Chelsea Joy Handler is a renowned American comedian, writer and film and television actress. She is also a producer, a television host and an author and is best known for her hit show ‘Chelsea Lately’ that aired on the E! network for 7 years from 2007 to 2014. The show was an acclaimed international success and completed more than 1,000 episodes. Handler’s other television credits include reality shows like ‘Spy Tv’ and ‘Girls Behaving Badly’.

Handler has also appeared as a guest actor in episodic roles on several TV shows like ‘The Practice’, ‘My Wife and Kids’, ‘Reno 911’, ‘Whitney’. etc. She also appeared in the show ‘        Are You There, Chelsea?’ starring Laura Prepon, based on her book ‘Are You There, Vodka?’. She has also had two shows on Netflix including the documentary series ‘Chelsea Does’ and the talk show ‘Chelsea’.

Early Life and Education

Handler was born on 25 February 1975 in Livingston, New Jersey as the youngest of the six children born to home-maker Rita Stoecker and used cars dealer Seymour Handler. Handler has German Mormon ancestry on her mother’s side of the family and was raised as a Reformed Jew along with her siblings, sisters Sushana and Sidney and brothers Roy, Glen and Chet, whom she lost to a hiking accident when he was nine.

Handler completed her elementary education and graduated high school from Livingston High School in New Jersey. She moved to Los Angeles, California soon after to pursue a career in acting. Handler was arrested for driving under influence at age 21. She told her DUI story to other offenders in a class who though she was funny. This motivated Handler to pursue a career in stand-up comedy. 

Career Rise

Handler made her acting debut with the 2001 hidden camera reality TV show ‘Spy TV’. She appeared on Oxygen channel’s practical joke reality series ‘Girls Behaving Badly’ from 2002-2005. She also made appearances on shows like ‘The Bernie Mac Show’, ‘The Practice’, ‘My Wife and Kids’ etc. She then started serving as an E! network correspondent and commentator for Scarborough County. Handler hosted her own show ‘The Chelsea Handler Show’ on the E! in April 2006, which lasted for 2 seasons. She performed stand-up comedy for networks like VH1, Comedy Central, HBO, Fox etc. She also hosted the MTV Video Music Awards in 2010.

From July 2007, Handler stared appearing in her late-night comedy series ‘Chelsea Lately’ on E! which became a huge hit. The show aired in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, U.K. and Germany apart from USA completing more than 1000 episodes before it went off-air in August 2014. The show was made into a mocumentary spin-off titled ‘After Lately’ which started airing in March 2011 and showed guests, and cast members fighting over trivial matters like airtime. She also starred in the Internet program ‘In the Motherhood’ which was later made into an ABC series in September 2008, featuring Jessica St. Clair. Apart from her acting/tv roles, Handler is also an author and has written 5 books, including ‘Are You There, Vodka?’ which was adapted into the TV show ‘Are You There, Chelsea’ with Laura Prepon in the lead. From May 2016- October 2017, Handler hosted the Netflix talk show ‘Chelsea’.

Personal Life

Handler entered a romantic relationship with E! network executive and former Comcast Entertainment group CEO, Ted Harbert in 2006. The couple broke up after 4 years in 2010. The same year, Handler courted controversy when a s*x-tape featuring her was leaked which she claimed, “was made as a joke” 10 years earlier.

Handler revealed in a Playboy magazine interview in 2011 that she had two abortions when she was 16, “because that’s what I should have done” at the time. Handler supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential elections in USA and was vocal in her criticism of Clinton’s opponent Donald Trump.

Chelsea Handler – Net Worth

Handler has an estimated net worth of approximately $35 Million.