Joan Rivers stops breathing during throat surgery

Doctors will take the 81-year-old artiste out of the coma this weekend and assess any damage.

“She’s not conscious, but she’s stable,” Rivers’ aide Graham Reed said. Initial reports suggested Rivers was in a critical condition.

A spokesman for the hospital has released a brief statement, which read, “Her family wants to thank everybody for their outpouring of love and support. We will provide an update on her condition as it becomes available.”

The comedienne’s daughter Melissa has reportedly flown to New York from her home in California to be at her mother’s bedside.