Chelsea Handler addresses awkward 2010 Jeffrey Epstein dinner after roast joke resurfaces
The comedian described the gathering as 'awkward and weird' in resurfaced interview comments
Chelsea Handler is once again addressing her brief connection to Jeffrey Epstein after a joke about the encounter resurfaced during Netflix’s The Roast of Kevin Hart.
The comedian previously acknowledged attending a dinner at Epstein’s New York home in 2010, insisting she did not know the late financier personally at the time.
Speaking in a 2021 interview, Handler said the gathering immediately felt uncomfortable.
“I did go to dinner at Jeffrey Epstein’s house. I didn’t know who Jeffrey Epstein was,” she said at the time. “We had dinner and it was so awkward and so weird. I was like, what are we doing here?”
According to Handler, the dinner included several high-profile guests, including Katie Couric, Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn, Charlie Rose, and Britain’s Prince Andrew.
The incident returned to public discussion after comedian Shane Gillis referenced it during Netflix’s live roast event on Sunday while taking aim at Handler on stage.
“Chelsea Handler went to dinner at Jeffrey Epstein’s house in 2010,” Gillis joked during the show, before referencing some of the reported guests at the gathering.
The moment came amid a night of politically charged jokes and celebrity jabs during The Roast of Kevin Hart, where several comedians targeted each other over political affiliations and public controversies.
Earlier in the evening, Handler herself mocked comedians associated with conservative audiences and took aim at performers who appeared at the 2025 Riyadh Comedy Festival.
“Now that your favorite leader is making the draft mandatory, I assume that all of you will be signing up to go fight the war in Iran,” she joked, targeting what she described as “tough-talking” comics.
Pete Davidson, Jeff Ross, and Kevin Hart, all participants in the Netflix roast, previously performed at the Saudi-based comedy festival.
Handler has repeatedly maintained that she had no prior relationship with Epstein and has described the 2010 dinner as an isolated and uncomfortable experience.