version would show her nekkid. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/19 "2011-02-15T17:46:20Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I kinda like her. Sure, she does mean comedy, but she throws herself on the fire before anyone else. Not just you – I’ve always had a favorable impression of her, too. I liked her on Carson in the mid-80s, and gained A LOT of respect for her performances on _Nip/Tuck_. Yes, she was playing herself, but it was a role that was based on her ability to step back poke fun of her own plastic surgeries. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427/20 "2011-02-15T17:47:44Z")
I always winced when she tore into herself. Almost to the level of self-hate. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joan-rivers-has-gotten-bitter/571427.md?page=2)