Giuliana Rancic is not Joan Rivers and she shouldn’t try to be, so said the ladies of ABC’s “The View” Wednesday morning during a discussion of the E! host’s controversial remarks about singer/actress Zendaya’s hairstyle.
“Only Joan Rivers can be Joan Rivers. Giuliana is not Joan, sorry,” guest host Stacy London said on Wednesday’s episode.
London was responding to comments — and two subsequent apologies — E!’s “Fashion Police” host made concerning the dreadlocked hairstyle Zendaya wore to Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, which Rancic said looked like it “smelled like patchouli oil and weed.” Zendaya and others found the comment offensive.
Panelist Nicolle Wallace provided several examples of “outrageous” racial jokes “Fashion Police” creator Rivers made that she, as a consummate comedienne, could get away with making. But nobody else should try to fill her shoes, the hosts agreed.
“Unless you know how to make jokes, don’t do it, because this is what happens,” Whoopi Goldberg — who has sported dreadlocks for 40 years — said.
Wallace called the E! show “rudderless” without Rivers’ strong personality, and Goldberg admitted she hadn’t watched “Fashion Police” since the late comedienne’s passing.
“Maybe it’s time for the show to turn into something else, because Joan was one of a kind,” Goldberg said.