Philadelphia Man Leads Effort To Stop Joan Rivers from mocking the September 11th widows

A local businessman is developing grass roots support to protest the ridiculing of widows of September 11th in a show scheduled to appear in the United States in 2 weeks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PHILADELPHIA PA MAY 2, 2002

This is the original text of the message I have sent to the two venues in the US where this show, currently running in London, is scheduled to run in May, and Larry King Live, where a 3rd appearance is scheduled. If you have similar feelings you may wish to contact these folks yourself and express your thoughts. Please feel free to share this with anyone you think may have an interest.

---- Original Message -----
From: Joe Cabrey
To: jporter@louisv02.gannett.com ; dpennell@kca.org ; markm@lbc.net ; mayor@louky.org ; mhardy@kca.org ; DavidF@lbc.net
Cc: sdingus@lyndonfire.com ; tpini@ci.santa-rosa.ca.us ; gerri.melnick@target.com ; dtaylor@pressdemocrat.com ; cbarnett@pressdemocrat.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2002 5:45 PM
Subject: Joan Rivers Insults Widows of September 11th

Good afternoon,

This message is for both The Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa CA and the Kentucky Center for the Arts in Louisville KY, and related sponsors, media,and public officials. I will also share it with a select group of colleagues who may wish to contact you as well.

I understand you are planning to host Joan Rivers at your facility in May In her current act, "Broke and Alone in London", Ms. Rivers takes a shot at the widows of September 11th stating     they got paid $5 million each, and how disappointed theyd be if they were told, after all, that their husbands had been found alive," When criticized for the lack of sensitivity and the incredible poor taste a Rivers spokesman says she will continue to use the joke when she takes her show to the United States later this year.

I, for one, will be contacting the police and fire units in your area, as well as all local media, and be asking all responsible facilities directors to decline to host an event which makes fun of the living victims of the worst day of terror on US soil. I attended 5 memorial services of friends lost at the World Trade Center, and my firm donated ten percent of all revenues from September 11th through the end of the year to the various charities supporting the aftermath.

I will also be speaking with each of the corporate sponsors and asking that they drop their sponsorship in an act of respect for all of the victims, living, maimed, and dead. I doubt that any of your sponsors wish to be associated with this callous message. Through the police and fireman's widow organizations I will be asking for a public boycott of any venue or sponsor that supports this program.

Ms. Rivers may hope to gain publicity, even negative publicity, from this tasteless material. In my opinion this doesn't deserve negative publicity to sell tickets. I understand the right of free speech. That does not include the need to sponsor or listen to material you find offensive. This deserves neither a venue, nor an audience.

I would hope that you would agree. Please cancel the event or negotiate that material out of the show. It won't take nearly as much courage as the NYFD showed September 11th. It will just take a little class. It is obvious that Ms. Rivers has none. Do you?


cc:    Catherine Barnett, Executive Director, The Press Democrat Corporate Sponsor The Luther Burbank Center
         Dan Taylor, Team Leader, Entertainment, Arts & Entertainment, The Press Democrat Corporate Sponsor The Luther Burbank Center
        Gail Dorn, VP of Communications, Target via Gerri Melnick, Target Corporate Sponsor The Luther Burbank Center
        Debbie Pennell, Audience Relations, The Kentucky Center for the Arts
        Michael Hardy, President, The Kentucky Center for the Arts
        Mayor David Armstrong, Louisville KY
        Jean Porter, Editor, The Courier-Journal
        FF Shannon Dingus, Lyndon Fire and Rescue, Louisville KY
        Chief Tony Pini, Santa Rosa CA
        Larry King Live, via their website

Thank you for your time. Together, we can make a difference. If you agree, please spread the word.