NEW YORK — In the end, Broadway’s leaders saw the light — and decided to turn them off.

The Broadway League, which represents theater owners and producers, reversed itself Tuesday and chose to get Broadway’s theaters to dim their lights in honor of Joan Rivers.

The league had said Monday that Rivers did not meet the criteria for the honor, triggering a controversy when several theater owners said they would turn off their marquee lights anyway. An online petition was launched and several celebrities came out in favor of granting the honor.

The league changed course Tuesday afternoon, saying the lights would dim at 6:45 p.m. for one minute.

“Joan Rivers loved Broadway and we loved her,” Charlotte St. Martin, the league’s executive director, said.