Joan Rivers: Fox News Banned Me for Palin Diss

Fox denies it, but Rivers says they're just doing 'damage control'
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 20, 2011 6:30 AM CST
Joan Rivers: Fox News Banned Me for Palin Diss
TV personalities Melissa, left, and Joan Rivers pose for a portrait Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011 in New York.   (AP Photo/Jeff Christensen)

Did a Sarah Palin insult get Joan Rivers kicked off Fox News? Depends who you ask. It all started when Rivers told TMZ that Palin is “stupid and a threat,” and that those who blame her for the Tucson shootings are “right.” Rivers and her daughter, who were originally supposed to appear on Fox & Friends today, then got a call telling them, “You're canceled on Fox because of what you said about Sarah Palin,” Melissa Rivers tells PopEater. (Joan adds that they were also told they were "banned.") And how does Joan feel about that? Fox execs can “go f*** themselves.”

Fox quickly denied the report, telling E! in a statement that the show was simply overbooked and the booker “mistakenly canceled Joan’s appearance.” Rivers' rep adds that another Fox rep did call Joan to book her for tomorrow (Joan can’t make it—surprise, surprise—but her rep claims she’ll appear at a later date) and said the booker “should have never said” that the Palin comments got Rivers axed. In a later report, however, Rivers’ rep tells the New York Daily News that the comedian believes Fox is “a bunch of dirty liars and they’re backpedaling” and simply doing “damage control.” Click for more of Rivers’ side of the story.
(More Joan Rivers stories.)

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