Marc Stamas/WireImageThe Grammys' "In Memoriam" sequence listed many talented artists who sadly have passed away, but among the list there was one noticeable absence: Joan Rivers.
Despite winning a posthumous Grammy earlier in the evening for Best Spoken Word Album for her narration of Diary of a Mad Diva, the show's producer Ken Ehrlich left her out of the powerful segment. He tells People, however, that he didn't mean to snub the late comedienne.
"I try and put a time limit on the 'In Memoriam' and just have to make choices at some point," he said. "No disrespect [was meant] at all. I actually knew Joan and worked with her from time to time."
The Fashion Police host, who also received a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album in 1984, was omitted from the segment while actor Robin Williams was included. But Ehrlich says that these "hard choices" have to be in order to keep within the time limit.
"I think it was just that her Grammy involvement was certainly less than Robin's," Ehrlich said, referencing Williams' four wins. "There's only so much we can do, and we have to make hard choices when it comes to things like that."
Daughter Melissa Rivers attended Sunday's show with son Cooper and accepted the award on her mother's behalf.
"We're here for a special reason," she told E! News' Giuliana Rancic. "I said, if my mother won for Best Spoken Word Album I would come back and only talk to you," she assured the host. "When they hand you the Grammy, they hand you an envelope," she showed off the card and proceeded to open if for the E! camera, "and when you open it, that's what it says inside."
She added that the win was "bittersweet."
"It's a difficult moment, it's a little bittersweet," the Fashion Police executive producer told Rancic. "[Joan] was nominated once for her comedy album…but it's wonderful how loved she was and how she's getting so much attention now, and people are really understanding what she's about."
Joan passed away last September following complications from a throat operation. She was 81.