Chelsea Handler Responds To Tucker Carlson And Other Attacks On Her “Childless Woman” Sketch: “You Guys Seem So Triggered By Me”
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Chelsea Handler posted a Daily Show-branded video sketch this week in which she boasted of all the time and freedom she had as a childless woman.
If the video, with more than 10 million views on Twitter, was designed to stir up the culture war commentariat on the right, it had the desired effect. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson weighed in with a segment, calling her an “aging, deeply unlikable woman who never had kids,” and interviewed guest Jesse Kelly, who said Handler’s “womb resembles a dried-up tumbleweed blowing down an old western town” whose Valentine’s Day date “for the 10th year in a row is a 10-year-old copy of ‘Magic Mike’ and a half-full bottle of Xanax, and you are trying to pretend you are happy, but you are not happy. And it is actually not her fault. She has been lied to by a country that has lost its way.”
More from Deadline
In response, Handler posted a video on Wednesday in which she said, “why would I even need my own children when I get to hear these crybabies all the time?”
Of Kelly’s comment about taking a “half bottle of Xanax,” Handler quipped, “I’d take way more than that, you silly goose.”
Then she got in a politically tinged ding to Carlson, “You guys seem so triggered by me. My goodness, Tucker, I think it is time for you to ask yourself a serious question. Are you really upset about how much freedom I have? Or are you upset that you haven’t been able to take it away from me yet?”
She also got in an attack on another critic from the right, Ben Shapiro, before accusing Carlson of “hate-masturbating to me.”
Handler has been one of the guest hosts of The Daily Show as it searches for a permanent successor to Trevor Noah, and her latest back and forth, drawing extensive social media attention, is catnip for the late night left and talk host right. It gives a glimpse of how Handler would tap into the angertainment complex, as it is dubbed, while distinguishing herself as the only woman late night host. In a recent appearance on CBS Mornings, Handler didn’t come out and say that she is seeking the job permanently, but it was pretty clear that she was up for taking it.
Kelly responded to Handler’s latest video, writing on Twitter, “I actually thought this was pretty funny. For a woman.”
Meanwhile, Handler has signed up for another gig that will touch on politics and culture: A March 10 conversation at South by Southwest with Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary who is an MSNBC commentator and will launch a new show this year.
Best of Deadline
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
