Look, we love Joan Rivers around these parts. She’s a national treasure, and she’s an old pro when it comes to crossing the line. In fact, she’s one of the best at making distasteful jokes. So when she appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman Tuesday night (February 26), in her post-Oscars celebrity-skewering wheelhouse, we knew things might get ugly. But, like, in a good way. Alas, Joanie decided to roll off a string of fat jokes about Adele. Didn’t she learn from the Melissa McCarthy “hippo” debacle?
All comedians know, if you’re gonna do the fat joke in this day and age, you better do it in a novel way. Joan Rivers did not do it in a novel way last night: ”What is her song? ‘Rolling in the Deep’? She should add fried chicken.” You can just picture the drummer awaiting his cue for the rimshot. That was followed by, “She said, ’My throat, my throat, I don’t know if I can swallow.’ And I said, ‘Oh, you can swallow.’” Comedy? Watch it below.
To be fair, Rivers makes fun of her own physical attributes later in the interview, so she’s equal opportunity with this stuff (as anyone familiar with her material knows). But, yeesh. If it’s go big or go home, she should’ve left those punchlines at home.
Did Joan Rivers cross the line? Hit us up below with your thoughts, or let us know on Facebook and Twitter!
Hilarious
Uh, yes she crossed the line. The jokes are getting a bit ridiculous. Leave the girl alone.
Joan has no room to talk !!! just look at her damm face!
Joan is not funny and Adele is fat.
Joan is unfiltered, but she’s still funny. Adele is fat but she’s still pretty. It’s a joke. Adele probably laughed anyway. She doesn’t seem like she cares what people say. Let’s move on.
So Carl’s problem with Joan’s jokes is that they weren’t offensive enough?
No, just that they were stale, generic, unfunny. Not Joan’s finest material.
Who is Adele bothering ? And you all wish you had her talent!
Adele is a multiplatinum artist, and she has a great voice. She has love in her life and an Academy Award. Adele 3 Joan Rivers 0.
If you insult people for a living, the way Joan Rivers and her ilk do, you do it to people who deserve it or that are in on it. Taking shots at Lohan or Sheen for there antics might be a good example. Adele did not invite these cheap remarks and she certainly does not deserve them. I hope this appearance on Letterman marks Rivers’ downfall.
Joan Rivers is a COMEDIAN and she makes fun of herself first and foremost. I don’t think Adele, who is worth tens of millions of dollars could care less about what Joan says about her. Where is the “outrage” when Jay Leno or David Letterman or any other male comic tells the exact same types of jokes?
Joan Rivers specializes in judgements about OTHER women’s appearance. Fat jokes are cheap, stupid and they are the last safe haven for hateful people, who can no longer use the “N” word, or “F” for gays. It’s still passable to call women “Fat”–a mean pejorative insult, usually under the fake notion it’s about “health”. Was Amy Winehouse more healthy than Adele? Is Joan Rivers healthy?…No. A thousand examples. Melissa McCarthy and Adele are much more talented than Joan. Rivers lost her funny two decades ago.