Academy rejects claims of Joan Rivers snub at Oscars
Late American Jewish comedian and red carpet veteran was omitted from 'In Memoriam' section of Sunday night's show, sparking outrage.
The Academy Awards has responded to claims that it snubbed Joan Rivers, a red carpet icon at the Oscars, by omitting her from its "In Memoriam" section at Sunday night's awards.
"Joan Rivers is among the many worthy artists and filmmakers we were unfortunately unable to feature in the In Memoriam segment of this year's Oscar show," the statement said. "She is, however, included in our In Memoriam gallery on Oscar.com."
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Rivers, who died last September aged 81 following complications during surgery, is considered to have originated the now famous "What are you wearing?" question in the pre-ceremony parade down the red carpet by stars clad in designer outfits.
Her omission from the section commemorating entertainment industry icons caused uproar from fans and stars alike.
No Joan Rivers in the montage??? She basically created the red carpet which makes all of these bitches millions. For shame!!!
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) February 23, 2015
Um, notably absent from the In Memoriam segment!! #JoanRivers
#Oscars
pic.twitter.com/XT0PEvo133
— Matt Polidoro (@Polidorable) February 23, 2015
The American Jewish comedian was known for her profanity-laced humor and indiscriminately sharp tongue,
famously commenting once about supermodel Heidi Klum that, "the last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into the ovens."
Rivers was also a staunch supporter of Israel, even tackling comments from other famous faces during last summer's Gaza conflict. She also left provision in her will for several Jewish charities.
