How Chelsea Handler Became One Of The Highest-Paid Comedians In The World

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Chelsea Joy Handler is a stand-up comedian, talk show host, actress, and activist known for her witty and raunchy style of humor. She gained fame with the E! Network talk show Chelsea Lately, which aired from 2007 to 2014. She started developing content for Netflix and released Chelsea Does and Chelsea in 2016. She has also appeared in supporting and guest roles in several movies and TV shows, including Weekends at the DL, The Bernie Mac Show, My Wife and Kids, The Practice, Are You There, Chelsea? etc.

Chelsea Handler, apart from being one of the wealthiest comedians, is also an author with several published books like My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands, Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, etc. She has been named in the list of 100 Most Influential People In The World by Times Magazine.

Chelsea’s Early Life And Career

Chelsea Handler was born on February 25, 1975, in Livingston, New Jersey, to a Jewish father and a Mormon mother. Chelsea grew up alongside five siblings and usually spent her summers in Martha’s Vineyard, where her parents owned a property. She attended Livingston High School, where she was infamous for her rebellious attitude and reluctance to studying. Chelsea participated in the Miss New Jersey pageant as a teenager, but she didn't pursue acting till she was 19. Afterwards, she moved to Los Angeles with her aunt to launch a career.

At the age of 21, Chelsea was arrested for driving under the influence, and she narrated this incident to a group of other offender who found it hilarious this is where she got inspired to take up stand comedy. After this, she eventually shifted her attention to stand-up comedy and started doing it in several venues all around the city. This resulted in a stint on Girls Behaving Badly, an Oxygen network hidden-camera program that debuted in 2002. With her bold, cheeky personality and an irreverent attitude towards sex, Handler started gaining fame.

The Chelsea Handler Show

Following appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the E!, Handler was granted her show, The Chelsea Handler Show, on the E! Network as reported by Britannica. The 12-episode series, alternating comic skits and portions of Handler's live stand-up performance aired between April and September 2006. The following year, she got her career-changing show, Chelsea Lately.

Chelsea Lately included Handler's stand-up and a recurring roundtable discussion with special comedian guests. It stood apart from other late-night shows by actively courting mediocre celebrities while simultaneously drawing A-listers. The show garnered over 960,000 viewers per episode as per Celebrity Net Worth. In 2011, After Lately, a sitcom based on the behind-the-scenes activities of the talk show, debuted on E! Network.

In 2007, Chelsea starred in a hit web comedy show called In the Motherhood till 2008 alongside Jenny McCarthy and Leah Remini. She also appeared as her herself in a variety of TV shows like The Good Wife, Who Do You Think You Are? The Muppets, etc. Chelsea guest starred in shows like The Practice, Reno 911!, and The Bernie Mac Show. In 2010 she got the prestigious opportunity to host the MTV Video Music Award Ceremony, following in the footsteps of comic stalwarts like Chris Rock and Jack Black.

Netflix's Role In Boosting Handler's Career

Running for more than seven years, Chelsea Lately concluded in 2014 after airing a staggering 1000 episodes. While hosting the E! Network hit show, she reportedly got paid $8 million per year to continue hosting, as per Business Insider. But she parted ways with E! Network following the end of her contract in 2014, eventually ending the show by stating that it was becoming redundant and she wanted to do something fresh.

Following her separation from E! Network, Chelsea was immediately roped in by streaming giant Netflix in 2014. Her Netflix stint began with the release of the four-part comedy documentary series Chelsea Does in 2016, which revolved around conducting interviews on controversial topics. The show consisted of 4 episodes based on marriage, Silicon Valley, racism, and drugs.

Towards the end of the 2016 premiere, Chelsea’s second show with Netflix was titled Chelsea, a freewheeling talk show. It aired for a year before getting canceled in 2017. During her stint with Netflix, Chelsea received a lucrative salary of $10 Million a year. These hefty paychecks, along with her earnings from writing bestseller books, helped Chelsea acquire a net worth of around $35 million, as per Fansided.

Chelsea Handler can be tagged as one of the industry's most successful talk show hosts and comics, competing directly with Jimmy Kimmel, Graham Norton, etc. She has made a place for herself in the highly competitive Hollywood industry with her bold and subtle comic timing and unending charm. She has amassed a fortune of $35 million, making her one of the richest in the game.

Source: Fansided, Business Insider, Celebrity Net Worth, Britannica