Chelsea Handler has denied claims from former opening act Salma Hindy, who alleged she was removed from several tour dates after trying to discuss the Israel-Palestine conflict with the comedian.
Hindy said on TikTok that she had shared a “loving, sisterly relationship” with Handler until she contacted her about the war in 2023. According to Hindy, she was taken off as the opening act for three shows the following day.
“I texted Chelsea about it lovingly, to which she did not respond. Immediately, the next day, I got taken off of three of the 12 upcoming tour shows. I was told that ‘she had promised those dates to somebody else,’” Hindy said.
Hindy toured with Handler but said she later sought an advance from the comedian after two shows were abruptly canceled, leaving her with unrecovered expenses. She claimed tensions grew after her manager suggested Handler was trying to remove her from the tour because of the “Palestine thing,” although she did not want to state that directly.
Hindy said she decided to share her account nearly three years after the alleged incident because of the recent controversy involving Macklemore and Ed Sheeran.
Macklemore was recently removed from Sheeran‘s tour after delivering a politically charged speech supporting Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Hindy also claimed that Handler had contacted her attorneys over what she called her “libelous account.”
Chelsea Handler has responded to a former opening act who claims she was dropped from several tour dates after trying to discuss Palestine with the comedian
Comedian Salma Hindy alleged that she was removed from three tour dates after attempting to speak with Handler about the war
Handler rejected Hindy’s allegations in the comments, writing: “That’s actually not what happened”
“I am a Canadian Egyptian stand-up comedian living in New York City,” Hindy said at the beginning of her video. “Beginning in 2022, I opened for Chelsea Handler on two tours, performed at her Just For Laughs Chelsea Handler gala, and generally had a very warm, loving, sisterly relationship with Chelsea Handler. To the point where she actually used to invite me to ride her private jet with her.”
Hindy said the relationship began to change in October 2023, after she noticed that two of Handler’s friends had shared posts she considered offensive.
“I texted Chelsea about it lovingly, to which she did not respond,” Hindy said.
She displayed screenshots of their messages, including several heart and misty-eyed emojis sent to Handler on October 14, followed by a longer message on October 16.
Hindy continued: “Immediately, the next day, I got taken off of three of the 12 upcoming tour shows. I was told that ‘she had promised those dates to somebody else.’ Regardless, Chelsea and I did end up going on tour. In December of 2023, we did four shows together in Canada.”
“After one of the shows, I spoke to Chelsea privately about Palestine at dinner, to which I found out that Chelsea Handler has actually been to the West Bank and in her own words she said, ‘It looked like the Arabs had their souls sucked from their faces.’ And yet despite all of that, Chelsea still insisted on defending the Israeli government,” Hindy alleged.
“During those four shows, by the way, she would introduce us as ‘a Muslim and a Jew on stage’ that were getting along very well,” Hindy added.
Hindy also alleged that Handler later appeared in a video with an Israeli actress and activist discussing Israel and Palestine, which she found offensive.
“As a response to that video, I posted something in solidarity with the Palestinians without naming Chelsea. In January, we had two shows coming up. Chelsea canceled both of the shows at the last minute because of severe weather issues. I didn’t find out from Chelsea until after it was announced to the public, and I was in the hotel room, waiting to go down to the venue,” Hindy said.
“Her team actually agreed to buy me my return ticket to New York, but they refused to reimburse me for all of the flight and hotel costs that I had already incurred,” she continued.
The current rift between the two is a stark contrast to the ‘warm’ friendship Hindy said she once shared with Handler in her video, which detailed the alleged drama
Handler said she ‘never fired’ Salma as she responded to the allegations on social media
Handler has purportedly sought the advice of her lawyers, according to Hindy
‘At that point I didn’t have enough money to continue going on the tour. My team requested if she could give me an advance on one of the shows so that I could purchase my ticket to go open for her on the upcoming shows. She texted me saying that my agents were being “very difficult to work with”.’
Handler’s purported text to Hindy was shown in the video and read: ”Hi salma – I’m getting some feedback that your agents are asking for travel advance. I did this for you before and it is not customary. My agents are telling me your agents are being difficult to deal with…I want to reach out directly to you before we moved on, as I know this is valuable stage time for you… Let me know what you’re thinking..Xx.’
Hindy continued: ‘My manager, who was Jewish at the time, told me that “Chelsea Handler is trying to get rid of me because of the Palestine thing but she doesn’t want to say it so that she doesn’t incriminate herself.” He told me I could go on the rest of the tour with her but that she would never work with me again.
‘At the time, I was financially devastated. That was my primary source of income. I was newly estranged from my family and I was terrified that if I talked about this publicly, that I would be branded as “difficult to work with.” Seeing everything that’s going down with Macklemore and Ed Sheeran made me be like, “Yeah duh.” This happens to artists all the time.
‘But then I realized that I don’t like that reaction. This shouldn’t be a normal thing. We should be calling out people in power who are siding with an apartheid, oppressive state like Israel. As always, free Palestine.’
Handler has since denied Hindy’s allegations, posting her own screenshots to refute the comedian’s accusations.
‘Ah, that’s actually not what happened,’ Handler commented on Hindy’s post. ‘You quit opening for me, and I have the emails from your agents. Your agent is full of it. I would never fire someone for disagreeing with me politically on this issue.’
‘And I never fired her. Period. Not on this issue,’ she told another commenter.
Handler then took to her own Instagram Stories to share screenshots of alleged correspondence between hers and Hindy’s team – including a text message Hindy allegedly sent in which she withdrew from the tour herself.
Handler posted screenshots refuting Hindy’s allegations, including an alleged text message Hindy sent in which she quit the tour
Handler also included a screenshot of her team inquiring about Salma’s availability as an opening act
She also included a screenshot of an alleged email where she agreed to reimburse Salma for her expenses
‘Chelsea, something has now come up and I won’t be able to do the remaining four shows anymore. Wanted you to hear it from me. Thank you for everything. It’s been such an experience, and you’re right it would’ve been wonderful stage time,’ Hindy allegedly texted Handler on January 29, 2024.
Handler wrote over the text: ‘@salma.hindy I have plenty more but I’ll leave it here.’
She included another screenshot of emails between their two teams.
The emails showed Handler’s team inquiring about Hindy’s availability for future opening acts, along with Handler agreeing to reimburse her opening act for her travel expenses.
‘Please reimburse her from me. Thank you,’ Handler purportedly told her team after she learned of Hindy’s request.
Hindy claims Handler considers her account ‘libelous’ and has contacted her attorneys over the matter; pictured 2025
‘I would never fire someone for disagreeing with me politically on this issue,’ Handler told a commenter
On Thursday, Hindy thanked fans for their ‘overwhelming support’ before addressing Handler’s screenshots.
She then claimed Handler contacted her over the post and informed her she had contacted her lawyers over the statements.
‘Thank you so much for the overwhelming support since I shared my experience yesterday. I want to clarify that the reimbursement email Chelsea posted is dated January 2022. My video concerns expenses from two cancelled shows in January 2024. Her team purchased my return flight, but I was not reimbursed for the other flights and hotel costs I had already incurred.
‘I ultimately withdrew from the remaining dates after my representatives told me through multiple phone calls that reimbursement had been refused, that continuing to push the issue could end my working relationship with Chelsea, and that I would not work with her again. My manager also told me by phone that he believed I was being pushed out because of Palestine.
‘These were not direct written statements from Chelsea, but they were the context in which I withdrew. Chelsea has now privately told me she contacted her lawyers and considers my account libelous.
‘I am not initiating legal action. I’m seeking advice to protect myself. If you’re an attorney experienced in defamation, media/First Amendment law, or Palestine-related retaliation who can consult or assist pro bono, please contact me privately.’
