Joan Rivers
Comic legend Jackie Mason declared octogenarian comedienne colleague Joan Rivers has "a hundred more years ahead of her," even though Rivers reportedly remains in a medically induced coma.
Mason, speaking in a radio interview, slammed what he claimed was "ghoulish," "sadistic" media coverage surrounding Rivers' condition, taking particular issue with what he said was a pessimistic outlook on her prospects for survival.
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"[The media] sound like they would be much happier to see somebody pass away than live through it," Mason stated.
Jackie Mason
Mason was speaking in a recorded interview for "Aaron Klein Investigative Radio" on New York's AM 970 The Answer. A portion of the interview, to air in full Sunday night, was obtained by WND.
"God bless her," Mason said about Rivers. "She is a brilliant comedienne and she's a great personality, and I think she is positively going to survive this and I think she is going to have a hundred more years ahead of her because she certainly is a fantastic kind of a personality that the whole world would miss terribly if, God forbid, anything happened to her."
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Regarding the media coverage of Rivers' predicament, Mason said he sees a "a ghoulish sickness in the press in the United States about her condition." He further slammed the media as "sadistic maniacs looking for a headline."
He continued: "They almost sound like they are hoping things get worse for her because they need a headline. And they suddenly become sadistic when somebody gets sick and they only see the possibility of things going wrong and going bad because they keep saying how sick she is."
According to reports, Rivers remains in serious but stable condition in a medically induced coma at New York's Mt. Sinai Hospital. The television personality is said to have stopped breathing when she went into cardiac respiratory arrest during an outpatient vocal cord surgery Thursday.
Click below to listen to Aaron Klein's interview with Jackie Mason:
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Rivers and Mason are both known for their use of Jewish humor in their comedy routines. The two were regular but separate guests on the late Johnny Carson's NBC show.
Rivers and Mason were in the news in recent weeks for their strong defense of Israel and their criticism of celebrities who expressed support for the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Rivers demanded stars Rihanna and Selena Gomez "shut up" about the Gaza conflict.
"Selena Gomez, who just came out of rehab, who I believe is not a college girl, Rihanna, who is beautiful and not the smartest bulb in the lamp – they see pictures of (dead) children and they go crazy," stated Rivers. "I think Israel should show pictures of dead puppies and these girls will turn right around."
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Rivers declared, "These girls should shut up and put on pretty clothes and get themselves off of drugs."
Mason similarly attacked "Hollywood geniuses" like Gomez, Penelope Cruz and Rihanna for criticizing Israel over its Gaza operations.
"They come from these kinds of anti-Semitic, low-class backgrounds where a Jew is the most disgusting thing in the world to them," Mason said.
Gomez had tweeted and posted on her Instagram the statement, "It's about humanity. Pray for Gaza."
Rihanna tweeted "#FreePalestine" before deleting the post after it was retweeted over 7,000 times.
Cruz put her signature on an open letter denouncing the Jewish state for "genocide" in Gaza.
