Kathy Griffin Says She Wouldn't Have Told Giuliana Rancic's Zendaya Joke

You know it’s bad when Kathy Griffin, the queen of talking mad shit about celebrities is backing away from a joke told on national television. The new host of Fashion Police talked to Splash about the Rancic/Zendaya controversy and she’s got some advice for her panelist: Don’t tell jokes others write for you.

In her interview, Griffin discusses not only Rancic’s huge mistake but also Kelly Osbourne’s departure from the show, which she says might not be a huge surprise because Osbourne seemed miserable the entire time they were taping together. Of course, Griffin also says that she loves The Osbournes and that Kelly is great.

When asked about Rancic, Griffin says that the E! personality shouldn’t have told the joke, that she herself wouldn’t have told it and that when others write jokes for you, things get fucked up. Which is true. There’s been a lot of talk about whether Rancic was thrown under the bus by E! and while Griffin (Can I call her Kathy, please? She once referred to me as “one excited gay” at her show and it feels weird doing this whole GRIFFIN thing) says that the Zendaya controversy was somewhat overblown, she also says she understand why it happened.

From Splash:

S: Do you think that this whole thing got blown out of proportion?

KG: Yes and no. I think it’s emblematic of several new developments. And I say that as one of the actual “new developments.” Since the announcement was made that the show was going to continue — very soon after Joan’s passing, I might add — the speculation over who would take over Joan’s seat became a very hot topic in the Hollywood journalism world. Little did I know, after a lot of soul searching and the network begging me to take the position, the overwhelming response to me personally was quite simply, “You’re no Joan Rivers,” “I’ll always miss Joan Rivers,” “You’ll never be able to fill her shoes,” “Who do you think you are trying to be? Joan Rivers?” Well, no shit. Joan Rivers is no longer with us. I miss her far more than any angry tweeter! I’ve been dealing with the unique challenges that come with taking over a very specific role when someone has passed away. I have done/will do my best to fill my own shoes. I’m no spring chicken, kids — I have a body of work myself that I stand by. To my knowledge, the current “Fashion Police” team is, for the most part, the team that worked for Joan all those years. You cannot put a square peg in a round hole. My approach to comedy may seem too nuanced, and this may be too inside baseball for the viewers to give a crap about. But as it is my living, passion, and vocation, here’s the best I can give you: I will make my Miley Cyrus jokes as long as people want to laugh at them. But there is a chasm of difference between making a joke about Miley Cyrus wearing duct tape over her nipples out in public (which I think is totally fair game) and simply looking at a photo of her on a red carpet and saying she is ugly or a bad singer or pathetic or something like that.

Griffin also says she will continue doing Fashion Police her way, making the jokes about more than people’s weight and levels of attractiveness and rejecting a segment called “Whore Score” that producers wanted her to do. “We can do better,” she said.