It doesn’t take much to get a conspiracy theory going these days, no matter how unhinged.
In recent days, a nine-year-old video of Joan Rivers has been surfacing around the darkest corners of the platform now known as X, with far-right trolls insinuating she was killed for making LGBTQ+ jokes about Barack and Michelle Obama.
When asked an impromptu question about when the U.S. will elect its first out gay president, the legendary stand-up responded with the following quip: “Well, we already have with Obama. Let’s just calm down. We know Michelle, she’s a transgender. We all know.”
Rivers died shortly after those remarks–for totally unrelated reasons, of course. She experienced serious complications after undergoing a routine throat procedure at an outpatient center, dying shortly thereafter. Federal officials found the clinic made multiple mistakes during the operation, including a failure to respond to her deteriorating vital signs.
Joan’s daughter, Melissa, successfully filed a malpractice lawsuit against the doctors who performed the surgery.
While Rivers enjoyed an iconic comedy career, we can comfortably say her joke about the Obamas was in poor taste. It missed the mark nine years ago, and has aged even more poorly.
But it’s also worth pointing out that, despite some off-color jokes, she was of a different time and a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights throughout her career. In fact, she was one of the first celebrities who responded to the AIDS crisis, headlining fundraisers and caring for people living with the virus.
Her charitable work, and ardent support, made her one of the first true gay icons.
“My gay fans have been wonderful from day one,” she told The Advocate a few months before her passing. “I remember when I was working at the Duplex in Greenwich Village in New York at the beginning of my career and the only ones who would laugh at my jokes were the gay guys. I think if I had started out in straight clubs and bars I never would’ve gotten anywhere.”
So why is an old clip of Rivers making a quip about the Obamas resurfacing now? Last week, a 40-year-old letter that Barack Obama wrote to one of his girlfriends was revealed. In it, the 44th president wrote that he, like a lot of guys in their 20s, sometimes fantasized about what it might be like to have sex with men.
As we said, it doesn’t take much to get the far-right conspiracy machine turning…
All jokes aside, Obama posted a strong record on LGBTQ+ issues during his presidency. Most notably, he repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and oversaw the legalization of same-sex marriage. He also extended employment protections to federal employees on the basis of gender identity.
In her autobiography, Michelle Obama revealed that she and one of their daughters, Malia, raced out of the White House to celebrate the Obergefell ruling.
Over the years, Michelle has also made various speeches and remarks supporting gay and transgender rights as well.
So in summation: Joan Rivers told a bad joke on the fly almost a decade ago, but the conspiracy around her death is ridiculous and fake. Fortunately, the Obamas’ support of LGBTQ+ folx is very real.
ScottOnEarth
This rumor has been around since the day after Joan tragically died…..and, as Alex mentions, it’s from ridiculous far-right trolls (who also think that JFK, Jr., is still alive). These deranged morons are indescribably stupid and useless. Seriously, where did these dimwitted maggots come from?
abfab
Oh GROW UP!
monty clift
Oh no, Scott!! You’ve offended abfab’s kind.
DBMC
Hey Monty, that was one of Joan’s catch phrases.
abfab
Monty has officially lost his grip. He’d be better off staying out of conversations in which he knows nothing about…..which would all of them.
cuteguy
One silver lining in her tragic passing was that we never had to hear from her no talent nepo baby Melissa Rivers anymore.
abfab
zzzzzzzzz
Tombear
Doll face, it’s NOT maggots it’s MAGATS. The acronym for Make America Great Again Trump Supporters
Jim
MAGATS maggots.
Is there really a difference
DBMC
Works either way.
RIGay
This was not news worthy, and the source should have been shut down a long time ago. Such a shame that we continue to perpetuate this BS by reposting it.
Jim
Joan was mean and viscous.
People laughed be cause they were uncomfortable not because they were amused
DBMC
Viscous? She had a sticky texture?
ScottOnEarth
Actually, Jim, we laughed because Joan was a brilliant, gifted comedienne. Yes, she could sometimes be mean in her act, but she still managed to be charming and endearing, which was part of her immense talent.
abfab
Jim boy knows all about viscosity. He uses Valvoline 10-40 motor oil for his lube.
Matthewnow
Love Joan Rivers. She, like all comedians, had some jokes that didn’t hit the mark. She was very compassionate and always spread love. Don’t hit her when she can not respond in person. RIP Joan.
Ronbo
President Obama was so much better than everyone else. But as president he refused to sign an executive order allowing gays in the military. Nancy Pelosi, as speaker of the house, passed the repeal of DADT over the objections of the Obama administration.
President Obama and his military staff wanted another two years to study gays in the military. (KNOWING that we Democrats were going to lose the House in the midterms.)
Foot-dragging is not leadership.
Ronbo
Thank Nancy Pelosi, she had the balls to take action and push the vote. Obama military advisors campaigned against repeal of DADT and President Obama was ready to give bigotry more time.
Kangol2
It wasn’t just “Nancy Pelosi” having the “balls” to “take action,” it was the Democratic House and Senate caucuses that agreed that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell had to be repealed, and President Obama agreed and signed the bill.
“During the 2008 U.S. presidential election campaign, Senator Barack Obama advocated a full repeal of the laws barring gays and lesbians from serving in the military.[128] Nineteen days after his election, Obama’s advisers announced that plans to repeal the policy might be delayed until 2010, because Obama “first wants to confer with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his new political appointees at the Pentagon to reach a consensus, and then present legislation to Congress”.”
“As president he advocated a policy change to allow gay personnel to serve openly in the armed forces, stating that the U.S. government has spent millions of dollars replacing troops expelled from the military, including language experts fluent in Arabic, because of DADT.[130] On the eve of the National Equality March in Washington, D.C., October 10, 2009, Obama stated in a speech before the Human Rights Campaign that he would end the ban, but he offered no timetable.[131][132] Obama said in his 2010 State of the Union Address: “This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.”[133] This statement was quickly followed up by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs chairman Michael Mullen voicing their support for a repeal of DADT.”
“Democrats in both houses of Congress first attempted to end DADT by amending the Defense Authorization Act. On May 27, 2010, on a 234–194 vote,[135] the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Murphy amendment[136] to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011. It provided for repeal of the DADT policy and created a process for lifting the policy, including a U.S. Department of Defense study and certification by key officials that the change in policy would not harm military readiness followed by a waiting period of 60 days.[137][138] The amended defense bill passed the House on May 28, 2010.[139] On September 21, 2010, John McCain led a successful filibuster against the debate on the Defense Authorization Act, in which 56 Senators voted to end debate, four short of the 60 votes required.”
After repeated filibusters in the US Senate, which of course Ronbo leaves out:
“The heads of the Marine Corps, Army, and Navy all advised against immediate repeal and expressed varied views on its eventual repeal.[150] Oliver North, writing in National Review the next week, said that Gates’ testimony showed “a deeply misguided commitment to political correctness”. He interpreted the CRWG’s data as indicating a high risk that large numbers of resignations would follow the repeal of DADT. Service members, especially combat troops, he wrote, “deserve better than to be treated like lab rats in Mr. Obama’s radical social experiment”.[151]
On December 9, 2010, another filibuster prevented debate on the Defense Authorization Act.[152] In response to that vote, Senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins introduced a bill that included the policy-related portions of the Defense Authorization Act that they considered more likely to pass as a stand-alone bill.[153] It passed the House on a vote of 250 to 175 on December 15, 2010.[154] On December 18, 2010, the Senate voted to end debate on its version of the bill by a cloture vote of 63–33.[155] The final Senate vote was held later that same day, with the measure passing by a vote of 65–31.[156]
(From “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Wikipedia)
Ronbo
How many youngsters still falsely think marriage equality was due to President Obama? Do they remember the guy who said he could not support us politically because “God is in the mix”? Look it up.
When interviewed, God actually said …..
Eternal.Cowboy
No POTUS could have made marriage equality happen. It required either the congress of SCOTUS.
Obama did help shift the public’s support by coming out in support of same sex marriage. The polling was dramatic. So you trying to dismiss him on the issue is misguided.
Also, why hold him to his previous stance? He changed his mind and became an advocate. Isn’t that what we want to happen? Continuing to bash someone for an opinion they previously held offers no incentive for anyone else to rethink their own positions.
Kangol2
Obama supported same-sex marriage when he was an Illinois State senator, before he became a US Senator from Illinois. You sign on here usually to slam Democrats and usually repeat this claptrap about Obama. Do better, Ronbo, do better!
DBMC
No one thinks marriage equality was due to Obama.
inbama
It was BIDEN – not Obama.
From the Washington Post:
“The official launch of Obama’s reelection campaign was slated for the first weekend in May 2012. First, Obama was to hold back-to-back rallies on Saturday, May 5, in the battleground states of Ohio and Virginia. Then, on Sunday, Vice President Biden was to hit the airwaves on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Biden, known for going off-script, had been rigorously prepped and reminded of his mission: Stay on message.
“Look,” Biden began. “I just think — that — the good news is” — he set his elbows on the table and interlaced his fingers, almost prayerlike. Same-sex marriage, he explained, came down to “a simple proposition: Who do you love?” He repeated it for emphasis: “Who do you love? And will you be loyal to the person you love?” He explained that most people believed that was what all marriages were about, “whether they’re marriages of lesbians or gay men or heterosexuals.”
Realizing he’d strayed into controversial territory, Biden stressed he was speaking for himself personally, not for the White House. “I — I — look, I am vice president of the United States of America. The president sets the policy,” he observed. And he elaborated on his own view: “I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another” — he slowed down now to make his point perfectly clear — “are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly, I don’t see much of a distinction beyond that.”
When he took his seat on the set of NBC’s Washington studio, Biden projected the image of the president’s lieutenant in a crisp charcoal suit, white shirt and blue-striped tie. But when host David Gregory asked about a sensitive unresolved issue hanging over the administration, Biden veered from the campaign playbook. “You know,” Gregory began, “the president has said that his views on gay marriage, on same-sex marriage, have evolved. But he’s opposed to it. You’re opposed to it. Have your views … evolved?”
Biden acknowledged that he had indeed evolved on the issue — faster and further than the president. Several weeks earlier, Biden had admitted in a private meeting in Los Angeles with 30 advocates for gay and lesbian rights that his view differed from Obama’s, and he’d told the group that he had to keep his opinion to himself. But now, on national television, he spoke from the heart.”
abfab
It was more than just one Democrat that got us to this point. It was all of them! We worked hard over the years, but if you must, which seems silly, stick with ”it was JUST THIS ONE PERSON” shtick, go for it.
It’s tired already. More power to us. Democrats rock. Republicans are just in the way, and suck. I miss Obama and please continue to vote BLUE!
dbmcvey
No politician can take credit for marriage equality. It was a grassroots movement of LGBT people and their allies that got it done. There were some politicians that supported us but for the most part they did not take the lead.
abfab
Yes, very true, but Bella Abzug sure showed up! New docu out today in select theaters!!! Loved her.
excerpt NYT:
Bella Abzug, who was the first Jewish woman elected to the House of Representatives, served from 1971 to 1977 and represented parts of Manhattan and the Bronx.
During her tenure, she opposed the Vietnam War, introduced the first federal gay rights bill, and co-sponsored legislation that made it possible for women to get credit cards and other loans in their own names.
She unsuccessfully ran for the United States Senate in 1976 and for mayor of New York City in 1977, and remained active in public life until her death.
Kangol2
Joan Rivers’ homophobic and transphobic joke about the Obamas fell flat when she uttered it, but it wasn’t surprising. As open-minded as she could often be, she also could be quite racist, and she made other hateful, racist comments about Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, which I won’t repeat here. Had someone who was not Jewish said similar things about a Jewish president she would have been outraged. She could be hilarious but she could also be a racist witch!
monty clift
Joan’s a legend. If she were still alive, she’d be roasting these magats.
dbmcvey
You didn’t even recognize her catch phrase. You’re deluded.
abfab
What Becomes A Semi-Legend Most would have upped his cred on the woman.
Long live LENNY BRUCE
GEORGE CARLIN
and too many greats to name.
(even Joan would have never called herself ”a legend”. Please)
DBMC
Conservatives are deranged. We could tell that because of our own conservative trolls like Shaver, diplo, frapper and Monty but it seems like it just never hits bottom.
monty clift
You can “tell” because you are one yourself. A bottomless magat. How sad.
dbmcvey
Says the triggered anti-trans zealot.
abfab
Yeah DB, you are one! It takes one to know one! SO THERE! Right, Monty. Loser.
abfab
Oh GROW UP! CAN WE TAWK HERE!
I have no sex appeal. If my husband didn’t toss and turn, we’d never have had the kid.
People say that money is not the key to happiness, but I always figured if you have enough money, you can have a key made.
I was born in 1962 … and the room next to me was 1963.
The first time I see a jogger smiling, I’ll consider it.
My best birth control now is just to leave the lights on.
I’ve had so much plastic surgery, when I die, they will donate my body to Tupperware.
My vagina is like Newark. Men know it’s there, but they don’t want to visit.
A man can sleep around and sleep around, no questions asked. But if a woman makes 19 or 20 mistakes, she’s a tramp.
Oh grow up! Liberace is GAY! He’s carrying Truman Capote’s baby! He would have been here tonight but he had a yeast infection.
-Joan Rivers
abfab
I wish I had a twin so I could know what I’d look like without plastic surgery.
I hate housework. You make the beds, you do the dishes, and six months later, you have to start all over again.
My husband killed himself. And it was my fault. We were making love and I took the bag off my head.
When I was born, my mother asked the doctor, “Will she live?” He said, “Only if you take your foot off her throat.”
My earliest childhood memory was watching my parents loosen the wheels on my stroller.
Don’t talk to me about Valentine’s Day. At my age, an affair of the heart is a bypass.
My breasts are so low, now I can have a mammogram and a pedicure at the same time.
I was the only Jewish kid in a Catholic neighborhood. They all did Hail Marys, I did Hail Murrays.
You know it’s time to start using mouthwash when your dentist leaves the room and sends in a canary.
Don’t tell your kids you had an easy birth or they won’t respect you. For years I used to wake up my daughter and say, “Melissa, you ripped me to shreds. Now go back to sleep.”
I blame my mother for my poor sex life. All she told me was, “The man goes on top and the woman underneath.” For three years my husband and I slept in bunk beds.
Princess Diana and the Queen are driving down the lane when their car is forced off the road by masked thieves. “Out of the car and hand over your jewels.” After the thieves rob them and steal their car, Diana begins to put her earrings, necklace, and rings back on. “Wherever did you hide those,” demanded the Queen. “Where do you think?” asked Diana. “Pity Margaret wasn’t here,” said the Queen. “We could have saved the Bentley.”
I was so ugly that they sent my picture to Ripley’s Believe It or Not and he sent it back and said, “I don’t believe it.”
California is druggy, druggy, druggy. If it is white and it is on the table, they are gonna sniff it. I have a friend who O.D.ed in the beauty shop on dandruff.
The women in California, they get scared. A guy flashes you, they go to the police, “He’s flashing! He’s flashing!” In New York, a guy flashes you, you took your embroidery hoop and played ring toss.
Don’t you hate McDonald’s? I heard you can’t get a job there unless you have a skin condition.
Stevie Wonder, that poor son of a bitch. Who’s going to tell him he’s wearing a macramé plant holder on his head?
When the rabbi said, “Do you take this man,” 14 guys said, “She has.” My husband bought the horseback-riding story, thank God.
Lindsay Lohan said she wouldn’t mind being under oath because she thought Oath was a Norwegian ski instructor.
Elizabeth Taylor is so fat, she puts mayonnaise on aspirin.
If Kate Winslet had dropped a few pounds, the Titanic would never have sunk.
You want to get Cindy Crawford confused? Ask her to spell mom backwards.
I was so flat, I used to put Xs on my chest and write, “You are here.” I wore angora sweaters just so the guys would have something to pet.
I blame myself for David Gest. It was me who told Liza Minnelli to find herself a man who wouldn’t sleep with other women.
The whole Michael Jackson thing was my fault. I told him to date only 28-year-olds. Who knew he would find 20 of them?
I finally found out how priests get holy water. They boil the hell out of it.
And since we’re all adults here, let’s be brutally honest — most babies are not actually attractive. In fact, they’re weird and freakish-looking. A large percentage of them are squinty-eyed and bald and their faces are all mushed together, kind of like Renée Zellweger pushed up against a glass window.
The most beautiful women in the world are always the dumbest. The most beautiful woman in the whole world, Bo Derek … This woman is an idiot. She studies for her Pap test.
I was dating a proctologist with a sense of humor. We’d go out for drinks, he’d go, “Bottoms up.”
I was dating a transvestite, and my mother said, “Marry him, you’ll double your wardrobe.”
I was dating a football player. He was so dumb. The man could not count to 21 unless he was naked.
Did you hear Tom Cruise just had a baby? He was there when it was born … He should have been there when it was conceived.
My sex life is so bad, my G-spot has been declared a historical landmark.
I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw that my bath toys were a toaster and a radio.
I saw my first porno film recently. It was a Jewish porno film — one minute of sex and nine minutes of guilt.
Not all plastic surgeons are good. My cousin went to one and told him she wanted to turn back the hands of time. Now she has a face that could stop a clock.
Everybody talks about multiple orgasm. Multiple orgasm — I’m lucky if both sides of my toaster pop.
Madonna has just lost 30 pounds — she shaved her legs.
On the Vanna White diet, you only eat what you can spell.
The one thing women do not want to find in their stockings on Christmas morning is their husband.
I got a waterbed, but my husband stocked it with trout.
Want to know why women don’t blink during foreplay? Not enough time.
-Joan Rivers
peluzo
Legend
Doug
This is the first time I’ve ever heard of this ridiculous rumor. Republicans sure have a lot of free time on their hands to come up with incredible stupidity like this.
abfab
They have nothing to offer the country. Thoughts and prayers, maybe?