14 DAY TRIAL // Giuliana Rancic’s racist comments about Zendaya Coleman’s hair at the Oscars 2015, and the way the E! Fashion Police co-host handled the situation at first have made Kelly Osbourne realize that this show wasn’t what she wanted from a career at the moment.
Even though Rancic has since apologized, Kelly is done with the Fashion Police. E! confirms it in a statement to Us Weekly, but obviously makes no mention of the racist incident that got everyone on social media hot under the collar.
It’s time to move on
Instead, the statement tries to make it sound as if Kelly is leaving because she has other projects to focus on, which is only partially true, at best. She’s been with the show for 5 years and “no decisions have been made on her replacement,” it continues.
Kelly’s decision is effective immediately, and the show will continue without her. The Brit hasn’t said anything on this yet, with her last tweet after the scandal hinting that all was well again because Rancic had apologized to Zendaya and the Disney star had gracefully accepted it.
The controversy started right after the Oscars last Sunday, when, during a commentary on Zendaya’s “too bridal” white gown, Rancic remarked that her dreadlocks made her think she smelled of “patchouli oil or weed.”
Initially, Rancic wouldn’t even admit she was wrong to say these things on air, and tried to make it sound as if she’d misunderstood, because she was only trying to say Zendaya was working a “bohemian chic” vibe.
Following pressure on social media, she eventually issued a proper apology on air, but not before Kelly had threatened to leave the show if she didn’t. She also said she could spill more nasty details, but was refraining from it because she was bound by contract.
Kelly wasn’t happy, but her departure was probably forced
“Kelly hasn't been happy at the show for a while,” an inside source says for the aforementioned media outlet, “and this whole situation solidified her decision to move on. It was time for her to go. She had five great years there, and the relationship she had with Joan there changed her life.”
As it happens, Kelly’s threat that she’d dish out dirt on the show if she weren’t under contract came right before a rumor that claimed that producers actually did 3 takes of Rancic’s offensive comment, despite Kelly’s protests that “it wasn’t right.”
So the racially insensitive moment was probably staged precisely because everyone knew it would strike a chord with people online, leading up to a media storm and an unprecedented boost in coverage.
Kelly’s not-so-veiled threat is probably what precipitated her departure. She may have been unhappy with the direction of the show for some time, but chances are she didn’t leave entirely of her own volition.
It takes a strong women to apologize & makes a forgiving women even stronger! #ThisTooShallPass
— Kelly Osbourne (@KellyOsbourne) February 26, 2015