"Guiliana, I appreciate your apology and I'm glad it was a learning experience for you and for the network," Zendaya said in a long message she posted on her Twitter account.
In the message, Zendaya said she hopes that others negatively affected by Rancic's words can also find it in their hearts to also accept her apology. She went on to quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. saying, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."
Zendaya ended her message urging everyone to be "that light" and to "spread that love."
Prior to this, Rancic made a public apology in a video posted by E! Entertainment on YouTube after her tweet apology appeared to be unaccepted by Zendaya's fans.
In the 63-second clip, Rancic points out that "Fashion Police" is a show that pokes fun at celebrities in good spirit but she does understand that something she said crossed the line, referring to her comment saying Zendaya's dreadlocks made her look like she smells marijuana.
"Therefore, I want to say to Zendaya and to anyone else out there that I have hurt that I am so, so sincerely sorry," Rancic says. "This really has been a learning experience for me. This incident has taught me to be a lot more aware of cliches and stereotypes, how much damage they can do and that I am responsible, as we all are, to not perpetuate them further."
Amid the racism controversy, Rancic's "Fashion Police" co-host Kelly Osbourne tweeted, "you guys do realize that @Zendaya is my friend right?"