Giuliana Rancic's Controversial Past Has Come Back To Bite Her Once More

Giuliana Rancic's offensive remarks about Zendaya on "Fashion Police" continue to garner backlash nearly a decade later. When the fashion talk show hosts discussed the actor's 2015 Oscars outfit, Rancic wasn't too impressed by a teenage Zendaya's decision to wear her hair in dreadlocks. After arguing that it wasn't a good fit for her slender body type, Rancic commented, "I feel like she smells like patchouli oil. [...] Maybe weed," (via YouTube). After the racist quip resulted in numerous negative comments, alongside a powerful response from Zendaya herself, the TV personality took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to apologize for hurting people's feelings. 

However, Rancic maintained that her words weren't racially motivated, and she was simply using the descriptors to evoke "a Bohemian chic look." Later, the E! star offered a more elaborate apology on "Fashion Police" itself. Amidst the controversy, her co-host, Kelly Osbourne, took to X to stress that she didn't stand behind Rancic's comments while urging the people in power to take appropriate action or else she would walk away from the show. The outspoken celebrity seemingly didn't believe that the public apology was enough, and Osbourne left "Fashion Police" days later. 

During a May 2024 episode of her family's podcast, "The Osbournes," Sharon Osbourne mentioned Rancic by name. In response, her daughter scoffed, "We don't need to give her any f*****g anything." Furthermore, she recalled how the controversy had altered her perception of a job she once adored, admitting, "It turned into this whole thing, and it made me take a long hard look at where I was, and it made me realize that I didn't wanna be there without Joan [Rivers]." 

When Kelly Osbourne discussed the Giuliana Rancic controversy on "The Osbournes Podcast," she admitted that she still had one major regret about how the whole thing went down. "[O]ne of my biggest regrets in all of it, to be honest with you, was how Melissa [Rivers] got hurt in all of it because she had just lost her mom and then the show," Osbourne explained. Ultimately, the drama between Osbourne and Rancic caused them to sever ties completely. 

The former talk show host confirmed that she wasn't in touch with Rancic anymore, asserting, "As far as I'm concerned, she doesn't exist." Shortly after the contentious "Fashion Police” episode aired in February 2015, an insider informed Us Weekly that Rancic had done multiple takes of her Zendaya comments. They also claimed that Osbourne stood up for the "Challengers" star, who was then just 18, and cautioned her co-host against using such offensive words. 

In response, an E! spokesperson clarified that they hadn't filmed multiple takes, but acknowledged that Osbourne had pointed out that Zendaya had appeared on the show before and was a pal of hers too. Months later, in August 2015, the former pop star criticized Rancic more directly in an interview with The Wrap, confessing, "I will never admit to liking Giuliana because I don't. I don't think she's a good person and I think she's a liar." Furthermore, Osbourne disclosed that she would only consider returning to "Fashion Police" if they let a few people go. At the end of the day, though, Osbourne has her own messy history of controversial statements, too.