Joan Rivers on Miley: 'She Went One Step Too Far'

Miley Cyrus' racy performance at Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards has yielded mass celebrity reaction, from harsh critics to adamant supporters of the 20-year-old star. Now, comedian Joan Rivers weighs in on the buzzed-about performance.

"This is such a bad message to send out to young girls, and young girls are the ones that have been following her," Rivers opined. "...That's what's so sad about this whole thing."

PICS: The Wild Styles of the VMAs

Cyrus' performance, which was rife with sexual gestures and dance moves, has been highly criticized for a variety of factors, but it has nevertheless pasted her name over national and global headlines.

However, as Rivers highlights, her public image is at stake amid all the press, both negative and positive, she's been receiving for the performance.

"She went one step too far," the Fashion Police co-host said. "We get it: You're no longer Hannah Montana...but you can do it with a little more grace. ... If I had a young daughter now that would be it. We [wouldn't] go to her concerts anymore. This has gone too far."

RELATED: Billy Ray on Miley: She's Still My Little Girl

The 20-year-old "We Can't Stop" singer has recently rebranded her music career and public image with a rebellious tone and a physical image starkly different from her child-star image on Hannah Montana.

Cyrus often associates her image change with growing up, asserting that she's keeping up with the status quo of others her age; however, Rivers retorts that behavior like her VMAs performance isn't standard to other 20-year-olds.

"No, this is not normal behavior for a 20-year-old. This is just...disgraceful. It makes me very sad too because she could have been such a role model and she could have achieved the sexiness without going through all this insanity," Rivers added.

RELATED: Billy Ray: Tweet Wasn't about Miley's Performance

Rivers appears daily on Fashion Police and weekly on her web series In Bed with Joan.
The fourth season of her reality show with her daughter Melissa, Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?, will premiere in early 2014.