Fashion expert and author Rivers — who rose to fame reporting outside awards-shows with her late mother, the comedian Joan Rivers — will be joining Variety co-president and co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh and CNN correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister at the two brands’ Emmys pre-show broadcast. On “CNN & Variety Red Carpet Live: TV’s Biggest Night,” streaming live beginning at 5 p.m. ET on Monday, Sept. 14 at CNN.com/Watch and on the CNN app for CNN’s streaming subscribers, Rivers will provide interviews and commentary.
Her presence promises to be both a nostalgic look back and a turning of the page, as Rivers insists she wants to strike a tone that’s been absent for a while: As a duo, the Riverses broadcast for E! and for the TV Guide Channel before, in 2007, their association with the red-carpet ended. In 2011, the elder Rivers declared “We’ve done that. It’s not fun anymore.” Melissa agrees, and is hoping to bring a spirit of joie de vivre to the proceedings.
The pair continued to host E!’s “Fashion Police,” which Melissa continued after her mother’s 2014 death until the show’s final episode in 2017. A few days before her hosting gig, Rivers spoke to Variety about the spirit of “fun” she feels has been missing from the carpet, what she thinks of Jean Smart’s performance as a groundbreaking female comedian and what Joan Rivers would say about celebrity style in the age of Ozempic. Well, first of all, it’s my first time back in 20 years.
I’m going to give you the timeline: I was originally supposed to join in via Zoom, and do some color — some fun. Then I got a call either Saturday or Sunday [Labor Day] weekend, and they said, “Would you be interested in being on the carpet?” Without really thinking about it, I said “Sure.” And then 10 minutes later, I was like, “Oh my God!” Suddenly, it dawned on me, I haven’t stood on a red carpet for coverage in 20 years. It became very overwhelming, because I realized I had so much to do.
Luckily, I’ve seen most of the shows. CNN gave me a huge briefing book, and I’m going through the storylines, the actors, the different categories, finding interesting facts. The other day, they’re like, “And here are the presenters!” and I’m like — Oh, God, they have to put more in my brain.
How I used to do it came back: By storyline, category, and then individuals. Matthew Rhys has won for [“The Americans”], and this is his first time for “Widow’s Bay.” If I end up talking to him, I’m like, “Is there one that you’re more emotionally attached to?” You’ve won, and here you are with your hat in the ring. And with you and Keri Russell — who gets more mirror time?
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