Melissa Rivers, the daughter of the legendary comedian Joan Rivers, just opened up publicly for the very first time about the suicide of her father during an interview with ABC News Chief Medical Corespondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton.
Melissa’s father Edgar Rosenberg committed suicide in 1987, when she was just a teenager, and she revealed in the interview that she blamed her mother for his death.
“I was angry at my mom. I was angry at my dad. I was angry at the UPS worker,” Melissa said. “I used to call it like this free-floating sort of anger.”

Joan and Melissa learned after Edgar’s death that he had left them penniless, as he had burned through all of their money. However, Melissa said that this was not the only thing about his suicide that left her feeling like an outcast.
“Oh my god you feel like you have a big giant stamp on you,” she explained. “Nobody knows what to say, nobody knows how to address you, nobody knows what’s okay to bring up. You feel so alone.”

Though it was difficult, Joan and Melissa were able to bounce back after Edgar’s death. Joan continued to be a successful comedian until her death in 2015, and Melissa has become a successful producer and personality in Hollywood.
Ashton could relate to Melissa’s feelings, as she felt the same way when her ex-husband, the father of her children, committed suicide.
“I had to learn quickly how to keep living,” she said. “For myself and my two children.”
Ashton and Melissa will delve deeper in the new podcast “Life After Suicide,” which premieres on May 1. You can watch a preview of Melissa’s interview in the video below.
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