Joan Rivers’ Grandson ‘Uses’ Her Death Against His Mom

Joan Rivers left behind quite a few bereaved family members, friends, and fans after her shocking death in 2014, and while she’s still missed, her daughter Melissa says that there’s one person in the family who brings it up when he wants to get his way.

Melissa says her son will bring up his grandma during arguments to try and persuade her to change her mind, but she’s too smart to let it work.

“He misses her, but he has moved into the typical teenage phase of pulling it out as a weapon. Like, ‘I can’t believe you won’t let me go to Coachella, grandma would’ve let me!’ I’m like, ‘No she wouldn’t have. And if she did, she would’ve gone with you and embarrassed you,'” Melissa told People Magazine.

Melissa, who was extremely close to her mom, was shocked and outraged after her death following a routine procedure on her throat. The family filed a wrongful death suit and settled earlier this year, after which Melissa released a statement.

“In accepting this settlement, I am able to put the legal aspects of my mother’s death behind me and ensure that those culpable for her death have accepted responsibility for their actions quickly and without equivocation,” she said.

Christie’s auction house recently announced that they were putting up several of Joan Rivers’ personal belongings up for bid this week; the comedienne collected many treasures over the course of her life, including artwork and valuable jewelry, and several pieces are up for auction at Christie’s until June 21. Many more items will be added to a live auction on the 22nd and will include the star’s clothing and a desk where Rivers often sat to do her writing. Items range in price from $400 to about $100,000.

“There’s really just incredible depth to her collections. There’s glitz. There’s glam. There’s that Hollywood feel to it, that show business feel to everything,” said Christie’s specialist Gemma Sudlow.

Melissa said that immediately following Joan Rivers’ death, she wanted to keep all of her belongings. Recently, she decided to keep things that had personal meaning to her and put up much of the rest for auction so that others could enjoy the pieces it took her mother a lifetime to collect.

“I kept the stuff from her night table. I kept the stuff from the side of her bathtub. I kept strange things like that. At first I said, ‘I’m not getting rid of anything. I’m keeping everything!’ but little by little, you start to weed through it. Now I want someone else to love her things and enjoy them,” Melissa said. “She never believed that everything should be kept in storage or a bank vault. She always said, ‘Use your things, enjoy the things you have,’ so I don’t have the guilt of ‘I need to keep these dishes because this was the set that she used every third Thanksgiving but it’s not my favorite.'”

A portion of the proceeds from the auctions will go to God’s Love We Deliver in New York City and Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, California, two of Rivers’ favorite charities.

Melissa often shares photos of her mom on Instagram and recently said that one of the best things Joan ever taught her was to have a strong work ethic.

Melissa revealed recently that she had spread her mother’s ashes all around the world and in various places, and said that she had kept a small portion of the remains for herself.

“She’s in England and Scotland and Mexico and Wyoming and California, and stores and restaurants and studios. She is places nobody would expect her to be. I think she’d be happy that what I still have is in my closet near my shoes,” Melissa said.

[Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images]