WASHINGTON (JTA) — Joan Rivers is reportedly in an induced coma.
CBS reported Friday that the veteran comedian was placed in a medically induced coma after she stopped breathing during throat surgery.
Rivers, 81, was undergoing throat surgery at a New York clinic on Thursday when she stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest. She was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital.
Her daughter and reality show and red carpet companion, Melissa, was by her side.
“I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming love and support for my mother,” she said in a statement. “She is resting comfortably and is with our family. We ask that you continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers.”
Rivers, a stand-up comic and a reality star with a career launched in the 1950s, in recent weeks drew attention for her vigorous defense of Israel during its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
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