After a Lifetime As Hollywood's Most Iconic Voice, What Were Joan Rivers's Last Words?

Her voice was perhaps one of the most iconic of the '90s: Joan Rivers gave her fashion reviews and scathing critiques as celebrities strolled the red carpet.

But in the years before her death, she began sniping at other Hollywood stars, fueling conspiracy theories and making her the subject of controversy.

She died in 2014 after undergoing a surgical procedure, silencing her recognizable voice forever. But what were her last words? Her daughter, Melissa Rivers, knows exactly what her mom said in the moments before she died. Here's what we know about Joan's final words and the way she died.

When Joan died in 2014, it came as a shock to loved ones and opened up a Pandora's Box of finger-pointing blame. According to DailyMail, Joan was highly skeptical of doctors performing procedures on her and would make nervous jokes about her suspicions of anesthesiologists. These fears proved to be founded when she died due to complications of anesthesia, with her family announcing her passing on Sept. 4, 2014.

For a woman who had so much to say during her life, it may be natural to wonder what exactly her last words were.

According to People, daughter Melissa knows exactly what those words were before her mother passed away. While speaking with TODAY's Matt Lauer about her mother's death, she explained that during a discovery process for a potential trial over a wrongful death suit in her mother's passing, she learned what her mom said before she died.

Matt shared, "She says those will remain personal, but she’s satisfied that the doctors in the clinic have accepted responsibility for what happened to her mother" (via People).

So, sadly, the world will never know what Joan said in her last moments. But it's a gift to Melissa, who had to share her mom's voice and words with the world throughout her life. This, at least, she can keep to herself.

The theory that Joan was killed ties into a number of complex conspiracy theories that relate to the idea of a secret cabal of Hollywood and political elites who kill the people who speak out against them.

On TikTok, conspiracy theorists delight in telling the tale of how powerful people like Oprah Winfrey, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and many other actors and politicians all belong to this group of power-holders, hiding their dark secrets through threats and murder.

According to these conspiracy theorists, Joan was blowing the lid off so-called Hollywood secrets. Among those supposed secrets included completely unfounded rumors that Oprah was gay, that former President Barack Obama was gay, and that his wife Michelle Obama was a transgender person.

These rumors are categorically false Politifact and E! Online confirm, and many are rooted in racism and antisemitism.

But the idea that Joan was killed for blowing the whistle on Hollywood elites is a rumor that persists to this day.

On TikTok, users praise her supposed honesty and claim she was killed for telling the truth. The same way that some conspiracy theorists suggest that Michael Jackson was killed for speaking the truth about Hollywood, and the way they believe that Sean "Diddy" Combs is in prison to hide the crimes of other Hollywood elites who committed sex crimes, and possibly worse, right along with him.

But the short answer is: No, Joan was not killed. At least not maliciously.

In 2014, ABC News reported the results of her post-mortem physical exam showed that her cause of death was due to low blood oxygen during an unapproved procedure to treat changes to her voice and acid reflux. Because an autopsy was not performed in accordance with her Jewish beliefs, it fueled speculation and further cemented the connection for conspiracy theorists.

But like anyone who undergoes sedation and anesthesia for a medical procedure, death was always a possible complication.

People reports that the lawsuit against Joan's doctors was settled quickly, and Melissa is putting it behind her with the belief that those responsible have taken the appropriate accountability.

While she calls her mother's death "preventable," settling the lawsuit closed the book for Melissa and Joan's manner of passing.