Joan Rivers, the legendary comedienne who made the world laugh for over five consecutive decades with her quick-witted (but often controversial) humor passed away today, her daughter Melissa confirmed, at the New York Hospital where she was being treated at after having complications with a recent surgery.

Rivers was rushed to New York’s Mount Sinai hospital last Thursday (Aug 28) after she suffered cardiac arrest and “stopped breathing” during an operation on her vocal chords.

She was placed in intensive care and her condition was said to be “serious.”

The day before her surgery, she did a comedy show at New York’s Beechman Theater, and a man who attended the show told CNN that she had joked about death.

“She said, ‘You know I’m 81 years old, and I could drop dead at any moment and you would be so lucky because you will have a story to tell your friends for the rest of your life,’” Michael Lucas said. “Then she mimicked people talking about what it was like to see her drop dead on stage.”

Lucas added, “There was no sign (Wednesday) night that she was declining. Her show was over an hour long and she never stumbled or even paused to catch her breath.”

According to TMZ, Melissa Rivers took her mother off life support today so that she could “pass comfortably” in a private room.

“She passed peacefully at 1:17 p.m. surrounded by family and close friends,” Melissa Rivers said in a statement released to the media.

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