Chelsea Handler calls out Shane Gillis and Tony Hinchcliffe for 'racist' jokes at Kevin Hart roast

Leigh BlickleyThu, May 21, 2026 at 4:48 PM UTC

0

Shane Gillis, Chelsea Handler, and Tony Hinchcliffe
Credit: GettyKey Points -

Chelsea Handler said she was grossed out by Shane Gillis' and Tony Hinchcliffe's "racist" jokes at Kevin Hart's roast on May 10.

The comedian noted that she wanted to "elevate" the show knowing they'd bring "disgustingness."

Handler also said that she received DMs from their exes about them being "sexist bigots."

Chelsea Handler is disgusted over the "racist" and "sexist" jokes made by Shane Gillis and Tony Hinchcliffe during Netflix's The Roast of Kevin Hart on May 10.

During an appearance on the Funny Knowing You podcast with Deon Cole on Wednesday, Handler said she was not at all into Gillis' and Hinchcliffe's respective jabs at Kevin Hart.

"I mean, it was ick. It was gross," she said of their bits. The comedian also claimed she heard from their ex-girlfriends in DMs on social media and they told her "just everything we know, that they’re racist, that they’re bigots, they’re sexist."

One of the exes also apparently said that Gillis thinks he's "invincible" because even though he was fired from Saturday Night Live in 2019 for using derogatory language, he was later invited back to host twice.

Handler went on to specifically call out Gillis’ joke about lynching.

"I don’t find those jokes to be funny. Jokes about lynching Black people. Lynching is not a joke. That’s worse than rape." During the roast, Gillis said, “Kevin is so short, you’d have to lynch him from a bonsai tree."

Handler also mentioned Hinchcliffe's set aimed at fellow performer Sheryl Underwood, during which he brought up her late husband Michael Sparkman’s suicide. Hinchcliffe said, "Her husband committed suicide three years into the marriage. I’ve been sitting next to her for two hours, and I have to ask, how did he last that long?"

"I found them making fun of Sheryl Underwood’s dead husband, who committed suicide, [to be disgusting],” Handler said. "You know, she’s fine with that. If she says she’s fine with that, she’s fine with that. I wasn’t fine with that."

Handler added that she wasn't surprised by their humor and just wanted to give Hart the "elevated" roast he deserved.

Advertisement

“There was so much disgustingness, that I knew it was gonna be a gross vibe that I would be able to elevate it no problem," she said. "And that's what I went to do. I was like, 'All right, well, I'll pick it up because they're going to try to bring it down.'"

Shane Gillis at 'The Roast of Kevin Hart'
Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty

After Handler's podcast appearance, Gillis shared a statement with Variety.

"This is a big moment for Chelsea," Gillis said. "I am glad she’s capitalizing. Good for her. We’re all rooting for her. Anyway, come see me July 17th at the football stadium in Philly."

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.

Gillis also shared a link to his conversation with Underwood on his podcast on Wednesday, during which she said she wasn't offended by Hinchcliffe's joke about her late husband.

“Sometimes humor is the thing,” Underwood said. “It’s the most uncomfortable humor that lessens the tension and the stress.”

As for their jokes about Handler during Hart's roast, Handler told Cole she knew "Roganites" Gillis and Hinchcliffe would be "lazy because they do that for a living."

"I'm pretty secure with who I am," she said. "I don't care if these guys say that I'm a wh---. Like, I'm doing exactly what they're doing except I'm a woman and I'm allowed to. I'm rich, I'm famous, and I'm hot, so I'm f---ing people."

Entertainment Weekly reached out to Hinchcliffe for comment but did not hear back before publication.

on Entertainment Weekly

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”