Joan Rivers lands on wrong side of ADL

The Anti-Defamation League came out against what it termed “vulgar and hideous” remarks by Joan Rivers on her E! Entertainment Television show “Fashion Police” Wednesday.

Commenting on German-American supermodel Heidi Klum on Monday, Rivers said “The last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into the ovens.”

The ADL was upset that Rivers then “doubled over with laughter,” and that “neither Ms. Rivers nor any of the co-hosts responded to the remark, and no apology was offered.”

The segment was shown at least four times on the E! network, and it appeared briefly on YouTube, according to the release.

ADL National Director Abe Foxman said Rivers, who is Jewish, “should know better.”

“This remark is so vulgar and offensive to Jews and Holocaust survivors, and indeed to all Americans, that we cannot believe it made it to the airwaves,” he said in a press release. “Making it worse, not one of her co-hosts made any effort to respond or to condemn this hideous statement, leaving it hanging out there and giving it added legitimacy through their silence. Almost as bad as her original comment is the fact that she sat there doubled over with laughter after saying it.”

The ADL wrote to E! asking that Rivers issue a formal apology and that the segment be removed from future broadcast.