After initially being praised for landing the part when it was announced, Kathryn Hahn will no longer be playing comedian Joan Rivers in the Showtime limited series, The Comeback Girl. However, Hahn exiting the role has nothing to do with concerns from Rivers’ fellow comedian Sarah Silverman, who accused the series of ‘Jewface’ by casting Hahn instead of a Jewish actor. Instead, the show suffered a much more fatal error: No one secured the rights. Whoops. Via Variety:
Yet Rivers’ life rights, which are held by her daughter, Melissa Rivers, hadn’t been secured by producers. The project could have proceeded as an unauthorized venture, but “The Comeback Girl” wouldn’t have been able to use any of Rivers’ jokes or catchphrases, and, of course, risked running afoul of Melissa Rivers and the estate.
While Hahn’s shot at playing the legendary Rivers just went out the window, for now, the actress will be returning to the MCU in a recently announced spinoff series based on her WandaVision character, Agatha Harkness. We’re pretty sure there won’t be any rights issues there… unless another studio still owns Mephisto! Seriously, that guy has to show up in something.
In the meantime, Hahn can next be seen in the Apple TV+ series The Shrink Next Door alongside Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell, which is a helluva cast. Look for it to start streaming on November 12.
(Via Variety)