At the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival in May, television host and podcaster Melissa Rivers attended a screening of We Met at Grossinger’s. The documentary explores the legendary Borscht Belt resort’s impact on American culture and celebrates the Jewish comedians who launched careers on its stage, including her legendary mom, Joan Rivers. The appearance was one of many ways Melissa continues to champion her mother’s enduring legacy.

Joan Rivers was fearless pioneer in a male-dominated industry who broke boundaries with her signature brash outspokenness. Decades after her passing, she still inspires female comedians. Yet, according to her daughter, Joan did not view herself as a feminist icon.

She “never thought of herself as a woman comedian,” said the 58-year-old. “She just wanted to be the funniest person on the stage.”  

Melissa, who lives in Los Angeles, is currently working on several film projects about her mother and is executive producer of the play Joan, which is preparing for a national tour. In addition, she has a popular podcast, Melissa Rivers’ Group Text, where she talks about everything from fashion and celebrity gossip to empty-nesting and aging. She also supports a number of female-run businesses, the latest, RingMyBelle, is a mobile, at-home red carpet beauty service. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Tell us about your Jewish life growing up

We were very much the Passover family and the temple once-a-year family. My mother never met a holiday she did not like; we had the Christmas tree and the menorah.

To my mom, holidays—literally any holiday—meant family and family gatherings. Her Jewishness was more of a cultural identity than a religious identity, and that’s where I fall as well.

My father [Edgar Rosenberg]’s family was mostly lost in the Holocaust. I was made to be very aware of that, of the inherent antisemitism. You couldn’t grow up, at least my parents’ generation and us, the generation after them, without a working knowledge of what happened baked in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How has the role of women in the cultural spotlight evolved since your mother’s days?

She opened conversations on what you can discuss publicly about women’s lives. We’re seeing the impact of that now, with women age 45 and up having real discussions about what our bodies are going through. Most of our fashion icon actresses are all over the age of 50 right now. Women like Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett are still considered the biggest movie stars in the world.

As the United States enters its 250th year, where do you see the American Jewish community?

It’s a very difficult and terribly dangerous time, where the far left and the far right all scream the loudest. And that is what Jews hear.

How should we react to those we disagree with today?

My mother said, “When you make somebody laugh, you give them a mini vacation.”

It’s impossible to hate someone you laugh with. You can disagree with them, but if someone has humor, you can say, “I can’t stand them, but they’re funny,” or “I disagree with them completely, but they’re fun to sit next to at a dinner party.”

Do you see any hope for the future?

I think we’re moving a bit further away from when everyone was being canceled and people triggered by everything. This next generation is starting to move toward the center.

My mom used to say to me all the time after I had my son, Cooper, “What kind of world are we bringing him into?” I think about that all the time. My son is 25. What is the world going to look like in 10 years for him?

Your mother was vocal about supporting Israel and standing against antisemitism. How would she have responded to celebrity silence today around Jew-hatred?

She would be very, very unhappy with it. Knowing my mother, she would be speaking her mind. Someone just asked me about this in another interview, and I said, “God bless Gal Gadot, for standing up and taking all the negatives that came toward her and didn’t flinch.” So incredibly unapologetic. We should all take a page from her.

Susan L. Hornik is a veteran entertainment and lifestyle journalist living in California.