Chelsea Handler shares her distaste for Shane Gillies and Tony Hinchcliffe’s Netflix jokes Roast Kevin HartHe criticized them, calling them “racists,” “bigots,” and “sexists.”
During his appearance on Wednesday Funny knowing you podcast with Dionne Cole, the comedian said she received messages on social media about Gillies and Hinchcliffe from their alleged ex-partners. When asked what they told her, Handler said: “That’s all we know, that they are racist, that they are bigoted, that they are sexist.”
Cole asked if Handler liked any of their jokes at the barbecue in honor of Kevin Hart, and she replied, “No. I mean, it was bad. It was gross.” She specifically pointed out some of the jokes Gillis and Hinchcliffe made during the Netflix special, the first of which was Gillis’s joke about lynching. (“Kevin is too short, so you should cull him from a bonsai tree,” he said during the episode.)
“I don’t find those jokes funny,” Handler said. “Jokes about lynching black people, lynching is no joke. This is worse than rape.”
Gillis shared a statement with Hollywood Reportr on Wednesday in response to Handler’s comments, which read: “This is a big moment for Chelsea. I’m glad she’s taking advantage. Good for her. We’re all rooting for her. Anyway, come see me on July 17 at the Soccer Stadium in Philadelphia.”
Handler also criticized Hinchcliffe’s segment targeting Sheryl Underwood, as it brought up her late husband Michael Sparkman’s suicide. (“Her husband committed suicide after three years of marriage. I’ve been sitting next to her for two hours, and I have to ask, how did he last that long?” he said over the barbecue.)
“I find that disgusting. I found them making fun of Sheryl Underwood’s deceased husband, who committed suicide, which is disgusting,” she said. “You know, she’s okay with that. If she says she’s okay with that, then she’s okay with that. I wasn’t okay with that.”
Elsewhere, Hinchcliffe was widely criticized for his joke referring to George Floyd. “The black community is very proud of you,” he said of Hart. “Right now, we’re all looking at George Floyd laughing so hard he can’t breathe.”
THR She also reached out to Hinchcliffe’s representatives for comment, but had not received a response as of press time.
“There was so much disgust,” Handler concluded, “that I knew it would be such a raw feeling that I would be able to lift it without any problem.”
