Joan Rivers, after giving away autographed copies of her new book in front of Costco yesterday, handcuffed herself to a shopping cart inside to protest the mega-mart big box store declining to carry her new book.

Costco won’t carry Joan Rivers’ new book because it has off-color jokes on the back cover. Costco has the right to decide what merchandise they carry.  Joan claimed that selling her new book wherever she wants is

A free speech issue and a First Amendment right.

Uh no. Joan has the right to free speech in public. She has the right to publish a book. And booksellers have the right to decide which books they choose to sell. It’s America!!!! We have rights! Just we don’t always understand them.

Consumers have the right to buy books at other stores aside from Costco. (And they should! Support your  independent booksellers!).  Some gossip report, which I caught on TV while eating an awesome tuna sandwich at the Casting Office while avoiding rush hour on the 101, showed Joan giving away her new book in the Costco’s outdoor nosh pit before marching inside with a bull horn. The “news” left out some of the crazier bits, which thankfully LAist caught:

She declared that the property wasn’t Costco’s, since it belonged to the Indians, and that it was like “Nazi Germany” for not permitting her book to be sold there. Ultimately, Rivers clamped on handcuffs, attaching herself to a shopper’s cart as the police and confused shoppers (with cellphone cameras) looked on.

She added:

Next, they will be burning the Bible.

before marching into the warehouse store without showing her membership card and handcuffing herself to a shopping cart before security called the police who escorted her away without pressing charges.

Joan came off like a crank. And her publishers should have realized that big box stores are fussy about packaging, then adjusted the cover material if necessary. Or simply created a

Banned by Costco!

wrapper for copies shipped to other stores.

If I had a precocious six-year old I might not want them reading smutty jokes at Costco. I’d want my kid to learn dirty jokes in the right environment– at the family dinner table!

Comparing a store to Nazi Germany because they won’t carry an item is just dumb. Health food stores don’t carry certain brands because of the ingredients. That’s their right, and it doesn’t make them Nazis, fascists, totalitarian, etc.

Hopefully for Joan Rivers’ sake, the book is funnier than her stunt.

Screenshot: TMZ