TIFF reacts to news of Rivers death

For the last few decades, Joan Rivers was known for her red carpet commentary. And tonight those gathering at the red carpet at the Toronto Film Festival are also reacting to her death.

It’s opening night at TIFF. It’s usually a party atmosphere. People have been gathering around the red carpet for quite some time. News of Rivers death filtered through the crowd quite slowly. We walked around the crowd and spoke to people about Rivers death. Many people were surprised as we broke the news to them. A lot of people had very nice things to say about her.

She had been a comedienne and a red carpet icon for the last several years and while there were some mixed reviews about her cutting remarks, everybody said they did love Joan.

“She brought comedy to women. Women’s comedy, feminist ideas. It’s really sad.”

“She made a couple of people laugh. Her and Robin Williams were a pair that way.”

“I loved her comments about different things in the world. I didn’t love all her plastic surgery — I used to see her all the time on the streets of New York. But she was a cool lady, she was with it.”

TIFF have yet to say if they are going to do anything special to recognize Rivers contribution to event like this.