Red carpet’s surprise absence

HE’S been a red carpet mainstay for more than a decade, but after facing sexual harassment allegations this TV star was a no show.

ALL the stars were present for tonight’s Emmys red carpet show live on E!, with just one exception: host and red carpet staple, Ryan Seacrest.

Giuliana Rancic and Jason Kennedy held down red carpet duties, quizzing Chrissy Teigen on the correct pronunciation of her last name and getting the Stranger Things kids to shoutout the major designers they were decked out in, but Seacrest and his softball questions were nowhere to be found.

Giuliana Rancic was on red carpet duty for E!

Now, as co-host of US daytime show Live with Kelly and Ryan, it’s possible that his duties on the morning talk show would keep him in New York as the TV festivities raged in LA … except he was absent from the show this morning, with Andy Cohen filling in the host’s seat.

Rumours swirled that Seacrest was removed from the red carpet, especially after he wasn’t quite popular on the Oscars red carpet earlier this year.

However, a rep for Seacrest told Gossip Cop that reports of him being dumped from the live show are “untrue” and stated that he “has not been part of the Emmys Red Carpet show since 2015, given conflicts with his other professional commitments in the month of September”.

Ryan Seacrest was absent from the Emmys following his disastrous Oscars appearance. Picture: Frederick M. Brown

E! also told the site, “Ryan will be back on the Live From the Red Carpet at the 2019 Golden Globes in January as usual. He hasn’t hosted the Emmys since 2015 due to scheduling and other commitments. Giuliana and Jason have been the Emmy hosts for the past several years.” The network also denied that his absence had anything to do with recent sexual harassment claims, and that their investigation into the matter had closed.

It’s also worth noting that Seacrest is still credited as host and executive producer of E!’s Live from the Red Carpet shows, even though he was not present for this year’s Emmys.

While it remains unclear exactly what his conflicting commitments were today, he was sure to make time to tweet about his friends’ new skincare line.

Congrats to my friend and @POLISHEDForMen partner @DrLancerRX on his newest collaboration with @CandaceCBure! There will be #NothingStandard about the launch tomorrow, no doubt. https://t.co/AlgWjlDPU3

— Ryan Seacrest (@RyanSeacrest) September 17, 2018

This story first appeared on Decider and has been republished here with permission.