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Shane Gillis shrugs off Chelsea Handler’s criticism of Kevin Hart roast

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After Chelsea Handler raged at fellow comedian Shane Gillis for his jokes at the Kevin Hart roast, Gillis shrugged them off and sarcastically wished Handler all the best.

After Handler’s condemnations of racial jokes at the event made headlines, Gillis responded via his representation, “This is a big moment for Chelsea. 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.”

The recent roast of actor Kevin Hart made waves for its no-holds-barred jokes that outraged people across the political spectrum, including jokes about the deaths of Charlie Kirk and George Floyd. Netflix’s recent roast specials have been infamous for jokes about panelists’ divorces, dead relatives, and numerous other taboo topics.

Gillis in particular made jokes about slavery and lynching, saying of the diminutive Hart, “Kevin’s so short they’re going to have to lynch him from a bonsai tree.” He later said of this joke on his podcast that he “could have done without it” and that it was told to “the wrong crowd” after it did well at previous shows.

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Shane Gillis speaking into a microphone at the 2025 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles

Comedian Shane Gillis. (Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

Handler, an outspoken liberal entertainer, recently made waves for condemning certain jokes, particularly Gillis’, during an interview on Deon Cole’s “Funny Knowing You” podcast.

She claimed that in the process of preparing to roast other comedians such as Gillis at the event, she learned, “they’re racist, that they’re bigots, that they’re sexist, you know, that they think they’re like invincible.”

“It was ick. It was gross,” she said of racial jokes at the event. “I don’t find those jokes to be funny. Jokes about lynching Black people… lynching is not a joke. That’s worse than rape.”

Of the actual roasts of her, she said she feared nothing, noting, “I’m 51, so like I’m pretty secure with who I am,” saying she doesn’t care if people condemn her as promiscuous. “I’m rich, I’m famous, and I’m hot. So, I’m f—ing people.”

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Chelsea Handler standing backstage at the Critics Choice Awards in Santa Monica

Liberal comedian Chelsea Handler was outraged by some of the material at the roast of Kevin Hart. (Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images)

The most viral roast of her at the event, however, was Gillis making fun of her past association with deceased, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

“Chelsea is a Zionist. I’m not saying that’s good or bad – speaking of dead kids, she’s a big fan of abortions. Chelsea’s been scraped more times than the grill at Benihana,” Gillis joked at the roast. “Speaking of tossing tiny shrimp into a child’s mouth, Chelsea Handler went to dinner at Jeffrey Epstein’s house in 2010.”

He added further, “You can look it up. There’s articles. It wasn’t like a big party, there was, like, seven people there. It was like, Prince Andrew and Woody Allen were there.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Handler for comment.

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Chelsea Handler speaking onstage at the Critics Choice Awards in Santa Monica

Chelsea Handler. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)

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Handler has admitted to going to Epstein’s home multiple times over the years. While guest-hosting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in 2022, she said that while she’d never been to Epstein’s island, she did “accidentally” find herself at the dinner party with the aforementioned guests, having been brought along by Katie Couric.

Fox News’ Emily Trainham contributed to this report.

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