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Chelsea Handler may have had a tragic life story, but at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards, she was strictly going for the laughs. Hosting the annual event on February 7, the comedian came prepared with a purple velvet gown and a freshly sharpened tongue. Her opening monologue took aim at the weird relationship between Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater: "And now Ariana has found love with a Munchkin!" Handler quipped, per X, formerly Twitter. She called the fraught sexual harassment lawsuit between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni a "distraction" from the recent dismal news stories (via Parade). But her most pointed zinger was aimed directly at America's newly re-established First Lady — and it didn't land as well as she hoped.
Chelsea Handler hosting Friday night's #CriticsChoiceAwards: "It was a huge year for biopics....Anora, about Melania Trump." (IMDb on Anora: "A young sex worker from Brooklyn meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch." pic.twitter.com/qiZGajwHAW
— Brent Baker 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) February 8, 2025
Describing the nominated films, Handler noted: "It was a huge year for biopics. 'A Complete Unknown,' about Bob Dylan; 'Maria,' about Maria Callas; 'Anora,' about Melania Trump..." Don't get the joke? We're here to help: The Sean Baker comedy centers on Ani, a young escort whose lap dance for Vanya, the son of a Russian oligarch, leads to a whirlwind romance and marriage. It does have some echoes of the first lady's journey from Slovenian model to the third wife of a powerful billionaire, but that's where the resemblance ends.
Spoiler alert: "Anora" ends with Ani being strong-armed into an annulment because her backbone-less husband won't stand up to his family. Melania is not only still married, she also has a host of fans who think she's the best addition to the White House since the Rose Garden. And they were not pleased with Handler's jab. "What a wretched woman," snapped one on X. Another hoped Melania would sue the comedian. Still another posted a GIF of Handler herself morphing from a laugh to a disapproving look. Even the awards show audience's laughing wasn't what you'd call raucous.
Chelsea Handler needs better material
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True, it's hard to know what's really going on in Donald and Melania Trump's marriage. Their relationship won't inspire any Hallmark romance movies, and neither of them use the L word when talking about the other. There's been lots of speculation the two will be spending much of their time apart, with the president operating from the White House while the first lady does business from their opulent Trump Tower suite. But Chelsea Handler's joke at Melania's expense — comparing her to the teen stripper in "Anora" — came off as an unnecessary cheap shot. Unlike Handler's other targets, the FLOTUS isn't involved in the entertainment world (unless you consider her memoir "Melania" entertaining). And for Pete's sake, those nude photos in the British edition of GQ were almost 20 years ago, before she even became the new Mrs. Trump. Even die-hard anti-Trumpians don't go there anymore.
If Handler wanted to get in a dig at The Donald, she could have joked about rigged voting robbing him of a Critics Choice Award for his new Oval Office trophy display. Or, considering Trump's determination to take rights away for the trans community, she might have given a shout-out to Karla Sophia Gascón, the first trans actor to be nominated for the award. But Handler went for Melania, the easy target, and further embarrassed herself by treating the Lively-Baldoni drama as trivial. That, too, earned her lots of criticism online from viewers who don't consider sexual harassment amusing. The comedian might not want to count on an invite to host the Critics Choice in 2026.
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English (US) ·