A longtime writer for E!’s “Fashion Police” called former show co-host Kathy Griffin a “despicable, disgusting horrible human being” in a podcast posted online last week.
“Look, Kathy Griffin is not the only famous person in Hollywood that’s a complete (expletive). There’s a lot of them. It’s not just her. So this is not news, alright? There’s a lot of really famous people that are despicable, disgusting horrible human beings. She just is one of them,” Tony Tripoli said on “One on One with Jasper Cole.”
Tripoli said he was friends with Griffin, who grew up in Oak Park, until the relationship ended years ago. Tripoli said Griffin got him fired from “Fashion Police” when she joined the panel show after longtime host Joan Rivers died last year.
He said he rejoined the show after Griffin, 54, left in March after co-hosting seven episodes. Griffin announced her departure on Twitter, which added to a dramatic year for “Fashion Police” that included co-host Kelly Osbourne’s exit and backlash against co-host Giuliana Rancic, who made a marijuana joke about teen actress Zendaya Coleman appearing on the Oscars red carpet with dreadlocks.
NBC Universal, which includes the E! nework, and Griffin representatives did not immediately return a request for comment.
A re-tooled “Fashion Police” debuted in August with co-hosts Melissa Rivers, stylist Brad Goreski, Rancic, who recently moved to Chicago, and celebrity guests. Griffin, meanwhile, has booked tour dates through the spring.
