Chelsea Handler was making the promotional rounds last week to promote her new Netflix show, which debuted on Friday. One of the more interesting interviews she gave was to HuffPo Live. They’ve been parceling out the clips all weekend – go here to see. Chelsea talked about what it’s like to no longer be on cable, what it’s like to be friends with Jennifer Aniston and other famous people, and what it’s like to be disrespected as a comedienne. Some assorted quotes:
On her friendship with Jennifer Aniston: “Everywhere I go, people ask me about Jennifer Aniston’s wedding. And I tell her, ‘Being friends with you is a burden. You think it’s hard to be friends with me? Do you know what it’s like to walk down a red carpet and [reporters] go ‘When are Jen and Justin [Theroux] getting married?’ like I’m in charge of that.”
Why she doesn’t joke about her famous friends: “My friends who are really private, whether they’re famous or not, I won’t talk about them. I do more than a lot of them are comfortable with, but I always joke around. I wouldn’t screw you over, I just wouldn’t do that.”
On Judaism (she’s half-Jewish): “It’s the only religion I identify with. It’s the only thing I knew growing up, so if I had to go to pray somewhere, I would go to a synagogue. That’s the only thing I know. Jews are underdogs — not in my world, obviously, they’re not. [But] there’s a lot of anti-Semitism going on.”
Why she left her E! show: “This isn’t a reason for leaving [my show], but if one more person asks me what it’s like to be the only woman in late night, I thought, ‘This is a good reason to stop being the only woman in late night, so I have to stop fielding the same idiotic question.’”
Being compared to other female comedians: “Journalists sometimes … they’ll say, ‘Do you think there’s a lot of similarities between you and Sarah Silverman? Or Lena Dunham? Or whoever? Amy Schumer?’ I’m like, ‘No, we’re just women.’ Just because we’re women doesn’t mean there are tons of similarities. Every single one of us is vastly different.”
She’s obviously being facetious about the “burden” of being Jennifer Aniston’s friend, especially since their friendship is mostly based on alcohol and Chelsea publicly slamming all of Aniston’s perceived enemies. It’s like Chelsea is Aniston’s employee for goodness sake.
Chelsea also told a lengthy story about being snubbed for Saturday Night Live – she met with Lorne Michaels and some of the producers and they promised her a hosting gig TWICE and both times SNL backed out. The second time it happened, producers told her it’s because “the writers have a problem anytime we bring on a comedian.” Which Chelsea calls “nonsense” because they have comedians on all the time, which is true. Isn’t it far more likely that the producers were like, “Oh, the kidz will like Chelsea Handler, she’s hot right now” and all of the writers were like, “Eh, she’s a racist hack, let’s not”? Because I bet that’s what happened.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
I love that SNL backed out with her twice. lol I wasn’t going to click this article but wanted to see what take y’all would have. Perfection!
It’s always seemed to me like she’s pursued those friendships BECAUSE the other people were so famous, and she wants to be one of the “cool kids” and climb the Hollywood ladder. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s the impression I’ve gotten.
SNL just had Sarah Silverman on last week. I don’t think it’s a problem with comedians, it’s a problem with her.
Yeah, I kinda think that about her and friendships but it’s hard to say for sure. I’d think friendships in Hollywood are tricky because you never know people’s true motivations for befriending you.
And yeah, the excuse about SNL not doing well with comedians is BS. I’d guess they may have reneged with her because they managed to find someone better, she was likely more of a backup/last resort type for them.
Is that a combo-swimsuit-toga she’s wearing? LMFAO I fully expect her to do Olympic style synchronized swimming in that outfit, plus the hair style, and then later slamming down a case of beer, like John Belushi.
How many more years will her age be listed as “39”?
Yeah, kinda like Kris Jenner…and Kirstie Alley (who has been 63 for about 4 years now).
Yeah, it sounds like the writers didn’t want to work with her. I mean, she is nasty — so I can see that.
Or it could have been an excuse by Michaels and she got bumped for someone that was more of a ‘get’ on the show.
Yup, I was thinking the same thing. She was their “last resort” choice.
I wish Jennifer would say that every time she walks down the red carpet, people ask her why Chelsea is such a racist b@tch, and that’s a burden, too.
Both Handler and Aniston are friends with their reflections. The company you keep can say all many need to know about a persons character. There are exceptions, but for the most part I believe this.
Handler might begin to struggle without her show. And it’s unknown if she’ll get the same deals elsewhere.
Outside of her talkshow (which had much of its success because of who’s bed she visited) her movies and tv shows all fumble very quickly.
They have her tour ‘Uganda be kidding me’ on netflix—I might check it out this weekend.
That is a good question–why hasn’t anyone asked Jennifer about what Chelsea’s said about AJ over the years? My guess is because her publicist blackballed the question……which makes you wonder about all sorts of questions that Aniston could’ve taken off the table for an interview, but chose to answer. Again and again.
I never warmed up to Chelsea Handler because I always thought she was mean as a snake. But I’m happy that she has found so much success and I think she has gotten a bit nicer over the years. I’m sure she can quit her show now because she has published five books and is reportedly worth around $35 million. They are brighter horizons when you’re worth that kind of change.
They’re both ugos
The header has her looking like she’s Greta Van Susteren’s younger sister.
Another reason to dislike Jennifer Aniston–because she’s friends with Chelsea Handler. There’s not a single thing I like about Chelsea Handler–I’ll let it go at that.
Chelsea brings up a fair point regarding Jennifer and her much anticipated wedding. Even if she knew something she couldn’t talk about it.
I’ve also heard Howard Stern interviewing Jason Bateman as well as Chelsea and all he wanted to discuss was Jennifer Aniston, which struck me as quite rude.
People keep calling Chelsea a racist ,but other than them being funnier, how is she any different from Don Rickles or Lisa Lampanelli?
Her racial humor is aimed repeatedly & specifically at the children of the woman that her friend’s ex moved on with. It’s different because it’s personal and the purpose of these jokes is not to be funny so much as burn Angie’s biscuits.
They’re all in the same league to me.
She gives me the creeps in a way I can’t put my finger on. Obviously, she’s racist and terrible in a lot of ways, so of course I don’t like her for those reasons anyway. But there’s something about her that makes me shudder. I think she’s a manipulative user.
“I do more than a lot of them are comfortable with, but I always joke around. I wouldn’t screw you over, I just wouldn’t do that.”
Doublespeak. She does more than a lot of her friends are comfortable with, but she claims this isn’t screwing them over? Ick ick ick.
The claims about SNL are lies. Lorne Michaels never meets with anyone to pitch them on hosting SNL. He doesn’t have to do that. He offers it to you personally if he knows you, and if he doesn’t one of the SNL producers calls your agent to make the offer. It’s a take-it-or-leave-it deal for all but A++ stars, with the only “negotiation” being on scheduling.