Joan Rivers: Heidi Klum Holocaust Remark Criticized By Anti-Defamation League As “Vulgar And Offensive”
Joan Rivers made a joke about how 'hot' Heidi Klum looked at the Oscars 2013 at the expense of the Holocaust on an episode of 'Fashion Police' on Feb. 25, and isn't about to apologize.
Joan Rivers appeared Monday on E! Fashion Police episode about Academy Awards fashion, and talked about the dress Heidi Klum wore on the red carpet.
"The last time a German [Heidi Klum] looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into the ovens," Joan Rivers said.
The Anti-Defamation League released a statement calling Joan Rivers' remark "vulgar and hideous."
Rivers, who happens to be Jewish, said her remark was simply her way of getting people to talk.
Rivers, in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, explained her remark, "My husband lost the majority of his family at Auschwitz, and I can assure you that I have always made it a point to remind people of the Holocaust through my humor."
"It's a joke Number 1, Number 2 it is about the Holocaust. This is the way I remind people about the Holocaust. I do it though humor," she said on HLN's 'Showbiz Tonight'.
When asked by host A.J. Hammer why she refuses to apologize, Rivers responded, "For what?"
She also said that critics should focus on people who have anti-Semitic views, not someone whose late husband lost his entire family during the Holocaust.
However, her refusal to apologize for the remark about Heidi Klum and the Holocaust only triggered more criticism for Rivers.
"Of all people, Joan Rivers should know better," said Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the ADL in a statement on the organization's web site.
"There are certain things about the Holocaust that should be taboo. This is especially true for Jews, for whom the Holocaust is still a deeply painful memory," Foxman, a Holocaust survivor, concluded.
Foxman called Rivers' joke "so vulgar and offensive to Jews and Holocaust survivors, and indeed to all Americans, that we cannot believe it made it to the airwaves."