A funeral will be held for Joan Rivers on Sunday at New York City’s Temple Emanu-El.

Rivers died on Thursday at the age of 81 following a complication during throat surgery. “It is a terribly sad day for all of us. We mourn with her family, friends and all those millions to whom she brought laughter and joy,” Emanu-El rabbi Joshua M. Davidson said in a statement.

Joan Rivers Planned Her Funeral

Melissa Rivers released a statement announcing her mother’s passing Thursday, but she did not mention any funeral plans, and little is known about the nature of the services to be held on Sunday. However, Rivers left very specific, and outrageous, instructions on how she envisioned her funeral.

In her 2012 book, I Hate Everyone… Starting with Me, Rivers wrote that she didn’t want a rabbi to perform her service: “I don’t want some rabbi rambling on; I want Meryl Streep crying, in five different accents.”

In fact, Rivers wrote that she wanted her entire funeral to be an elaborate Hollywood affair. “I want Craft services, I want paparazzi and I want publicists making a scene! I want it to be Hollywood all the way,” she wrote.

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Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.

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