Joan Rivers refuses to apologize after offending Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, two of the three Cleveland women held captive for a decade, with a wisecrack.
“I’m a comedienne,” she told The Plain Dealer. “I know what those girls went through. It was a little, stupid joke. There is nothing to apologize for. I made a joke. That’s what I do. Calm down. Calm f——g down. I’m a comedienne. They’re free, so let’s move on.”
Rivers added she was thrilled that the women are OK and said she hopes they have productive, joyful lives.
During an appearance on “Today” Tuesday, Rivers, 80, compared living in her daughter’s basement to the captivity Berry and DeJesus experienced at the hands of kidnapper Ariel Castro.
“Those women in the basement in Cleveland had more space,” Rivers joked.
On Wednesday, attorneys for Berry and DeJesus called Rivers’ comment “a new low” that warranted an apology.
“Our clients have become aware of Joan Rivers’ unfortunate comparison of living in her daughter’s guest room to their captivity,” lawyers James Wooley and Heather Kimmel said in a statement. “We understand that Ms. Rivers is a comedienne; however, the idea that a celebrity would say something this hurtful, on national television, no less, is beyond shocking and disappointing.
“Our clients are strong, private women who have endured unwanted and often painful media attention for quite some time. They now have to endure this, which is a new low, and we believe a sincere apology is warranted.”
Berry, DeJesus and a third woman, Michelle Knight, escaped from Castro’s home last year. Castro hanged himself in prison in December 2013.
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