‘FASHION POLICE’ KEEPS DRAMA TO A MINIMUM
IT’S closing in on the first anniversary of E!’s Fashion Police implosion, thanks to Giuliana Rancic’s controversial patchoulioil-and-weed joke that many deemed racist. Kathy Griffin (initially replacing the late Joan Rivers) had already left, and Kelly Osbourne angrily followed suit in the wake of Rancic’s comment. There was clearly bad blood there.
So, what does the long-running show look like in its latest iteration, especially as we officially start award season with the Golden Globes? It’s still swimming along with the new team: Rancic; executive producer Melissa Rivers; stylist Brad Goreski; Real Housewives of Atlanta star Nene Leakes; and comedian Margaret Cho. And things are tame now. Very tame.
Sure, they were mean about some dresses as usual (including a dig about how Rooney Mara’s Alexander McQueen gown looked like shredded skin) and made a few vulgar jokes, but otherwise there was little drama. The closest anyone came to a disagreement was the “ribs vs abs” debate sparked when Cho gleefully noted that Jennifer Lawrence had her “ribs” on display in her Dior dress.
This immediately set off yelling from the other co-hosts: “Those are abs! Those are abs! Not ribs, abs! Abs!” It was a startling response and Leakes immediately started cracking up at the commotion.
Rancic looked decidedly unhappy – after all, people of the internet have always been very vocal about her slim physique. It got so intense last year that Rancic was forced to explain that weight loss was a side-effect of her treatment for breast cancer.
Leakes brought up the debate again later when the panel critiqued Kate Hudson’s look. “She can show her ribs if she wants to show her ribs. How dare you act like the girl can’t show her ribs!” Leakes said. “Abs,” Rancic quietly corrected her. By the time they got to Brie Larson’s cutout dress, Rancic didn’t bother speaking up again as Leakes pronounced them ribs.
And that was the amount of “drama” on a show that used to feed on controversy. It doesn’t produce as much outside buzz any more (except for when the hosts joke about previous hosts), but after the year the show had, that probably suits producers just fine. – Washington Post