Did Fox News Cancel a Joan Rivers Interview Because She Said Sarah Palin's 'Stupid'?

It's been reported that Fox News canceled a scheduled interview with Joan Rivers after she called Sarah Palin "stupid and a threat" and blamed her for the attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

According to The Guardian, nixing Rivers has reinforced the growing perception in some quarters that Fox News is promoting Palin -- a Fox host -- and protecting her from criticism.

Comedienne Rivers made her comments in an interview with TMZ, during which she was asked if Palin should be US President. She replied: "I think Sarah Palin is an amazing woman. I think she represents everything strong a woman can be, and I think she should go someplace -- to another planet -- to show them, and get out of our face."

Rivers went on to add that, "They're right to blame Sarah for the shootings [in Tucson]." She later said that right after the TMZ interview her rep received a call from Fox withdrawing the invitation to appear on 'Fox and Friends'. She told CNN "now we call it 'Fox and Former Friends'. They said to our PR lady it was because of what we said about Miss Palin."

Rivers also tweeted about the incident, saying: "Outcome: DON'T PISS OFF SARAH PALIN. She's apparently 'very powerful', and is obviously still smarting from the end of her reality show."

A Fox source said that Rivers had been dropped not because of her views, but because of the volume of news stories on that day, and that her interview was supposed to have been rescheduled, not cancelled.