Giuliana Rancic will return to E! News to co-host alongside Jason Kennedy this fall after taking a three-year break from the entertainment news program, E! confirmed on Friday.
"Returning to host E! News is every bit as thrilling to me today as it was 16 years ago when I joined the show and embarked on this wonderful career," Rancic said in a statement. "Co-hosting alongside one of my best friends, Jason Kennedy, with one of the most talented teams in entertainment journalism, makes this move even more special. I can't wait to reconnect with the E! News audience and go on this journey together once again."
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Rancic left the program in 2015, though she remained on Live on the Red Carpet and Fashion Police, where she made that controversial remark about Zendaya's faux locks.
The news of Rancic's return comes just months after former E! News correspondent Catt Sadler left the network, citing a significant pay disparity between herself and Kennedy. After quitting, she wrote that Kennedy "was making close to double my salary for the past several years," and that the network did nothing to close the gap when she confronted them. Sadler told Refinery29 in April that, since her departure, she's committed to the fight for equal pay.
"Now I find myself in the position to use my voice when so many others do not have one, to make noise about the disparity," she said during the phone interview. "I feel an obligation now, and a duty to go out there, and wake people up and get them on board, and have them attend rallies, and change those legislation or align with organizations that can empower them to know more, to shrink that gap."
A rep for E! News declined to comment on whether Rancic's salary was on par with Kennedy's when reached by Refinery29.
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