Kathy Griffin Remembers "Trailblazer" Joan Rivers, Andy Cohen Calls Comic Legend "Electrifying"

"She was shocking, but she was so funny," the Bravo host said to Matt Lauer

There are so many words to describe Joan Rivers.

"Trailblazer" is what came to mind when close friend Kathy Griffin opted to write a piece for the Los Angeles Times about her fallen friend."She was a trailblazer in another way too. As her stardom grew, and her brand of no-holds-barred humor set her apart, it was not unheard of for celebrities—the more level-headed ones, at least—to consider it something of a badge of honor to get razzed by Joan," she wrote.

Earlier in the day, Griffin stopped by Today to talk about Rivers' relationship with the royals. "A little-known fact about our friend Joan is she (was) actually very, very close with the royals," Griffin said. "She actually took me, four years ago, to Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. We had these two amazing nights with Charles and Camilla—her buds."

"Because people maybe would say Joan's humor wasn't classy," Griffin explained. "I'm like, 'Well, she's in Buckingham Palace right now. Something's working.'"

Bravo host Andy Cohen also stopped by the show to remember Rivers' "electrifying" energy and quick wit.

"She was electrifying,'' Cohen told Matt Lauer on Friday. "She was one of the first kind of larger-than-life women that I connected to, and I just couldn't believe, like everybody in America, the stuff that she said. She was shocking, but she was so funny."

Andy wrote a touching caption with a photo of him and Joan on Instagram yesterday, "I love this ballsy, funny, generous, shrewd, unpredictable and loyal woman. I grew up in awe of her as she filled in for Carson and pinched myself when I co-starred in a pilot with her for Bravo in '06. She went on to appear on WWHL many times, showing up in the middle of the night with a great attitude and a slew of new jokes. And this summer Michael Rourke and I developed a show with her, starring her, that we were in the middle of pitching networks. She was so indomitable we all thought she would live forever. Joan was a trailblazer and an indelible part of pop culture."