Embattled E! host Giuliana Rancic admitted on Thursday that “Fashion Police” without Joan Rivers was doomed from the start.
“[The show] without Joan was difficult from episode one,” Rancic said in an interview with People Magazine. “There were just all sorts of problems. I really believe it was only a matter of time before that specific show with that cast and that format fell apart.”
E! put “Fashion Police” on hiatus for retooling after co-hosts Kelly Osbourne and Kathy Griffin — who had been hired to replace the late Joan Rivers — abruptly quit the show in March.
The sartorial series fell into crisis when Rancic suggested the dreadlocks hairstyle Zendaya wore to the Academy Awards looked like it “smelled like patchouli oil and weed.” Many, including the Disney Channel alum, found the remark racially charged and offensive.
Insiders told TheWrap in March that Rancic had been fielding death threats over the flap, and Rancic said they extended beyond just her.
“People were sending me pictures of the barrel of a gun saying, ‘I’m going to kill your family.’ It was awful,” Rancic said.