Joan Rivers is known for having an outrageous and opinionated persona, and she doesn't hold back when it comes to dishing out advice for single women.
"Have a child! How lucky you are that society is allowing you this joy," she told The Huffington Post. "You think you’re having fun with your Shih Tzu, wait until you have a child."
Joan means every word of it. Despite her long and storied Hollywood career, she maintains that her greatest achievement has been and always will be her daughter and oft-partner in crime, Melissa Rivers.
“Your proudest moment is to watch your egg not just function, but to achieve on her own,” Joan said. “I am not only so proud of everything she has accomplished professionally, but I am proud of her because she is the most amazing mother I have ever seen in my entire life. She is 1,000 times better than I am. I am always astonished at how she handles [her son, Cooper].”
Joan said she decided early on that despite her career, she would be a hands-on mom with Melissa.
“When I was pregnant I was sitting with a very famous actress on the playground," she recalled. "The child fell and ran to the nanny. At that point I decided my child would always run to me. We had dinner together every night and every night I put a line in my book at 6 p.m. and that was it."
Melissa doesn’t always agree with her mom, but they are on the same page about parenting.
“I think my parents always made such a huge effort to be there for all the important events and even the not so important ones," Melissa said. "They always sat down to have dinner with me and that is the same bond I am trying to create with Cooper."
These days, the busy mother-daughter duo are both slammed with work. They work together on E!'s “Fashion Police," where Joan stars and Melissa executive produces, on their WE reality show, "Joan Knows Best?" and on promoting this weekend’s special Mother’s Day episode of E!’s "True Hollywood Story."
Working with family isn't always easy -- especially when working on three different programs. Both women said they speak to each other in their own language, a kind of mother-daughter shorthand, but sometimes their wires get crossed.
“You have to learn to listen and communicate differently,” Melissa said. “Don’t assume they are coming from a place where they are telling you that you are doing something wrong. That was a big turning point for us to figure out.”
Joan added that she thinks everyone should be able to enjoy the fruits of parenthood, whether they are gay or straight, married or single. We spoke before President Barack Obama’s announcement about his stance on gay marriage, and Rivers didn’t mince words.
"It is outrageous. The politicians are all such ass-kissers. No one is saying the truth. They are saying what they think people want to hear,” Joan said. “And while we’re talking about this, and Mother’s Day, I do want to say that if you don’t have a uterus, I don’t care what you think about abortion.”
Check out photos of celebrities with their children below:
