Joan Rivers Sent Daughter Melissa to School with Bodyguards After Receiving 'Threats' for Hosting AIDS Benefit

Melissa recalls the fallout from her mother's decision to perform at one of the first major AIDS fundraisers in the new documentary 'Studio One Forever'

The late Joan Rivers is known as a pioneering woman in comedy, but she was also a pioneer in AIDS activism. The comedian was one of the first celebrities to lend her fame to the fight against AIDS in the 1980s.

Sadly, her compassion for the LGBTQ community led to threats against her family when she signed on to host a 1984 AIDS fundraiser at the legendary West Hollywood gay disco Studio One.

Her daughter, Melissa Rivers, discusses the fallout in the new documentary Studio One Forever, which opened in select theaters for one week on Sept. 13. The film, directed by Marc Saltarelli, tells the story of the iconic forerunner to New York City's Studio 54 that opened its doors in 1975.

Joan found herself at the center of a firestorm of ire when she stepped forward and organized the benefit at Studio One. At the time, egregious misinformation was being spread about AIDS, and the gay community, which was hit hardest by the disease.

Related: Melissa Rivers Opens Up About the Rift She Had With Mom Joan After Her Father's Suicide (Exclusive)

The fundraiser, which featured appearances by comedian Charles Nelson Reilly and disco star Sylvester, was one of the first for AIDS, and the reaction to Rivers' involvement was swift and harsh.

Some of her Hollywood colleagues warned her not to do the event, while much of the public condemned her for supporting the gay community.

"People in the business [were] saying, 'Don't do it. It's career suicide,' " Melissa, 56, recalls in the documentary. "It was fear. People were really outraged. Here was someone who was at one of the peaks of her career, hostessing The Tonight Show, basically saying, 'I'm taking a stand.' "

"Our family received threats. And not just to my mother, but my father and to me," Melissa continues. "Right before the event, the threats were so big and so frightening that I was sent to school with bodyguards. It hit such a nerve, the fact that they made a decision to bring me with them the night of the fundraiser, and their feeling was, if something's gonna happen, if the place is going to get blown up, at least we're all there together."

The film documents decades of LGBTQ history in West Hollywood through the story of the club that hosted numerous A-listers, including Elton John, Ann-Margret, Diana Ross, Burt Reynolds, Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, Liza Minnelli and Bette Davis.

Studio One also featured a cabaret space called The Backlot that attracted performers including Chita Rivera, Thelma Houston, Bette Midler and Barbra Streisand's younger sister Roslyn Kind, who is interviewed in the documentary.

Workers and patrons who were connected to the club in the '70s, '80s and '90s also appear in the film.

Studio One Forever is in theaters through Sept. 20 before its VOD release on Oct. 8.

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