Hal Sparks was fired from the show

For those of you wondering why Sparks left the show less than a year after he began hosting, the answer is simple: he was fired. He tried to spin it that he left on his own accord but that's not the truth. In fact, E! had signed Sparks to a standard four-year contract with six month renewal options controlled by the network. Sparks couldn't get out of the contract if he tried. What happen was that over the course of his tenure he gradually pissed off everyone affiliated with the show. It started with the show's writers after he mentioned in a magazine interview that he "would wait a couple of months before bringing in his own writers." Sparks had no such authority to bring in his own writers but it still angered the writing staff. He then tried to get the supervising producer fired to no avail. A racially insensitive comment then got him in hot water with the studio crew. Finally, clashes with the E! publicity, marketing, and legal departments sent him packing.