Beloved dog saved her life
11-room, three-story condo atop a gilded-era E. 62nd St. mansion rivaled the Palace of Versailles, complete with major works of art and a ballroom.
Her ornate tastes, which she described as a cross between Marie Antoinette and Jean Harlow, included Grecian columns, antique paneling and dazzling chandeliers.
“When people would go to Joan’s apartment, they couldn’t believe it,” said Blaine Trump, a close friend and socialite.
Rivers craved acceptance in the closed circle of New York’s WASP elite, the world of old family names, inherited wealth and superior social status.
The surprise came when a woman who could shock even Howard Stern with her raw vulgarity was eventually welcomed as one of them.
Her new pals included two women at the pinnacle of New York society: C.Z. Guest and Brooke Astor. The latter wore a bumblebee pin that Rivers excitedly copied for her jewelry line. With permission, of course.
She even managed to cozy up to Prince Charles and his wife Camilla.
Trump, the ex-wife of Donald Trump’s brother Robert Trump, said the royal couple “absolutely adored her ... they were real friends.”
As she fought to keep her career alive, Rivers eyed rising female comics warily. While Rivers claimed to be a fan of Lena Dunham, she bashed the “Girls” star as overweight and over-eager to flash some skin.
Kathy Griffin seemed to particularly draw venom. Griffin found an audience for her HBO specials with shockingly barbed comic riffs on celebrities.
In “A Piece of Work,” the 2010 documentary on her life, Rivers jokingly complains that Griffin is stealing all her jobs. But there was real concern and some enmity in Rivers’ statements.
According to Bennetts, Rivers was clearly rankled by the humorous insults Griffin lobbed her way as host of a 2009 Comedy Central roast celebrating the older comedian. “It wasn’t that Joan disliked Kathy,” a Rivers confidante told Bennetts. “She could just see the ambition dripping from Kathy’s mouth.”
Rivers’ own take on the redheaded comic: “Kathy Griffin is just waiting for me to die so she can have my career.”
Some charged the dying Rivers was still on life support when Griffin made calls inquiring about the future of “Fashion Police.” The younger comedian denied all to Larry King.
Yet within a year, Griffin assumed Rivers’ chair on the show — hired by daughter Melissa, the executive producer. Griffin never seemed comfortable, and the program fell apart after a disastrous 2015 Academy Awards show.
In post-show commentary, cohost Giuliana Rancic observed that dreadlocked African-American actress Zendaya smelled like “weed.” Kelly Osbourne accused the show of racism and quit.
Griffin followed Osbourne out the door, claiming a stance of feminist solidarity. But Melissa saw it as a betrayal of her mother’s legacy.
What would Rivers have said? Whatever it was, it would have blistering, cruel and gasp-inducingly funny.