Melissa Rivers has revealed how a twist of fate saved a collection her late mother’s greatest treasures from being lost in the recent LA fires that destroyed her Pacific Palisades home.
The 56-year-old shared that Joan Rivers’ precious catalogue of jokes had been collected from the property just a few months before the blaze took hold.
‘The jokes and the major archival pieces, fortunately, about two and a half, three months ago were picked up for a national comedy center,’ the Group Text podcast host told People.
The filing cabinet holding in which the materials were held contained about 65,000 original jokes the iconic comedian and television host used during her 64-year career.
Joan passed away due to complications from what was supposed to be an outpatient throat surgery in 2014. She was 81.
Other items belonging the former Fashion Police star, including her clothes, have been auctioned off over the years to support the late comedian’s favorite charity, God’s Love We Deliver, which provides food to people suffering from serious illness who can’t cook for themselves.
Melissa Rivers 56, has revealed that the catalogue of her late mother Joan Rivers’ jokes were collected from her property just a few months before the LA fires destroyed her Pacific Palisades home
Melissa shared that Joan Rivers’ precious catalogue of jokes had been collected from the property just a few months before the blaze took hold. (Pictured in Los Angeles in July 2013)
Joan’s jewelry, Melissa reports, was stored away in a safe deposit box at a bank, which she assumes was built to withstand fire.
Regarding the loss of her home, Rivers, who is engaged to Steve Mitchel said, ‘When we say we lost everything, well you can’t get it until you see the video.’
‘It’s not just my life, but my son Cooper’s life too.’
Rivers shares Cooper, 24, with her ex-husband John Endicott. ‘We were both only children, and just all of it is gone,’ she said, adding it was surreal to see her entire life contained in three L.L. Bean boat totes.
The Joy actress shared previously she had been able to grab her mom’s Emmy award before fleeing her home.
‘We’re all doing the best we can,’ she told the publication.
‘Cooper’s made of the same tough stuff I am. And we are all leaning on each other and coping.’
Her biggest regret is losing bathrobes that belonged to her mother and her late father, Edgar Rosenberg, but she was able to save a photo of her dad, who died in 1987.
‘I had her bathrobe and my dad’s bathrobe… I lost the only three things of theirs that I kept in my house because they reminded me so much of them,’ she said.
Melissa announced previously she had been able to rescue Joan’s Emmy, and revealed she had been able to escape with a photo of her later father, Edgar Rosenberg. (Joan pictured in Los Angeles in March 2006)
Rivers said she and her fiance, Steve Mitchel lost everything in the Palisades fire. ‘Just all of it is gone,’ she said, adding it was surreal to see her entire life contained in three L.L. Bean boat totes (Pictured in Beverly Hills in May 2024)
Rivers has found temporary housing, but isn’t sure when she and other members of the community will be able to rebuild and return.
‘I mean I can’t even picture how it will look a year from now,’ she said.
‘The shops are gone. It was a complete decimation of an entire town. I keep thinking about all of these people who either owned stores or worked in the stores, some of them have lost not only their homes, they’ve lost their livelihood as well.
The former Joan & Melissa: Joan Know Best? star has been keeping busy by checking on friends and relying on humor to deal with the loss. ‘It’s my superpower,’ she explained, ‘I am my parents’ daughter.’
In the Palisades fire alone, around 5,300 structures have been destroyed
