Chelsea Handler on ‘Chelsea Lately’: ‘I’m so much smarter than that show was’

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We haven’t written about Chelsea Handler in months. Hasn’t that been such a relief? Chelsea said goodbye to her E! show, Chelsea Lately, late last summer. She had spent months bitching and moaning about the show was beneath her talents, and she was trying to hustle her way into some kind of “smart” gig, openly talking about how she would love to do something like The Daily Show. She even tried to hustle her name onto the shortlist for David Letterman’s replacement. I can’t tell you how pleased I am that she failed at all of that. Nowadays she’s so desperate for attention, she keeps posting topless selfies on her social media. She allegedly has a Netflix talk show (or something) but that doesn’t start until 2016. And that’s about it. Still, she was invited to the Code/Media conference and she ended up biting the hand that fed her yet again. Unprofessional dumbass.

Onward and upward! Chelsea Handler spent seven years of her life hosting E!’s Chelsea Lately, and now that it’s over, she’s ready for something bigger and better — emphasis on the latter. Speaking at the Code/Media conference in California on Wednesday, Feb. 18, the comedienne couldn’t help taking a few shots at her former gig.

“The subject matter I was dealing with on E!, you know, it was a fun way to get started and kind of have a great time,” she told hosts Kara Swisher and Peter Kafka of the late-night program, which ran from 2007 to 2014. “And then after a while, I just was like, I’m so much smarter than that show was, and I wanted to be doing a show that was smarter than I was.”

That’s what she hopes to accomplish with her Netflix deal, which includes a new talk show in 2016. Handler said she chose the streaming service (now a major TV programmer thanks to hits like Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards) because she didn’t want to just “go fill in someone else’s shoes” at an already-established show on another network. “I wanted to create my surroundings,” she explained.

She’s still working out the specifics of what her new show will entail, but so far, at least, the Netflix partnership has been a success.

“It’s nice to be involved in a show where I do respect their opinions,” she said. “I respect Netflix. So it’s like going out with a guy that you’re proud to be seen with.”

The stand-up star also spoke at the conference about her recent streak of topless photos on Twitter and Instagram. “I’m not trying to look fantastic. That’s just a by-product,” she joked. “I’m also not trying to sexualize myself in any way.”

What she is trying to do is make a point about the nudity rules on various social media platforms. (Instagram, for example, does not allow nudity and will take down any photo it deems inappropriate.)

[From Us Weekly]

“I just was like, I’m so much smarter than that show was, and I wanted to be doing a show that was smarter than I was…” How many different times and ways can she complain about a show that she created out of thin air, by sleeping with (then married) boss? And I’ve heard Chelsea’s stand-up and I’ve read more interviews with her than I care to admit, and I’m here to tell her something. Dear Chelsea: you are not smarter than Chelsea Lately. Chelsea Lately was your cash cow and the best vehicle for your marginal talent. And you let your ego and your yes-men tell you that you could do better, and now you’re posting topless selfies for attention. Maybe it’s time to stop bitching?

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Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.

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44 Responses to “Chelsea Handler on ‘Chelsea Lately’: ‘I’m so much smarter than that show was’”

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  1. Jenna says:

    Ha! That’s how I feel about my job, too.

  2. taterho says:

    “…and I wanted to be doing a show that was smarter than I was.”

    Don’t lose hope Chelsea. Maybe they will bring back Jersey Shore.

  3. Andrea1 says:

    You summed it perfectly well kaiser!
    Is she still hanging out with her famous friends now that her show is over?

  4. QQ says:

    Yeah and you also got so much richer and known from that sad little show and your bf putting you on… sis .. please

  5. Talie says:

    She started hating the show when she was dating Andre Balazs – I guess he put it down. That was also around the time she started skiing in Switzerland, so you know…

  6. Cecada says:

    Oh go crawl into Jen’s margarita fountain and STFU, Chelsea

  7. Ann says:

    Well … she’s right. I like her and I think it’s great that she featured a lot of female comedians on her show. Can we also leave that tired cliche that any successful woman only got there because she slept with some man? If that was true, there would be a LOT more successful women in Hollywood.

    • Bridget says:

      She got Chelsea Lately when she was sleeping with the head of E!, and the deal happened to pay her more than she would have ever gotten elsewhere.

    • Luca76 says:

      In her case it was true she was openly dating a married E exec for years.

    • Jackson says:

      In her case it is not a cliche, it is a fact.

    • Dhavynia says:

      No, she’s complaining about the show that made her money and more popular only God knows why, if she’s sooo talented and smarter she would have gotten out a long time ago and ventured elsewhere. She’s not successful because of her talent but because of who she leeches to so I say she’s lucky she even has a deal with Netflix and even with that I think she won’t last long

    • JustNo says:

      You say your a fan then I suggest you read up on her because like the other said she did in fact sleep with her married boss at E!. She even admitted to that fact and seem rather proud of herself for it to.

    • Jess says:

      Ann, I came to say something similar, it irks me a little that people always bring that up. Sleeping with him may have gotten her foot in the door but she had to have talent to keep it open for as long as she did. Plus if men could sleep with women to get ahead they would, and why don’t the men ever get called out on giving someone a job in exchange for sex?! Women who do this are called whores but the men get a pass, it’s not fair.

      • Bridget says:

        She got a very long contract that paid significantly more than anyone else would have paid her, from the guy she was sleeping with. And it’s not like he could have fired her after they broke up, since that could have been considered a retaliatory firing. But keep in mind that Chelsea had very low ratings on E! that were just sinking lower and that despite VERY powerful representation she couldnt get another network to even consider her for a talk show spot.

      • Lily says:

        People bring it up because it is the truth. Nevermind the fact that he was married, and yet she attacks other people she thinks are cheaters.

        She has no talent, her idea of being funny is nasty name calling & making fun of children.

      • If I’m remembering right, it came out from Joan Rivers. Now Joan and Chelsea had a real feud (not the fake one Chelsea was trying to do with Angelina)….they both talked shit about each other. Joan Rivers said something like “….she made it on her back f-cking the President of E!….he cut her a break, and now she’s doing okay”….when asked about Chelsea’s show or talent or something. Chelsea denied it later in interviews–more that he got her the job because they were together, not that they were together (if I’m remembering right)…

  8. Maria says:

    She’s just a whole lot of ugh.

    Even if site didn’t like the show, it not only launched her but gave her the opportunity she now has. As for not filling someone else’s shoes, whatever, she would’ve gladly filled Letterman’s given the opportunity 😯

    Industry people take note of attitudes like hers, arsehole.

  9. Bridget says:

    It was *her* show. She wasn’t putting on other people’s material. It was her choice not to elevate what she put on the air. Moral of the story: don’t try to excuse being bad at your job by saying you’re too smart for it.

    • lucy2 says:

      That’s what I was thinking too – if she wanted it to be “better” it was her show and up to her to do it.
      I watched it in the beginning if she had comedians on that I liked, but she was always the weakest part, and I never saw ANY attempt by her to steer a conversation into a smarter direction.
      I am glad the late night gigs she tried to publicize herself as being considered for didn’t pan out. Not sure why Netflix hired her.

      • Bridget says:

        Look at someone like Jon Stewart: when he took over the Daily Show would anyone have thought that a comedy news show would become what it is? He elevated the material himself. Chelsea Lately may have been an entertainment show, but that doesn’t mean it had to be lightweight. She chose that.

      • ava7 says:

        Exactly, Lucy2! She was in the driver’s seat for the production of the show and the interviews. She never tried to take the interviews in any kind of intelligent direction. In fact she always looked for the least common denominator between her and her guest: “I like getting drunk, too. I like sleeping around, too!”

  10. FingerBinger says:

    I could have done without the Chelsea camel toe picture.

  11. Apple Tart says:

    I couldn’t get through her Netflix standup. It was painfully unfunny. The only smart thing Chelsea did was surround herself with funnier people on Chelsea Lately. She didn’t host the show by herself. Funnier people spit lines during the roundtable all she did was bring up the subject. I think her ego got the better of her thinking she could do something more than she is. She is a comedy groupie like Whitney Cummings. They love being around funny people but they are not particularly funny themselves.

    The Netflix deal I don’t get at all. She said on Howard Stern she would go around and learn different things each show. That’s called College Chelsea, and since you didn’t go now you want Netflix to educate you? Netflix has a lot of money to throw around right now and she was in the right place at the right time. I doubt they will be throwing money at her for much longer after her show debuts and sinks.

  12. MC2 says:

    I liked her until I saw her stand up live. The guy before her was hilarious & took down the house with laughs & then she came on (2nd show of the night) drunk & late. She proceeded to bitch about Russians for half an hour & said some racist stuff about black people. It was painful, unfunny, a waste of my time & I wanted my money back (I still dream of writing her a letter demanding my ticket price back). Seriously pissed that was my first date night with my hubby in a long time. I ended up leaving her show mad, not laughing.

    • MindlessContemplations says:

      ^^^ OMG were you at the same show as me? I saw her in South Beach a year or so ago and it was the second show of the night and the opening act was great and then she came on and was a sweaty mess, literally. She was very very very unfunny and incoherent.

  13. Ruyana says:

    When she hears, “Nasty, bitter and mean, table for one” she answers.

  14. Jay says:

    Maybe by smart she meant clever? I think she’s more witty than 98% of what is shown on E (aren’t most people?). Perhaps I haven’t read enough of her interviews, but I think it’s harsh to call her straight up stupid.

  15. FLORC says:

    Slow clap for you Kaiser!
    Nothing I can add.

  16. Sea Dragon says:

    I really liked her when she was first introduced to E! Then smewhere along the way, she got bored or lazy and oh yeah, racist, so I tuned out. Next thing I knew, they’re were ads for one of the Kardashian’s as host. I knew then she’d sold her show to the lowest bidder.

    I believe her statement. She is smarter than the show but her humor is so crude now, one can’t tell. Pair that with an awful, mean-spirited personality and it doesn’t translate.

  17. Gigi says:

    I have a slightly different take. I think there’s a possibility that she is smarter than Chelsea Lately. But we’ve never seen it and I for one would like to.
    She should be spending every second between now and when her Netflix show premiers working on her image. Step one stop posting topless photos. If that was ever an edgy/I’ve got no shame/powerful woman statement that ship has long sailed. I get it you want to play with the boys and you need them to think they don’t get to sexualize you because you’re in control. That’s great when you’re 25. You’re not 25. Be who you want 40 to be.

    Get a public image specialist. Go on Bill Mahr and the Daily Show. Write some editorials. Pick some topics that merge the worlds of entertainment and current events. Stay away from celebrity because that’s what you say you’re smarter than. Don’t be Kathy Griffin. Be Bill Mahr or John Stewart. In fact do exactly what they did because once upon a time they were stand up comics that somehow transformed themselves into entertainment based experts on everything.

    So maybe write something that doesn’t involve you having sex or doing drugs. Stop alluding to rumors about you and 50 Cent.

    Actually stop doing drugs. Or at least the ones that enable your bad decisions. The ones that surround you with people that don’t help you.

    Find really successful women whose careers you admire find out how they work it in the industry with people they can’t stand. Find out how and when to hold your tongue.

    There’s some quote something like the thing about potential is that you always have it as long as you don’t do anything. Do something stop being E Chelsea because they’re not paying you anymore.

    • MC2 says:

      I saw her stand up which was all her & she was an unfunny, racist, idiot. It made me realize that her show (it’s writers) are likely smarter & funnier then her. I wouldn’t have know if I hadn’t had seen her live but I walked in liking her & walked out hating her.

  18. cr says:

    Well, isn’t she just an extra special snowflake.

  19. Bread and Circuses says:

    Needing to boink someone in order to get a job is not a sign that you’re a talented genius. Just sayin’.

  20. Nicolette says:

    Sure you are Chelsea. All that booze really has made you delusional hasn’t it?

  21. davina says:

    Well shes in good company, she thinks shes much more worth and deserves better just like her good friend aniston who thinks she deserves an oscar nomination for her ridiculous movie and her minimal talent. i bet they spend their evenings together with tequila and whining about nobody realizes their huuuuuge talent and that they are so underrated, no matter that the rest of the world say they are overrated and overpaid. just the typical spoiled rich mean girls. But daddy said i can be/get whatever i want, why they dont give me whatever i want??? huh

  22. ashley says:

    has no one on here read her books? No one has mentioned them. They’re fantastic and hiliarious. And they are admittedly much better than her stand up and chelsea lately personas but I think those are just that – personas

  23. Iheartgossip says:

    Well then prove it, cause from where I’m watching from she seems like a mid-life crisis, narcissistic, & a +1. Ew.

  24. bcgirl says:

    Her show was all about constantly deriding and putting down her MUCH funnier comedian guests, who for god knows why were willing to take it. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say one funny thing. “Smart” people don’t act like that.
    please.