British comedian Gina Yashere, who once appeared on Chelsea Handler’s E! series, has sharply criticized the host in a new interview, describing Handler as a “horrible woman.”
Yashere said her experience on the now-canceled Chelsea Lately was deeply unpleasant, alleging that Handler ignored her backstage and that she was later prevented from returning because of her pronounced British accent.
Speaking on the One54 Africa podcast, Yashere explained that, despite having reservations about appearing on Chelsea Lately, she decided to do the show in a bid to boost her career in America.
Recalling the encounter, Yashere said Handler paced the hallway before taping but never greeted her. “She didn’t say hello to me, walked past me, and didn’t acknowledge me at all,” Yashere claimed.
She contrasted that treatment with how she says she handles guests on her own productions, pointing to her work on Bob Hearts Abishola. Yashere said that when actors came onto the show, she made a point of personally welcoming them, thanking them for coming, and asking whether they needed anything.
Yashere added that she did this even while serving as showrunner, saying she still made the effort to come out and meet every guest herself.
Chelsea Handler has been slammed by a former guest from her E! show Chelsea Lately, who called her a ‘horrible woman’ and a ‘f***ing b***h’ in a scathing rant
According to Yashere, her appearance began with a solo stand-up segment before she later joined Handler and the other panelists for the show’s roundtable discussion.
‘So we get in front of the cameras, soon as the camera comes on she’s saying things like, “Welcome to OUR country.” She kept saying stuff like that,’ the British comedian recalled.
‘I was like, “I see what you’re trying to do Chelsea but I’m not doing it.” And I just aimed all my jokes at the audience,’ she continued.
‘I acknowledged Chelsea and the show and pretended like I was having a good time with her, but I’m aiming my jokes at the audience and I’m doing well.’
After her performance Yashere said that she was praised by a producer for how well she’d done and was told she’d be invited back to Chelsea Lately again.
However, the next day the same producer told Yashere’s manager that Handler ‘didn’t understand’ the London-born star’s accent.
‘But I was like, “I did my jokes, I got to the punchlines, the audience laughed.” And I’d been in America probably two years at this point, doing sets all around Hollywood,’ she said.
Yashere then theorized that because she didn’t let Handler ridicule her during the roundtable segment that she’d been iced out of the show for good.
British comedian Gina Yashere claimed that Handler ignored her backstage and says she was then barred from returning to the show because of her strong English accent
Yashere believes that because she didn’t let Handler ridicule her during the roundtable segment that she’d been iced out of the show
‘I was like, “You f***ing b***h!” And I’ve never liked her since then. She was awful.’
Yashere also said that she felt like fellow comedian Loni Love was ‘disrespected’ by both Handler and the ‘white male comics’ whenever she would appear as a panelist on the show.
After Chelsea Lately officially ended in 2014, Handler started therapy and has said that it turned her into a kinder person.
‘Everyone’s multifaceted, and I assumed everyone saw all those sides of me,’ she told People magazine in 2021.
‘I’m grateful for the self-awareness. It really allowed me to just be a kinder, gentler person all around.’
Handler also said that finally dealing with the death of her brother Chet, who died when he was just 22 in a hiking accident, has given her more empathy.
‘It’s certainly given me a lot of empathy for myself when I look back at times that I’m not so proud of. I’m not a person who lives in regret, but I have a lot of room for forgiveness now, whereas before, I would judge somebody a little more harshly if they did or said something that I didn’t like,’ she said.
