Kathy Griffin succeeds Joan Rivers on 'Fashion Police' TV show

[December 02, 2014]  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Comedian Kathy Griffin will be joining cable television's "Fashion Police," replacing the late Joan Rivers on the show that critiques celebrity choices on the red carpet, E! Entertainment said on Monday.

Griffin, 54, an Emmy and Grammy award-winning comedian, will be a host on the show along with returnees Kelly Osbourne and Giuliana Rancic and newcomer, celebrity stylist Brad Goreski.

Melissa Rivers, who first co-hosted the show with her mother, will continue as the E! series executive producer.

"These are some big shoes I'm going to fill. Joan was truly one of a kind," Griffin said in a statement.

Rivers had a no-holds-barred approach to critiquing celebrity fashion and her barbs on red carpet disasters were particularly stinging.

After Rivers died in hospital in September at the age of 81, actress Anna Kendrick said on Twitter: "RIP Joan Rivers. Being publicly told that my dress is hideous will never feel quite as awesome. You will be truly missed."

Rivers died a week after she stopped breathing following a complication during a throat procedure at a New York clinic. Melissa Rivers has hired a New York law firm to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding her mother's death.

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Mary Milliken and Chris Reese)

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