TV personality Joan Rivers arrives at the Clive Davis pre-Grammy Gala on Feb. 9, 2013 in Beverly Hills, Calif.(Photo: John Shearer/Invision/AP)
Has Joan Rivers gone too far (again)?
The comedian has sparked controversy over a joke she made about Heidi Klum in a sexy Julien Macdonald dress[1] at Elton John’s AIDS Foundation Academy Awards party.
“The last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into the ovens,” Rivers said of the German-born supermodel on Monday’s episode of E!’s Fashion Police.
The Anti-Defamation League’s director Abraham H. Foxman, a Holocaust survivor himself, said in a statement[2] that the comments were “vulgar and offensive to Jews and Holocaust survivors.”
The anti-Semitism watchdog group also criticized Rivers’ Fashion Police co-hosts Giuliana Rancic, Kelly Osborne and George Kotsiopoulos, whom the statement says were “doubled over with laughter” after she made the joke.
When asked for comment, Rivers, who is Jewish herself, told The Hollywood Reporter[3], “My husband lost the majority of his family at Auschwitz, and I can assure you that I have always made it a point to remind people of the Holocaust through humor.”
About the Author
Cindy Clark
Cindy Clark is an entertainment reporter who has been with USA TODAY for eight years. She specializes in celebrities and style, and has a personal penchant for all things starry and stylish. It works!
References
- ^ http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/02/25/ej-11-3_4_rx512_c380x510.jpg?bf2c524641f4f3ad69903e0bbe58a6b56986fd4c (www.gannett-cdn.com)
- ^ http://www.adl.org/press-center/press-releases/holocaust-nazis/adl-calls-on-joan-rivers-apologize-for-holocaust-remark.html#.US9yoBnZWUc (www.adl.org)
- ^ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/joan-rivers-draws-fire-pushing-424969 (www.hollywoodreporter.com)
