The legendary comic begins season two of the reality series Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best on Jan. 24 and her weekly E! series Fashion Police expands to a one-hour format on Jan. 24.

She tells Gay Star News that through all of her career ups and downs, she has always been able to count on her enormous gay fan base.

‘They were the first ones to laugh at me,’ Rivers says.

Then she added, jokingly: ‘Kathy [Griffin] got the ones I don’t want. She got the ones that don’t have chic apartments.’

But Rivers did get some flack a few months ago when she was quoted by New York Magazine as saying there are no gays participating in the Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park because there is no place for them to change.

‘Very seldom will you see a gay schlep,’ she added.

She tells GSN that she doesn’t take back a single word.

‘It’s true! They weren’t well dressed! I don’t think any one of them was gay.”

But is she ever afraid of alienating gay fans in this politically correct era with some of her material?

Turning serious, Rivers says: ‘If they don’t know after 43 years that I’m funny then don’t come around. Bill Cosby once said to me, ‘If one percent of the world thinks you’re funny, you’re safe.’

Rivers has also upset more than a few celebrities over the years with her stinging critiques of their red carpet fashion. Those candid – and often very funny – critiques are the premise of Fashion Police, a show that brought Rivers back to the E! network after an eight-year absence.

‘We left for more money,’ Rivers says of she and daughter, Melissa Rivers. ‘It’s all fine. We’re back.’

But it is a more challenging gig these days with most stars employing stylists for big events.

‘When we first started the red carpet and they dressed themselves, it was fabulous,’ Rivers says.

She is almost gleeful as she recalls the year when Demi Moore wore bicycle shorts to the Oscars and Kim Basinger made her own dress.

“Those were the great days, the good old days,’ she says. ‘Those limo doors would open and you’d go, ‘Thank you God.’ And now they’re all so perfectly done.’

But there is still plenty to critique which Rivers does with gusto each week. She is joined by a panel that is comprised of Kelly Osbourne, Guiliana Rancic and George Kotsiopoulos.

“When you do a show like ours, we are critics,’ Rivers says. ‘My obligation is to the viewer and I can’t say, ‘Don’t you look beautiful?’ if you don’t because [viewers] are sitting at home and they won’t come back.’

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