Melissa Rivers pays tribute to late mother Joan Rivers on sixth anniversary of comedy icon’s death

Melissa Rivers played tribute to her late mother Joan Rivers on Instagram Friday.

The date marked the sixth anniversary of Joan’s death at the age of 81 after she stopped breathing while under anesthesia for a vocal cord procedure.

‘It’s hard to believe that my mother has been gone for six years now,’ wrote Melissa, 52, in a message on Joan’s Instagram.

‘Not a day goes by where I don’t think about her – her words still guide me and of course make me laugh. I miss her dearly,’ she continued.

Melissa and Joan not only had a personally close mother-daughter relationship but also frequently worked together over the years.

The dynamic duo performed red carpet coverage together near the beginning of the genre when Joan coined the phrase: ‘Who are you wearing?’

Melissa was also a producer on Joan’s hit show Fashion Police – and eventually hosted it after Joan died and her first replacement Kathy Griffin quit.

At the end of the comedian’s life she starred with her daughter on a WEtv reality series called Joan And Melissa: Joan Knows Best?.

The show also prominently featured Melissa’s son Cooper, whom she shares with her ex-husband John Endicott and who was very close with Joan.

Cooper gifted Melissa a flower arrangement on the death anniversary this Friday with a note reminding her: ‘Grandma is always with us. I love you.’ 

Joan experienced complications in late August 2015 during her throat procedure and was put in a medically induced coma from which she never woke up.

Federal investigators looked into the matter and uncovered multiple mistakes involving the throat procedure at the endoscopy clinic. 

Melissa sued the clinic and the doctors who did the surgery for malpractice, eventually receiving a settlement and an admission of their responsibility.

Joan shared Melissa with her second husband Edgar Rosenberg whom she was married to from 1965 until his suicide in 1987.

That year Joan had lost her late-night talk show at Fox after taking sides with Edgar, a producer on the show, against network honcho Barry Diller.

Although Melissa and Joan went through a rough patch after the suicide they mended fences and played themselves in a TV movie about that time.