Joy Behar Remembers Joan Rivers as a ‘Great Role Model’
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ABC/Ida Mae Astute(NEW YORK) — Joan Rivers was one of the hardest-working comedians in the business before her death Thursday. Even at the time of her death, the 81-year-old was supposed to be in New York City covering Mercedes Benz Fashion Week for E!’s Fashion Police.
Joy Behar explained on Friday’s Good Morning America why Rivers, her longtime friend, worked so hard.
“I said, ‘Joan, what is it with this empty calendar that makes you so…’ [She said] ‘Oh sure, sure! You have a husband. You have someone to hang out with.’ She was right. It was like, you know, she was a single widow and she needed to do things with her life,” Behar recalled.
Behar said the comedy legend just wasn’t just a role model to other female comics, but to women in general.
“We’re trained to be nice and to be good little girls and don’t speak your mind. She’s the opposite and so all of us women comedians are like that,” said Behar. “We just say whatever. So we took a page from Joan. She was a great role model. [She said] just go out there and say whatever and be funny and don’t worry if the men don’t think you’re sexy or if they don’t like it, too bad! You know, that’s a very important thing for women to understand.”
Behind-the-scenes, Behar said Rivers was just a regular person: “She was normal. She picked up a check. She had a conversation. She was a normal person. You would’ve enjoyed her conversation I think. Not one of these people that has to be funny 24/7.”
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