Why Do We Keep Exploiting Dead Celebrities?

A limited series about Joan Rivers has stirred controversy once again. When news first broke of the project last month, discussion emerged about casting Kathryn Hahn, who is not Jewish, to play the legendary comedian. Now the project has been canceled, Variety reports, after its producers failed to secure its subject’s life rights, held by Rivers’ daughter Melissa.

Lifetime’s vast selection of unauthorized biographies demonstrates that one does not necessarily need permission from one’s subject to go forward with a production. But as Variety points out, Joan Rivers’ jokes and catchphrases—recognizable markers of her brand as a comedian—would have been off the table without her life rights. And that’s putting aside the possibility of getting sued.

It’s unclear what stage of production The Comeback Girl reached before someone pulled the plug, but they got at least as far as the logline: “Trailblazer. Adored. Cruel. Diva. Joan Rivers had a life like no other. At age 54, she was a superstar comedienne… and then it all fell apart. THE COMEBACK GIRL is the awe-inspiring untold story of how Joan Rivers persevered through near suicide and professional abyss to rebuild herself and her career to become a global icon.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.