How did Joan Rivers die? Fatal Laryngoscopy procedure explored as daughter Melissa Rivers pays tribute to late comedian

NBC recently aired Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute, dedicated to the late comedian. The TV special celebrated the standup comic, with sets and speeches delivered by the likes of Patton Oswalt, Tiffany Haddish, Nikki Glaser, Rachel Brosnahan, and more, alongside her daughter Melissa, who also served as the executive producer.

During her turn on the stage, Melissa read out a letter from her mother addressed to her. It said:

“Dear Melissa, if you are reading this, I am dead. And given that I am dead, I assume someone will finally decide to honor me. Well, it's about **** time. Please share the enclosed note with whatever random producer is producing this show. Of course, I have a few suggestions to make it better.”

Melissa then read the various suggestions her late mother would have provided. Before moving on to her set, she concluded the letter with,

“And for God's sakes, don't let Melissa pull that Christina Crawford 'Mommie Dearest' cr*p. I am so tired of her whining about that. Four, have Melissa close the show. She is much better at faking warmth, humility, and gratitude than I ever was. Thank you in advance. Joan Rivers.”

Joan Rivers, often considered one of the best standup comics of all time, died in 2014 after she underwent a laryngoscopy. The Celebrity Apprentice 2 winner had reportedly visited the Yorkville Endoscopy Clinic for a routine check-up on August 28 that year. During the procedure on her vocal cords, Rivers stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest.

She was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was placed in a medically-induced coma, Entertainment Tonight reported at the time. Joan Rivers passed away on September 4, 2025. The New York City Medical Examiner's office later announced that the cause of death was:

“Anoxic encephalopathy due to hypoxic arrest.”

This implied brain damage due to lack of oxygen. Per Reuters, the medical examiner also said in a statement,

“The manner of death is therapeutic complication. [...] The death resulted from a predictable complication of medical therapy.”

In 2015, Melissa Rivers filed a malpractice lawsuit against the clinic, which was settled the following year.

Melissa recently talked about getting the comics together for Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute

The legendary comedian was honored with an NBC special more than a decade after her death. Melissa, who was crucial in organizing the TV special, recently appeared on Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and spoke about getting the comedians together for the tribute. She told the host,

“Putting these shows together is very, very complicated because you've got to find a date. Sometimes I feel like we just took a dart and threw it at the calendar, and it landed on the day that we taped it.”

She continued,

“We got very lucky. We were able to work around the dates and everyone said yes. And people flew in and flew out and came in for the day. Jeff Ross came in for the day. He’s awesome. [...] And backstage, it was so warm and so lovely. And to get a room full of comedians not all trying to one up each other and throwing elbows is amazing.”

While talking about getting everyone together and preparing for the TV special, Melissa remembered how everyone would stop and watch when her mother Joan Rivers' clips would come. She said,

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“What was amazing was when the clips of my mom would come on, everybody would stop and watch, and we all walked away from the night saying, still the funniest person in the room.”

The hour-long Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute aired on NBC on May 13. According to USA Today, the network revealed that the TV special was filmed at Harlem’s Apollo Theater on the 2024 New York Comedy Festival’s opening night.

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