Not the happy, hilarious ending everyone wanted. As previously reported, Kathy Griffin has departed E!’s Fashion Police. After just seven episodes — including one very controversial post-Oscars show that put Giuliana Rancic in the hot seat.
Griffin, whose Thursday announcement followed the exit of Kelly Osbourne last month, “didn’t vibe with the show the way that was expected,” one insider explains to Us Weekly.
“She really did not feel comfortable making jokes the way Joan [Rivers] did,” the source explains of the star, 54, who joined the show after the September death of Joan Rivers. “It wasn’t the perfect fit that she and everyone expected it to be.”
Another source explains that Griffin, who has two Emmys to her name, also anticipated more creative control. “It wasn't the relationship behind the scenes that Kathy had expected when she had stepped up to fill Joan's role,” the insider tells Us. “She wasn't given the leeway to make it something that she could operate within. She's not Joan Rivers and she knows that. She's Kathy Griffin and her way of comedy wasn't able to operate within the show's structure.”
Griffin, for her part, similarly explained to fans she was exiting the show because it just didn’t gel. "I discovered that my style does not fit with the creative direction of the show and now it's time to move on," she announced on Twitter. “My brand of humor, while unrepentant and unafraid, is all about CONTEXT…Listen, I am no saint…But I do not want to use my comedy to contribute to a culture of unattainable perfectionism and intolerance towards difference.”
With Griffin gone as well as former co-host Kelly Osbourne, E! revealed in a statement to Us Weekly that the show is still scheduled to continue on with Giuliana Rancic and Brad Goreski.
