Joan Rivers Taken Off Life Support, Passes Away at 81

Joan Rivers passed away today at age 81 after her family decided to take her off of life support.

Melissa Rivers, Joan's daughter, confirmed her mother's passing with a statement: "It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother. She passed peacefully at 1:17pm surrounded by family and close friends. My son and I would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff of Mount Sinai Hospital for the amazing care they provided for my mother."

Rivers was rushed to the hospital last week after suffering complications from a surgery on her vocal chords. Rivers spent some time in the ICU in a medically induced coma, but was moved out of the ICU just yesterday. Her family had been deciding on how to proceed, with Melissa providing regular updates.

The legendary comedienne had been working in show business for decades, and was one of the pioneering female stand-up comedians. The recently released documentary "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work" highlighted how revolutionary Joan's edgy, sometimes dirty, sometimes even offensive jokes were for a female comedian at the time.

Recently, Rivers had been working mostly on her E! show "Fashion Police" but had made some cameos in projects like "Iron Man 3" and "Louie," in which she played herself.

Melissa's statement continued: "Cooper and I have found ourselves humbled by the outpouring of love, support, and prayers we have received from around the world. They have been heard and appreciated. My mother's greatest joy in life was to make people laugh. Although that is difficult to do right now, I know her final wish would be that we return to laughing soon."