Former E! News host Lilliana Vazquez is weighing in on the show’s shock cancellation.
“As a former host of E! News — here’s my VERY HONEST reaction to the cancellation!” Vazquez, 45, captioned a TikTok video on Thursday, July 24, asking followers if they were “really surprised” by the news.
“I can talk about this because I was the former host of E! News,” Vazquez started her video. “No, I’m not surprised.”
Us Weekly confirmed on Thursday, July 24, that E! News was canceled after more than 30 years on the air. The current iteration of the show is hosted by Keltie Knight and Justin Sylvester, who have not publicly addressed the cancellation outside of Knight’s TikTok to the song “6 Months Later” by Megan Moroney. The show’s final episode airs on September 25. (E! News is set to continue as a digital brand.)
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Vazquez explained that she “left” the show in 2021 after being, what she thinks, is “the shortest tenured host” at the show.
“Not because I did anything wrong, or our show did anything wrong, but I signed on in December of 2019 and hosted it through March of 2020. If you dare to remember what happened in March of 2020, our show went off the air with me as the host because of the pandemic,” she continued. “When it came back, it came back in a very different form, and I was no longer with the network.”
Vazquez claimed that the “writing was on the wall” for E! News when she was hired as the host. At the time, Vazquez lived in New York City — where the show moved for a brief period — and hosted the live version.
@thelillianavazquez They cancelled E!News… Are you really surprised?
Here’s my hot take and I’m not holding back. #enews #cancelled #nbc
“The reason E! News did not work in a taped format is, No. 1, it’s far too edited for today’s consumption,” Vazquez continued. “This isn’t to say anything negative about the caliber of producers and talent on that show — I think Justin and Keltie are amazing.”
Vazquez clarified that her take on the cancellation is about “the identity of the show” and the “relevancy that no longer exists for a show like E! News.”
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She explained that TikTok and other social media platforms have replaced traditional forms of entertainment news.
“To think that you are getting an authentic fair version of entertainment news on air, not possible you guys. There were so many touchpoints to every story that went on air,” Vazquez claimed. “There were puppeteers behind the scenes. It is a PR machine and entertainment news shows are, in fact, operatives of PR machines.”
She concluded, “All this to say, no, I am not surprised. Am I sad? Yes, because this show cancellation means hundreds of people have lost their jobs.”
