From HER gossipy late-night perch on E! Entertainment Television, Chelsea Handler routinely mouths off about Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie and almost everyone else in and around the gates of the Hollywood-industrial complex. And typically, the host of “Chelsea Lately” does so without incurring threats of bodily harm.
Then, she took on the Jonas Brothers, the squeaky-clean, heartthrob boy band from New Jersey. In a recent sketch, Handler mocked the band's masculinity, their mismatched and their "purity rings" (symbolizing the pop stars' pledge not to have premarital sex). Later in the bit, Handler sexually manhandled one of the faux brothers -- shoving her chest in his face and offering him carnal delights.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday, August 26, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 50 words Type of Material: Correction
Chelsea Handler: In Sunday's Calendar article about Chelsea Handler's talk show, a sentence describing her Jonas Brothers parody left out the word "hairdos." The sentence should have read: "Handler mocked the band's masculinity, their mismatched hairdos and their 'purity rings' (symbolizing the pop stars' pledge not to have premarital sex)."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, August 31, 2008 Home Edition Sunday Calendar Part E Page 2 Calendar Desk 1 inches; 54 words Type of Material: Correction
Chelsea Handler: In last Sunday's article about Chelsea Handler's talk show, the word "hairdos" was left out of a sentence describing her sketch parodying the Jonas Brothers. The sentence should have read: "Handler mocked the band's masculinity, their mismatched hairdos and their 'purity rings' (symbolizing the pop stars' pledge not to have premarital sex)."
Legions of outraged Jonas Brothers devotees unleased their wrath. "Chelsea Handler can go die in a whole! [sic]," read one missive directed at her. Some merely called her names, others were more specific -- suggesting Handler die sooner rather than later. The group's publicist weighed in, albeit more respectfully, threatening to withdraw the cable network's access to the brothers, Miley Cyrus and other Disney Channel megastars, said Handler.
" 'Go die in a whole' -- I mean, really, it doesn't get better than that," said Handler after the offending sketch aired and was posted on YouTube. "We were all laughing so hard in the office. It's a lesson on why we have this show in the first place."
Brandishing wicked humor with a wide smile, Handler, 33, delights in mocking the shallowness of Hollywood while embracing its tackiness. Since its premiere a little more than a year ago, "Chelsea Lately" has evolved into a Tinseltown version of "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" and is one of the cable network's top daily series that frolics in the culture of tabloid celebrity, averaging over half a million viewers each weeknight.
Her show, which airs opposite "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and "Late Show With David Letterman," enters a crowded realm of Hollywood gossip shows but jumps enthusiastically into a daily pile of tabloid headlines, often from network companion "E! News." The dirt is dished with a revolving panel of comedians and her sidekick, a 4-foot-3-inch gentleman named Chuy, whom she lovingly refers to as "my little hot tamale."
She dishes it out -- and takes it
