The Alleged Haunted History Of Joan Rivers' Home

Joan Rivers is a name known in the entertainment industry for her groundbreaking work as an actress, comedian, and talk show host. According to Biography, she got her big break in 1965 when she went on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." Her personality shined bright, and she became a huge success, eventually landing her own daytime television talk show, "That Show," with Joan Rivers. Rivers went on to have plenty of onscreen appearances like in 1987's "Spaceballs" as Dot Matrix and 2013's "Iron Man 3" as herself (via IMDb).

Rivers was living a star-studded life, and all was well up until a dark turn of events that led to her decision to move back to New York in 1987. She purchased a mansion-style apartment that needed a lot of renovations. A distraction Rivers gladly welcomed at the time.

Not long after starting in on the reno, it was apparent that not everyone agreed with Rivers' choices in updates for the home. There was someone else in the house, and they demanded creative control, even if it meant terrifying Joan and everyone else that stepped food inside the home in the process.

After beginning the renovations on her new-to-her home, Joan Rivers and anyone else who entered her house realized something was very wrong. There was allegedly an entity in the place that did not much enjoy what was happening to what once was their home.

Joan Rivers discussed the events on the series "Celebrity Ghost Stories" in 2009 (via IMDb) and elaborated on what happened. The neighbors claimed to have seen an apparition on more than one occasion, and odd things happening around the building were considered normal. A ghostly figure had been seen dancing and strolling the building as it pleased. Rivers' own dog showed signs of being petrified of the apartment itself and refused to go in.

Prior to moving into the home, a terrified Rivers reached out to the Parapsychology Department at the New York University for guidance. The department heard her out and referred her to a Voodoo priestess residing in Louisiana.

After reaching out to the Voodoo priestess in Louisiana, she agreed to help Rivers remedy the situation. According to Forbes, the Priestess came to the apartment and performed a special ceremony involving chanting and drumming to eradicate the spirit. Once the ceremony was complete, the air in the home became less tense, and even Rivers' dog felt comfortable enough to step into the area.

According to Showbiz Cheat Sheet, following the event, Rivers and the priestess went around to every other apartment in the building and asked if they would like a similar cleansing done to their unit. All of them gladly accepted. The Priestess had claimed that the spirit was named Mrs. Spencer and was the niece of the finance giant, J.P. Morgan.

Rivers finally felt comfortable enough to move into the home, but it wasn't long before things started to go bump during the night and during the day too. At a loss for what to do next, Rivers broke down and tried to tell the spirit to go away and leave her alone. Until one day, things began to change.

Fully invested in her haunted apartment and at a loss for what to do, when Joan Rivers stumbled upon a portrait of the ghostly Mrs. Spencer in the basement of the Manhattan building she called home, she decided to clean it up and give it a permanent hanging place in her lobby, adding some flowers near the picture as an added touch.

Rivers later received word from the priestess that these actions made Mrs. Spencer happy and that the spirit actually loved the renovations and the flowers. It was after this that Rivers and Mrs. Spencer were able to coexist peacefully.

Rivers lived alongside Mrs. Spencer in the Manhattan mansion until her passing at the age of 81 in 2014. Since then, her house has gone on the market more than once, according to Forbes. Could this be due to the fact that Mrs. Spencer is once again learning to coexist with new residents?