Dear Gossips,

It was announced yesterday that Laverne Cox will be joining E!’s red carpet coverage now that Giuliana Rancic is moving on to development and production at parent company NBCUniversal after 20 years covering award shows. Live From E! is undeniably an award show tradition. On award show nights they start early, often two hours or more before the “official” red carpet broadcasts begin on the networks (from MTV for the VMAs to ABC for the Oscars to CBS for the Grammys to NBC for the Golden Globes – more on that later) and even though E!’s coverage might be a hate-watch for some people, at least under the reign of Giuliana and Ryan Seacrest, for the most part, publicists encourage their clients to stop at E! during arrivals because, well, they have the audience. Chances are, if you’re reading this post, you’ve for sure watched E! before the Oscars and the Grammys and the VMAs etc.

Now that Laverne Cox is the face of the show, Live From E!’s days as a hate-watch are over. And E!’s position on that carpet just got a lot stronger. Laverne Cox is a celebrity herself. She’s one of them. They will for sure stop for her – I mean, how do you wave off Laverne Cox!? But also, LOL, what happens when you step to Laverne Cox who is always one to watch on the red carpet? I’m not Giuliana Rancic but for over 15 years, part of my job has been to report from a red carpet, and typically people on my side of the carpet don’t out-dress the stars on the other side. Laverne Cox though? She’s bringing Laverne Cox game every single time!

Laverne has been someone I’ve written about in the past whenever we’d hear about celebrities complaining about fashion questions on the red carpet. Because for all the Reese Witherspoons and Nicole Kidmans (arbitrary examples) who claim to be so over being asked about what they’re wearing, that, in and of itself, is a privilege. The Laverne Coxes of the world haven’t always had those opportunities – and I’m sure you know what an understatement that is. So when she showed up on the carpet, she wanted to be asked about what she was wearing, and her nails, and her hair, and her whole look. And now that she’s interviewing people about all of that, they don’t get to pout about the fashion. Not when Laverne Cox is standing there in front of them, telling them about themselves. As she said in her statement:

“I’m so excited and deeply humbled to be hosting E!’s iconic red-carpet coverage. For many years, I would wake up early on awards show days, get my snacks in place, and watch E!’s coverage all day long. I dreamed of walking red carpets. Now, not only have I had several fun and amazing personal red-carpet moments, I also get to be a red-carpet guide for E!’s discerning audience and chat with my colleagues and folks I deeply admire for these very special events in their lives. I can’t wait to get started while hopefully serving up fashion fantasies for the ages, honey.”

There it is. Practically a mission statement for Live From E! And clearly setting expectations for everyone else as to what the show is about. Now we just have to figure out what red carpets are even happening going forward.

Yours in gossip,

Lainey

Laverne Cox Gossip

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