‘It’s Like I’m Stalin,’ Rivers Says : Television: She says she wasn’t allowed to show clips from ‘Tonight Show’ on her tribute to Johnny Carson.

In an emotional monologue, Joan Rivers tearfully told a studio audience here this week that she had been denied clips of “The Tonight Show” for a tribute to Johnny Carson on the eve of his departure from the late-night show that she used to guest host.

“It’s like I’m Stalin . . . a purge thing,” Rivers said Monday during the taping of her tribute to Carson on her syndicated talk show.

“I know he doesn’t like me, but I do (like you), Johnny,” she said, addressing the camera and praising Carson as the man who gave her her first big break. She appeared on “The Tonight Show” 105 times--second only to Bob Hope--and served as the guest host from 1983 to 1986.

Rivers and Carson have been on the outs since 1986, however, when Rivers left “The Tonight Show” fold to host her own late-night talk series on the Fox network. Carson was described as being hurt and angry that she didn’t notify him of the move in advance. Rivers said that she had tried to reach him but had not succeeded. She also said that she had wanted--and had not received--confirmation that she was considered one of the potential heirs to Carson’s job.

Part of Rivers’ motivation for doing the Carson tribute on her show--which is scheduled for broadcast Monday--apparently was to be invited to be a guest before Carson steps down May 22. “I wasn’t asked to take part in his farewell show,” Rivers told the audience. “I was the first woman to hostess the show; I was the first permanent guest host. Even (with that), it’s like I was never even on the show.”

Rivers could not be reached for comment Wednesday. A spokesman for “The Tonight Show” declined to comment on her remarks other than to deny that she had been refused clips.

The idea of her paying homage to Carson on her program “could be seen as a last-minute effort to make peace,” a spokeswoman for the Rivers show said. “She was determined to pay tribute to Johnny. She wanted him to respond to her. She was seeing all the farewell tributes, and she’s glaringly omitted. I can’t speak for her motivation, but I think she was hoping to be included in the last week of the show.”

Noting that Rivers has said very little about her relationship with Carson since the publication of an autobiography several years ago, the spokeswoman said that the Rivers show was not timed for promotion during the May sweeps but was timed to Carson’s last week on the air.

“She’s not included in the lineup of the last week, but neither are 5,000 other people,” confirmed Jonathan Hogan, an NBC spokesman for “The Tonight Show.”

Rivers--who clutched what was said to be a “Tonight Show” guest book that included her signature from her first appearance on the show in 1965--told her audience during the taping that she had been denied any “Tonight Show” clips, including her own first appearance, for the broadcast. But NBC and Carson Productions issued a statement Wednesday saying that they had not been contacted by “The Joan Rivers Show” requesting permission to use “Tonight Show” clips.

Hogan said that some other shows have asked for and been given clips, but he declined to specify them by name. “Requests are handled on an individual basis,” he said. “If someone calls that he (Carson) doesn’t want to give it to, he’ll say no. If someone calls that he wants to give the clips to, he’d say yes.”

Rivers’ “Tonight Show” tribute will include interviews with Betty White, Barbara Mandrell, David Brenner and several other celebrities whose careers were helped by appearances with Carson. In addition, as part of a tribute to Carson’s promotion of new talent over the years, the show will include performances by several new artists, including two young comedians.

Before “The Tonight Show,” Rivers told her audience, “I was just a girl out of Larchmont, (N.Y.). ‘The Tonight Show’ gave me the right to be funny as a woman. . . . Johnny, I’m grateful to you.”