Kelly Osbourne quits 'Fashion Police' after on-air and off-air drama

By Fusion Staff  |  March 2, 2015 | 3:51pm
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It appears that E!’s Fashion Police has a rogue cop on its hands. In a statement released last Friday, the network announced the disappointing — but not necessarily surprising — departure of one of the show’s talking heads, Kelly Osbourne. The official announcement lauded the lavender-haired fan-favorite for her “many contributions to the series over the past five years” and explained the stylish magpie was leaving to pursue “new opportunities.” But Osbourne had indeed threatened to quit the show if the Zendaya-Giuliana Rancic fracas was not reasonably resolved.

If you’ll recall, Rancic, in a failed attempt at humor, mocked the faux-dreadlocks teen star Zendaya donned on the Oscar red carpet, claiming the twisted tresses looked as if they “smelled of patchouli… or weed.” The incendiary comments set off a Twitter brouhaha, with many of Zendaya’s fans and other notable black female entertainers coming to Zendaya’s defense, and prompted the 18-year-old starlet to issue a powerful response to Rancic’s “outrageously offensive” remarks via Instagram.

While Rancic offered a taped apology to Zendaya and the singer accepted Rancic’s mea culpa, the damage had been done. But the incident further eroded relations in the Fashion Police ranks. As Page Six reports, since last winter’s untimely death of Fashion Police‘s former host, Joan Rivers, the show has gone through a dramatic restructuring, including positioning comedian Kathy Griffin at its helm, and casting celebrity stylist Brad Goreski. Rumor has it in-fighting ensued — over everything from the direction of the show to Griffin’s salary, with the Zendaya fiasco seemingly only adding fuel to the fire.

While the future of Fashion Police is unknown, Kelly Osbourne has a fashion line to keep her busy, and we can’t wait to see what her next movie will be.

Marjon Carlos is a style and culture writer for Fusion who boasts a strong turtleneck game and opinions on the subjects of fashion, gender, race, pop culture, and men’s footwear.

 
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