Chelsea Handler Went for the Jugular at the Critics' Choice Awards, Dumping on Ellen and James Corden

Leave it to Chelsea Handler to bring the “critic” to the Critics’ Choice Awards last night.

The comic, who is openly campaigning to take Trevor Noah’s spot on The Daily Show, started taking out the competition with some pointed insults at other funny hosts. First up, Ellen DeGeneres. “In Tár, Cate (Blanchett) portrayed an iconic lesbian whose career is upended by her toxic behavior,” said Handler. “And she didn’t even have to host her own daytime talk show.” Shots fired!

Next up in her sights: foot-in-mouth funnyman James Corden. “The cast of The Bear is here,” Handler pointed out. “Awesome show. They showed us how grueling and hellish and absolutely miserable working in the restaurant industry can be, and they didn’t have to wait on James Corden.” Ouch!

Chandler spread the insults around, also putting nominees Viola (The Woman King) Davis and Julia (Gaslit) Roberts on blast. All of the roasting was a good warm-up for her upcoming audition, er, guest-hosting spot on The Daily Show. “I have a week there so I’m definitely going to try some stuff,” she has promised. “I’m gonna go have fun and bring it.” 

Handler says it’s time for the show to try on a female voice — specifically, hers. “I love this stuff. I love the news, I love pop culture, I love combining it all with smart personalities, bringing on comedians like I did on Chelsea Lately,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. She believes it’s time for a “roundtable aspect where you can have voices — more than a singular voice, more than one man speaking on behalf of women. All these late-night hosts are great, but they’re not representing us. Women represent women.”

A female-led show is even more important now that Samantha Bee is canceled, Handler says. Sure, Bee’s show had low ratings, but so do most late-night talkers. “Why aren’t they canceled? Who cares if the show is not getting ratings?” Handler asked. “Every head of every network should be asking themselves why they don’t have a woman helming a talk show.”

Comedy Central certainly seems to be considering it. In addition to Handler, The Daily Show has lined up Leslie Jones, Wanda Sykes and Sarah Silverman for guest-hosting slots. They’ll be competing with other comics, including Al Franken, Kal Penn and a slate of current Daily Show correspondents. 

Let’s see how many more shots Handler has left in the chamber to take them all out.