The Betty Interview: Joan Rivers

The comedian and queen of the red carpet dishes with BettyConfidential on plastic surgery, fashion, millionaires and money

- Myrna Blyth

Can we talk? Obviously that’s the first thing BettyConfidential asked comedian, author, red carpet host, jewelry designer, playwright, philanthropist and plastic surgery addict Joan Rivers.

Joan, the often-toasted and sometimes roasted 76-year-old is currently headlining TV Land’s series How’d You Get So Rich? Tart-talking Rivers also just came out the winner, besting poker-playing diva Annie Dukes, in this season’s Celebrity Apprentice. Even Donald Trump was awed by Rivers’ “amazing” energy and competitive drive (she beat her daughter Melissa on the show).

Joan’s long career has had its fair share of ups and downs. A Barnard College graduate, she started doing stand-up comedy in the 1950s when there were very few female comedians. In the following years she became a Las Vegas headliner and was the first woman to host a late-night TV comedy show. She was also the first woman to be fired abruptly from that show.

In the last decade she was best known for her stint on the red carpet before the Oscars and the Emmys, mercilessly dishing and dissing celebrity fashions. And, oh, yes, there’s her plastic surgery. Lots and lots and lots of plastic surgery. We asked Joan about why she had done so much, what she has learned about getting rich, who makes her laugh and lots more.