"Light, frothy, fun" Fashion Police Is Being Put on Hiatus

In a move that’s shocking to exactly no one, E! is placing Fashion Police on hiatus until further notice.

Now, rather than try to move forward with just Giuliana Rancic and new addition Brad Goreski, as the network first announced, The Hollywood Reporter can reveal that E! will put Fashion Police on an extended hiatus. The three remaining episodes scheduled to shoot this spring will be scrapped, giving the team time to recast and reboot. The new plan is to return in the fall with six or seven episodes tied to major events, including the Emmys.

Despite the controversy — or perhaps because of it — Berwick and E! executive vp original programming Jeff Olde have been inundated by reps looking to get talent on the show. “It proves what we’re saying,” says Olde, “people love Fashion Police.” Both Goreski, a stylist, and Rancic, a longtime face of E!, will remain as central figures when the series returns. Of the latter’s dreadlocks quip, a line suggested by the show’s writing staff, Berwick says, “It was absolutely misinterpreted, but she handled it completely appropriately.” (Osbourne cited the comment as her reason for quitting, thought she is said to have been looking for an out because her E! deal precluded her from participating with her family in a planned VH1 reboot of The Osbournes.)

“People” might love Fashion Police, but Kathy Griffin, who claims she was goaded into essentially bullying female celebrities for the sake of ratings, is not one of them.

“I felt like I was being forced to comment about pictures of beautiful women in perfect dresses and say bad things,” the famously acerbic comic told the ladies of The View. (Upon leaving, Griffin, who’s made a career of blasting celebrities, reached out to industry friends asking them to lend their support on social media.) But Berwick, who had worked with Griffin for years at Bravo, takes issue with the assessment, arguing that Fashion Police has always tried to stay light. “The show is about comedy and fashion,” she says, “and those are very light, frothy, fun subjects.”