After receiving backlash over her comment about the three women who were kidnapped and held in captivity for a decade by Ariel Castro, Joan Rivers is refusing to apologize.
According to Fox News, Rivers and her daughter, Melissa, appeared on the TODAY show Tuesday to discuss their reality show.
When asked about living arrangements, Rivers joked “Those women in the basement in Cleveland had more space.” After seeing the shocked looks on the hosts’ faces, she asked “Too soon?”
Attorneys for two of the girls, Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry, have since issued a statement asking for an apology, stating that it is “beyond shocking and disappointing” that a celebrity would say something like that on national television.
Rivers is sticking to her comment, however, and is refusing to apologize.
“I’m a comedienne. I know what those girls went through. It was a little, stupid joke,” she said in a phone interview with The Plain Dealer. “There is nothing to apologize for. I made a joke. That’s what I do. Calm down. Calm f------ down. I’m a comedienne. They’re free, so let’s move on.”
She went on to say that she hopes the three women have productive, joyful lives and that The Plain Dealer should “stop writing about my stupidity”.