Say goodbye: Chelsea Handler is likely leaving E!
Jason Kemplin/Getty Images
Enjoy Chelsea Handler on E! while you still can; the host of Chelsea Lately is reportedly planning on departing the cable network once her contract is over at the end of the year.
The news was delivered to The Hollywood Reporter by manager Irving Azoff, who joined Handler's team in October. While not announcing what her plans are, he said, "We have at least seven suitors and many ideas." The presumptive departure is not a big surprise to those who have been listening to Handler herself — in an interview earlier this month on The Howard Stern Show, she said that E! is "a sad, sad place to live."
During her last negotiations in 2011, Handler snagged a $25 million two-year contract extension. Since then, ratings for Chelsea Lately have declined — between 2010 and 2013, viewership dropped 32 percent, and it's still falling — but she is still considered an asset; as the only woman at the helm of a late night talk show, she helped put E! in the spotlight.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
As for E!, the network is keeping quiet, saying in a statement, "Chelsea has nine months left on her contract and E! will not comment on the future of Chelsea Lately at this time."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 27, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - natural gas, fundraising with Ted Cruz, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Aid to Ukraine: too little, too late?
Talking Point House of Representatives finally 'met the moment' but some say it came too late
By The Week UK Published
-
5 generously funny cartoons on the $60 billion foreign aid package
Cartoons Artists take on Republican opposition, aid to Ukraine, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published