Public Sides With Joan Rivers in Celebrity Apprentice Feud With Poker Pro

She's among the biggest fundraisers for charity in the world of poker (see Ante Up for Africa).  Donald Trump said "she seems like a nice woman".  But in the eyes of comedian Joan Rivers and her now castaway daughter, Melissa, poker pro Annie Duke is the devil.  Mother Rivers continually refers to her fellow Celebrity Apprentice rival as a "Nazi".  "My apologies to Hitler," Rivers said on her blog last week.

And while Melissa may have lost some of her stock with Celebrity Apprentice fans following this past Sunday's tantrum upon being fired, her mom is still getting plenty of support from fans, more so it appears than rival Duke.

From WickedChopsPoker.com:

"What's not funny though is how, even after last night, the majority of people still seem to side with Joan Rivers over Annie (Melissa's tantrum killed her popularity). Read these comments on the EW message board. It's about 90% pro-Joan. Again, Annie is overtly manipulative, but she's never taken a personal, below the belt shot at anyone on the show. Joan looks like the undead and goes out of her way to say the worst possible thing you can say to someone when she gets mad. So how are the viewers siding with Joan? Damn people suck so bad."

Rivers walked out behind her daughter, which left fans wondering if she would return next week.

Both Joan Rivers and Annie Duke were among the early favorites to win this season's Celebrity Apprentice.

"This is one of the best seasons of the show ever," said Gambling911.com's Payton O'Brien, referring to both the entire Apprentice Franchise.  This is the second season of the Celebrity Apprentice.  Other seasons have featured normal every day professionals vying for a job in Donald Trump's vast empire. 

Duke is a spokesperson for the popular online poker room www.ultimatebet.com.