Actress/comedian, Chelsea Handler, has been entertaining audiences for almost 15 years. Her career took off in the summer of 2007 when she was given her own 30-minute sketch comedy talk-show, Chelsea Lately, which aired Monday through Friday at 11:00 PM. The show helped Handler gain worldwide recognition as one of America’s funniest females and Chelsea Lately earned a Teen Choice Award in 2009 for Choice Late-Night Talk Show. During the show, Chelsea and her panel of guests, which often included several regulars, discussed the latest celebrity news and gossip. However, unlike many talk show hosts/comedians, Handler was also very open about her personal life and did not shy away from making occasional jokes about herself. While Handler has done her best to be transparent, and many fans may feel like they know everything there is to know about her, there are still many things about the star that are not common knowledge. Here are 10 things you didn’t know about Chelsea Handler.
10. She and fellow comedian, Nick Cannon, have had beef via Twitter.
In 2010, Chelsea Handler and Nick Cannon exchanged words on Twitter after Handler published what Cannon felt was a disrespectful tweet. After Handler tweeted , “I just heard nick cannon is starting a comedy tour. Who’s going to do the comedy?” Cannon went on a rant expressing his disgust with Handler’s tasteless comment. Cannon tweeted: “Wow @chelseahandler I actually used to have respect for you as a comic. But for one artist to diss another in the same art form. #Tasteless,” followed by “Soon as I get off stage tonight, I’m going in on @chelseahandler I’m about to be relentless! OFF WITH HER HEAD but right now I got to focus.” Cannon’s comments quickly escalated to personal attacks; however, Handler took the high road and chose not to respond.
9. Her dogs have their own Twitter accounts.
Chelsea Handler’s dogs are a big part of her life and have even made appearances on her show, Chelsea Lately. Handler adopted both dogs, Chunk when he was an adult, and Gary when he was just 10-weeks-old. Gary currently has 4,681 followers while Chunk has a whopping 130,000.
8. Handler is one of the few women to ever host a successful late-night talk show.
Chelsea Handler’s late-night talk show, Chelsea Lately, ran from September 2007 to August 2014. The 30 minute show featured a panel of guests who discussed the latest happenings in pop culture. The show also featured various celebrated guests, including Lindsay Lohan, who appeared on the show in August 2013.
7. She doesn’t wear socks.
People are alarmed when they see I don't wear socks. If your feet smelled like ginseng, would you?
— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) March 9, 2014
Ginseng feet or not, many of Handler’s fans still felt that she should be wearing socks.
6. She once dated New York rapper, 50 Cent.
Chelsea Handler and G-Unit rap star 50 Cent are said to have dated briefly in 2010/2011. The two met in 2009 when 50 appeared as a guest on Handler’s show. Although Handler initially denied that anything had happened between the two, she later admitted that their relationship was “fun.” 50 Cent showed up as a surprise guest on the final episode of Chelsea Lately, and it was supposedly the first time the two had seen each other since their split. Handler and 50 exchanged a few quick jokes, initiated by Handler’s comment: “I want to apologize because I did end our relationship abruptly and I know you didn’t come on the show for many years. I didn’t know if you were upset with me.” The two exchanged cell phone numbers and after the show 50 uploaded a picture to Instagram with the caption, “I think Chelsea turns me on because she’s crazier than me.”
5. Chelsea Handler was raised Jewish.
Although Chelsea Handler’s mother is a Mormon, her father is Jewish and she describes being raised in a “nice Jewish neighborhood.” However, Handler came under fire in the summer of 2014 after dressing her talk-show side-kick, Chuy Bravo as Adolf Hitler in an attempt to make fun at Germany’s World Cup win. The Anti Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish civil rights organization, found Handler’s actions offensive and issued a statement saying: “While we try to give comedians leeway and do not believe that Nazi jokes should be completely off-limits, this was an instance of taking a Hitler parody to the extreme. It was tasteless, offensive and hurtful, both to Holocaust survivors and their families and to members of the German team and all Germans….This Hitler parody in itself was tasteless, but Chelsea Handler’s references to it throughout the program and her connecting it with Germany’s World Cup victory took the joke way overboard.”
4. She had her own show before Chelsea Lately.
Before Chelsea Lately, Handler had a sketchy comedy show, also on E!, called The Chelsea Handler Show. The show debuted in 2006 and lasted for only one season.
3. She was the second woman to ever host MTV’s Video Music Awards.
In 2010, Chelsea Handler, hosted MTV’s Video Music Award show, making her just the second woman to be given the job – the first was comedian Rosanne Bar in 1994.
2. She once competed in the Miss New Jersey beauty pageant.
When Handler was a teen, she competed in the Miss New Jersey pageant; however, she did not win and, decided not to pursue pageants any further.
1. She doesn’t want to get married.
During an interview, Handler revealed that she sees romantic relationships as a distraction doesn’t consider herself as the “marrying kind.” She stated: “Now I’m just like, the person that’s not getting married so I like it and I think it’s a good example to not have that be part of your identity. The truth of the matter is, I don’t really know how to balance a relationship and my life. I’ve never been able to really do that…I love men. I have men around all the time, I’m not an idiot, but you have to have somebody that brings out the best in you and I’ve never met somebody that really brings out the best in me…”
(Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images)