Kathy Griffin Talks FASHION POLICE Exit on 'The View': 'Sometimes Felt Disingenuous to Me'

Kathy Griffin appeared on today's THE VIEW on ABC to discuss her recent decision to leave her post as co-host of E!'s FASHION POLICE. The comic took over the job following the unexpected passing of comedian and Griffin's close friend Joan Rivers.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Griffin says of her exit after just 7 episodes on the show, "I did a statement because I felt like FASHION POLICE just wasn't the thing for me. My style is improvisational and off the cuff, and they have a formula that worked so well with Joan [Rivers], and so well for so long, and it just didn't fit my thing. And after a while, I kind of felt like I was being forced to comment about pictures of beautiful women in perfect dresses, and say kind of bad things. ... As a feminist and a comic, it just didn't feel like the right fit for me."

She went on to differentiate between making jokes in her stand-up routines and commenting on the E! program, noting that in stand-up "You're kind of vulnerable - you're there with a microphone and the audience, and you're hoping to take this audience on a ride. It's a little different than what felt to me sort of like a dog-pile. Right now, on the red carpet, all these women look so great, I was hoping we could talk about the events themselves and the shows, so I didn't want to say that Meryl Streep didn't look great, because she looked great. So sometimes it felt disingenuous to me. ... But certainly, in my repertoire, I've said heinous things - I'm well aware of that, trust me!"

Griffin went on to offer her opinion on co-host Giuliana Rancic's derogatory comment on Zendaya's hair, which triggered the entire controversy. "I didn't even know she was gonna say that because some dude wrote that for her - which I don't feel they really need that, honestly I think that everyone should've just improvised," she explained, adding, "she said it, and I was trying to be a team player, and the show is very formulaic and that's how they like it. It's just not my thing. So when it came time to leave, they were very nice to me, they weren't mean or evil."

Read more of Griffins' comments here

Photo: Kathy Griffin/Instagram