The Most Awkward Giuliana Rancic Red Carpet Interviews
Giuliana Rancic might be an absolute pro with A-list interviews, but the longtime E! News personality has had more than her fair share of cringe-worthy moments (let us not forget the Fashion Police Zendaya debacle that led Kelly Osbourne to quit the series). As it turns out, Rancic is no stranger to saying the wrong thing on the red carpet, as unintentional as it may be. Just chalk it up to the life of a live TV reporter. The starlet, who started her career with the celeb news network in 2002, learned long ago how to roll with the punches, whether that meant dealing with unruly interview subjects (like that bizarre Mike Posner interview), failing to read the room, or taking the lone tequila shot like a total champion.
From Bradley Cooper's painfully awkward interview at the 2019 Oscars to the Kendall Jenner kiss that didn't land, these interviews are some of Rancic's most cringe-worthy.
Bradley Cooper's eyes say it all
All eyes were on Bradley Cooper at the 2019 Academy Awards. Not only was his performance of "Shallow" with Lady Gaga absolutely sizzling (the pair reportedly staged it themselves), the song ended up winning an Oscar for best original song. Still, even as one of the biggest stars of the night, Cooper couldn't escape an awkward run-in with Giuliana Rancic, who managed to somehow talk about her relationship more than the fact that Cooper directed, co-wrote, and starred in one of the biggest movies of the year.
Rancic went off the deep end and dove in telling Cooper that A Star Is Born made her fall more in love with her husband. Then, she asked Cooper how that felt. His response? "We all just try to work so hard and never give up, but other than that, I don't know." His eyes, which look like he's desperately trying to escape the conversation, say it all. Who needs tinnitus when you've got Rancic in your ear?
According to Cosmopolitan, the E! host was roasted online following the awkward interview. Some Twitter users cringed and called it "brutal," while another thought Rancic "pouring her emotions out to Bradley Cooper and him not giving a s**t" was one of the "best things" from Oscar night. The same question went over slightly better with Lady Gaga (yes, Rancic asked it again). We get it, you love your husband, girl!
Sofia Vergara basically had a verbal panty raid
There are a couple things you should never discuss on the red carpet — recent deaths, intimate relationship details, and underwear. Rancic didn't get the memo and went for the latter anyway. According to E! News, this led to a very awkward run-in with Modern Family star Sofia Vergara at the 2012 SAG Awards.
Now, we're almost positive the Colombian beauty would rather discuss anything other than the state of her underwear, like perhaps her work or recent projects, but Rancic couldn't help but pry. The E! host, who was riffing on some panty-related rumors, reportedly asked Vergara to reveal once and for all if she was wearing underwear at the Golden Globes.
"I never said I wasn't wearing panties. I always wear panties. They were really tiny, like a G-string thing, that they're almost no panty but they're a panty," she said (via E! News).
According to ABC News, Vergara reportedly announced that she wasn't wearing any underwear while backstage at the Golden Globes earlier that month, so it's not hard to see how Rancic could be confused, but really, would she have asked George Clooney or Ryan Gosling that same question? Vergara must have eventually gotten fed up with Rancic's fixation on her body because at the 2017 Emmys red carpet, she clapped back and reminded Rancic that she doesn't always play the hot girl. There's a lot more to this Modern Family star than her looks.
The 2019 Golden Globes were confusing for Debra Messing
It's hard to put fault behind the awkward-fest that was Debra Messing's 2019 Golden Globes interview. It was notably chaotic as Rancic appeared to struggle keeping track of what was actually going on. At first glance, it seemed to go off without a hitch with Rancic talking about Messing's various nominations (the awards ceremony marked the seventh time the star was nominated for Will & Grace). Then, it started to go completely off the rails.
Messing seemed less-than pleased that her cast mates never took home the big prize. Instead, she revealed that they drink during the ceremony (and who can't respect a toast to losing, which seems oh-so-Karen Walker). After that, Rancic mistakenly asked Messing about presenting an award (she wasn't presenting anything that night) before shifting course to ask about whether or not the Will & Grace star would see her cast mates at the ceremony. Messing claimed none of her cast mates were there because the show wasn't nominated. Okay, then.
As turns out, Rancic was only slightly confused. According to MSN, Messing's co-star Megan Mullally was presenting at the awards show and Messing was nominated that night. Was the actress throwing some subtle shade at her long-time co-stars or did she simply have too many non-victory laps with the bottle?
That time Aziz Ansari accused Rancic of racism
If anything foreshadowed Rancic's racially insensitive comments about Zendaya's red carpet hairstyle (later dubbed dreadlock-gate), it was her 2013 interview with Aziz Ansari at the Golden Globes. It started off innocently enough with the comedian claiming he didn't know who Christian Dior was. He called the famed designer "Kevin," and Rancic almost convinced Ansari to stick his hand in the mani-cam, which is apparently a thing they have because every aspect of red carpet beauty isn't already scrutinized enough. After that, the whole thing devolved into a downward spiral of racial stereotyping.
Ansari was not pleased when Rancic asked him to teach her some dance moves because she thought he had "good rhythm." The comedian asked if she thought he was a good dancer because of his "chocolate skin tone." She brushed it off, "No, not based on your very beautiful tone." Ansari then told Rancic he knows it's a stereotype that "Indian men know how to dance really well." Rancic laughed but didn't relent and still asked him to bust a move.
"What about like, this is a move that's called 'What? That's racist. Don't say that again,'" he said.
Rancic repeated the move, but didn't apologize, while viewers at home were likely plagued with second-hand embarrassment.
Mike Posner was channeling Jared Leto's Joker in the weirdest way
Mike Posner and Blackbear showed up at the 2017 Grammys looking like the Joker's rejected twin brothers and proceeded to deliver the most purposefully awkward interview imaginable. Rancic, who was a shockingly good sport, did her best to go with the flow. Had he taken a pill from Ibiza right before the red carpet or was he simply method acting as Jared Leto method acting for his role in Suicide Squad?
Posner started off the interview by refusing to speak directly to Rancic. Instead, he whispered to Blackbear, who relayed his messages. Strangely enough, the weirdest part wasn't the fact that he wouldn't speak. It was the fact that the microphone picked up what he was whispering anyway. He then hit on the E! host through the bizarre game of telephone.
"He said that you're very beautiful and ... hopes you're not married," Blackbear said (Rancic's struggle to conceive with her husband, Bill, has been highly-documented).
Rancic also asked Posner, whose single "I Took a Pill in Ibiza" was nominated for song of the year, if the hit was constantly stuck in his head. He leaned back and whispered to Blackbear, "I have song of the year next year stuck in my head." Worse yet: Blackbear kept struggling to hear him even if the viewers at home could. All we want to know is why?
Kendall Jenner's double-kiss snub
The problem with air kisses is that the expectations shift from culture to culture. Sometimes you opt for a hug rather than a kiss (hello, fellow Americans). Sometimes, you opt for one cheek. Other times, you might be lucky enough to get both cheeks (though, that's usually reserved for close friends). There's enough potential awkwardness in an air kiss that it should never be reserved for live TV. Giuliana Rancic learned this the hard way.
Kendall Jenner's 2015 Billboard Music Awards red carpet run-in wasn't even close to her most prominent faux pas on the grand scale of endorsing Fyre Festival or starring in a wildly misguided Pepsi commercial. Nonetheless, it was totally cringe-worthy when the E! host leaned in for a kiss and was totally snubbed. Rancic landed a smooch on the first cheek, but Jenner turned away when she went in for a second. Some people (like Hollywood Life) considered it "major shade," while the rest of us contemplated if a stunning Balmain blazer has ever been wrapped up in something so uncomfortable. To be fair, the two women probably do know each other since they both regularly appear on the network. Ultimately, the move seemed like a cringe-worthy misunderstanding.
Lil Uzi Vert couldn't hide his boredom
Since releasing his major label debut Lil Uzi Vert vs. The World in 2016, Lil Uzi Vert has gotten so used to the spotlight, he's almost completely over it. This was no more apparent than when Rancic interviewed him on the 2018 Grammy Awards red carpet, and the Soundcloud rapper barely answered her questions.
Rancic tried her best to pull answers out of the rapper, who was nominated for best new artist, but to no avail. When she asked him how he was feeling about the awards show (which should have been an enormous achievement for him considering he'd never been nominated before), he replied with a flat, disinterested "Normal." Rancic then rephrased the question and asked if he was "excited." Lil Uzi Vert replied, "Yep."
"This is normal. This is my life. It's, like, whatever," he said about attending the awards show, before saying if he won he was just going to think about "everything that I'm gonna buy the next day. You know I like to shop, so shopping."
Finally, Rancic rounded out the interview by asking the star what his next steps were. Though she was obviously referring to his career, Lil Uzi Vert's future plans included nothing more than "waking up" and eating some Pop Tarts. Pop Tarts are cool, but they're not a Grammy.
You just don't say that, Giuliana
There are some things we just don't say, but sometimes it seems like Rancic has said all of them, and this cringe-worthy 2011 SAG Awards interview certainly adds to the list. It all started when Rancic slipped boy band icon Justin Timberlake an airplane-sized bottle of whiskey during the prime era of The Social Network and long before he was a Man of the Woods (who probably does drink whiskey as long as it's from Tennessee. Isn't that what men do in the woods?).
Rancic seemed as proud of her whiskey-slipping skills as a teenager on prom night until she interviewed Geoffrey Arend and Christina Hendricks. The couple revealed that Timberlake had slipped the tiny bottle into Arend's suit pocket because he was trying to quit drinking. Rancic was flabbergasted and yelled, "I can't believe that Indian giver!" Full stop. Not only did she inadvertently discredit Timberlake's efforts at a healthier lifestyle, but she used a tired racial stereotype that Native peoples forum Native Appropriations described as "probably not the best term to use to describe a negative act, considering it stereotypes Indians as deceitful and un-generous." C'mon, Giuliana.
XYZ, Chris Colfer
If Rancic's "Indian giver" comment at the 2011 SAG Awards wasn't enough, the E! host threw in some gay stereotyping for good measure. Her interview with Glee star Chris Colfer was so cringe-worthy it made us want to remove the show from our DV-R's just in case we saw his face and got reminders. How dare she ruin our favorite Glee character.
Colfer was coming off a high from winning his first Golden Globe for best supporting actor in a series. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he "teared up backstage" when he was asked about his status as a "gay rights figure." His heartwarming acceptance speech rallied against bullying and made us believe that childhood dreams really can come true. Enter: Giuliana Rancic, who reduced the star to a stereotypical homosexual Real Housewives fan.
"I mean, do you just sit there, like, watching The Real Housewives and then you just look up and you go, 'Wow,'" she asked.
To our knowledge, Colfer isn't particular renowned for his Bravo-watching habits. We're not even entirely sure if he's seen a single episode of The Real Housewives. Either Bravo needed a plug, and it's great product placement on the part of Rancic, or it was stereotyping. Rancic then went on to awkwardly point at Colfer's crotch, then joke that the star forgot to zip his fly. C'mon, haven't you embarrassed the poor guy enough?
Anyone got a Tide pen?
Giuliana Rancic lived through every A-listers absolute nightmare in 2018: she messed up her red carpet gown before the 90th Academy Awards even started. According to People, the E! personality was interviewing Wolfgang Puck for a segment. For 20 years, the celebrity chef has curated the menu for the official Oscars after party, the Governors Ball.
During the segment, Puck rattled off his luxe bites, which included quail eggs, Maine lobster, Burgundy black truffles, and ruby chocolate strawberry and cream (the latest chocolate trend that wasn't even available in the U.S. at the time). Puck gave Rancic a little taste of his famed gold-dusted, chocolate Oscars (because everyone's a winner at the after party) but the TV host had no idea it was stuffed with passion fruit chocolate. After she took a bite, the chocolate dripped out all over her cream-colored gown. What a shame she wasn't wearing black. Apparently, it didn't stain and Rancic was a good sport (meanwhile, the rest of us would have been screaming for a Tide pen).
Rancic forgot Cardi B's lyrics
Cardi B ruled the 2018 Grammy Awards. The rap superstar was nominated twice for her breakout hit "Bodak Yellow." It only foreshadowed her success the following year when the star received five nominations and took home the award for best rap album. What better time for her first awkward Giuliana Rancic interview than with a run-in at her first Grammy outing?
Cardi told Rancic that she was actually nervous for the awards ceremony. When the starlet said she had "butterflies" in her "stomach and vagina," Rancic would've probably spit out her drink if she had one. Instead, we got an awkward pause and an "Okay." Girl, have you ever heard Cardi speak?
After that, Rancic tried to ask the rapper about her lyrics in "Motorsport," which referenced tabloid rumors, but she struggled to remember them. Instead, the TV host ended up looking like an out-of-touch parent trying to be hip with the kids. Cardi didn't seem to sweat it after she actually realized what Rancic was talking about, but it took a couple awkward moments to get there.
...And Rancic drank alone
Giuliana Rancic was left drinking alone during this insanely awkward interview at the 2015 Golden Globes. The TV host was chatting with George and Amal Clooney about the Tomorrowland star's Casamigos Tequila — it's supposedly so smooth that you don't even wince. Girl was ready to party down on the red carpet, but the former bachelor-turned-newlywed was having none of it.
When asked to share a shot with Rancic, George kindly told the TV personality that he had to speak later that night, but he'd be at the bar afterwards. She then moved on to Amal, an international human rights lawyer so poised it's hard to imagine her gulping down frozen margaritas. She asked the Lebanese beauty if she ever had the tequila. Amal said she "tasted" it (which is pretty obvious considering it's her husband's tequila). Rancic ended up taking the shot like a pro and didn't cringe, but the rest of us did when she told Amal she should be drinking more of the stuff. Perhaps Rancic should take a page from the Clooneys' book and stick to Nespresso.