Listen: Joan Rivers expressed concern about voice in recording

UPDATE:

Joan Rivers' rep Judy Katz released the following statement to The New York Post's Page Six: "The recording is a fraud. Joan never made any such tape. This is a publicity stunt that was created by Brad Zimmerman and his public relations representative, Beck Lee, and is wholly disrespectful to the memory of Joan Rivers."

Joan Rivers expressed concern about her voice in an audio recording taped before her death.

"My voice has been bothering me,' Rivers says in the clip posted on You Tube. "I don't know what it is. I don't know. I feel like sh**. I'm tired again."

The recording provides some insight into what may have been going on before Rivers entered a Manhattan outpatient clinic last month for vocal cord surgery.

According to the New York Post, Rivers had agreed to voice a radio spot for Brad Zimmerman's upcoming off-Broadway show, "My Son the Waiter, a Jewish Tragedy." Zimmerman was not only Rivers' friend, but also served as her opening act sometimes.

Producers of the show recently found a rehearsal Rivers did for the ad in which she says, "Hi, I'm Joan Rivers, can we talk? About...Brad Zimmerman...he waited on tables for 29 years -- stupid or what -- before he got up the nerve to write a hilarious show...29 years! Stupid! He's dumber than Heidi Abromowitz!"

Rivers continues, "This is terrible copy. Who wrote this crap? And I feel sick...Anyway, the critics are calling it hilarious, a total must-see, and I love him, too. So don't wait 29 years to see my friend. And buy a ticket."

She says, "My voice is bothering me...I can't...I have to do it again." She does another take, but then concludes with, "That's it -- I don't feel good."

The recently unearthed recording shows off Rivers' sense of humor, but also suggests Rivers had been struggling with some voice issues.

Rivers was hospitalized on Aug. 28 after she went into cardiac arrest during the procedure. She died on Sept. 4 at age 81. The New York state health department is investigating the circumstances. Dr. Lawrence Cohen, the medical director where Joan Rivers underwent her procedure, is no longer working at Yorkville Endoscopy.

Rivers was remembered at a star-studded funeral in Manhattan attended by family and many celebrity friends, including Hugh Jackman, Sarah Jessica Parker and Whoopi Goldberg.

On Monday, Jerry Seinfeld revealed that Rivers was going to be a lead guest on the new season of his series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee."

Listen to Rivers' recording below. Warning: It contains explicit language.