Update (Monday, May 10 at 3:00pm EST): The rollout of the E! News’s transformation is complete with NBCUniversal's announcement that Laverne Cox, the Orange Is the New Black star, will take over Giuliana Rancic’s role. It will be an odd year to start. It’s unclear what the state of red carpets will be by next year’s award season, and the Golden Globes are sitting the next one out entirely following NBC’s announcement that they will not air next year’s show.
Cox told Variety in a statement, “For many years I would wake up early on awards show days, get my snacks in place and watch E!’s coverage all day long. I dreamed of walking red carpets. Now, not only have I had several fun and amazing personal red carpet moments, I also get to be a red carpet guide for E!’s discerning audience and chat with my colleagues and folks I deeply admire for these very special events in their lives. I can’t wait to get started while hopefully serving up fashion fantasies for the ages honey.”
The original article begins below.
Anther shake-up has hit E! News’s red carpet. Giuliana Rancic, the mainstay of the awards-show pre-show, is leaving after 20 years of “who are you wearing?”
“After 20 fabulous years hosting E!’s red carpet, I have decided to step out of my red carpet heels into a new pair of shoes,” Rancic wrote in an Instagram caption. “One of my passions is great storytelling and I am thrilled to announce a new development deal with E!’s parent company NBCUniversal where I will be producing and bringing stories to life.
“And to all the viewers, all around the world, thank you for watching and supporting me as we went along together on this red carpet ride,” she concluded. “I love and appreciate you all and I sure hope you will join me as I enter this exciting new chapter.”
This appears to be part of a larger reshuffling of the pre-awards-show programming on which E! News has long planted its flag. Rancic’s exit news arrives on the heels of the departures of other red-carpet staples like Ryan Seacrest, who announced his farewell back in February before this past awards season took off. Jason Kennedy also left after 16 years of shows.
Kennedy wrote a tribute to Rancic on his Instagram, saying, “I remember our very first live show, she convinced me to get a spray tan. I didn’t know there were 3 levels so I chose #3. I was extremely orange, nervous and practiced my interview questions with her the entire limo ride.”
For its part, E! said in a statement, “While we will all miss watching Giuliana bring her iconic interview style, infectious humor, and keen sense of fashion to E!’s red carpet, we are excited to announce a development deal across NBCUniversal where she will bring her passion projects to life. We look forward to collaborating with Giuliana in the future and we will always be her biggest fans—on and off the carpet.”
The show, which runs simultaneously with other network red-carpet programming, has long been trying to keep up with changing times. Fashion Police, E!’s cattily toned awards-show style commentary show, fell out of favor years ago, the final nail in the coffin being a comment from Rancic in which she guessed what Zendaya’s dreadlocks might smell like (she apologized for the comment). Actors pushed back on the interview format that E! helped build through the genius of the late Joan Rivers, demanding to be asked more than “who are you wearing?” with a hashtag campaign, #AskHerMore, in 2015. The programming introduced new faces to interview and comment alongside Rancic and Seacrest in more recent years, such as Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown and Zanna Roberts Rassi.
Rancic’s last show was this past Oscars—a strange way to go out, but also maybe fitting. After two decades, innumerable spray tans, and a few controversies, it took a pandemic to help her close that chapter.
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