Chelsea Handler denies firing ex-opener over Palestine comments

Comedian Chelsea Handler is disputing allegations from a former opening act who says she lost work on Ms. Handler’s tour after raising concerns about Ms. Handler’s associates’ comments on the Israel-Hamas war.

Salma Hindy, a Canadian-Egyptian stand-up comedian who opened for Ms. Handler beginning in 2022, said in a Wednesday Instagram video that it took her nearly three years to find the courage to speak publicly about what she described as the collapse of their working relationship. Ms. Hindy said she privately asked Ms. Handler in October 2023 to address social media posts from Ms. Handler’s friends, comedians Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer, that Ms. Hindy characterized as offensive toward Palestinians. When Ms. Handler didn’t respond, Ms. Hindy said she was dropped from three of 12 scheduled tour dates.

Ms. Hindy said the pair continued working together sporadically before two more shows were reportedly canceled in January 2024 because of weather, and that she was left to cover unreimbursed travel and hotel costs from the trip. She said her manager at the time told her Ms. Handler was quietly pushing her out over her stance on Palestine, an account Ms. Hindy says was relayed secondhand rather than stated directly by Ms. Handler.

Ms. Handler pushed back Thursday in the comments of Ms. Hindy’s Instagram post, which the Daily Beast reports had drawn roughly 1.4 million views.

“Ah, that’s actually not what happened,” Ms. Handler wrote, adding that Ms. Hindy quit rather than was fired and that she possessed emails from Ms. Hindy’s agents to back that up. Ms. Handler also posted screenshots on her Instagram story, including a January 2024 text in which Ms. Hindy tells her she can no longer do the remaining shows, an Oct. 19, 2023, email from a United Talent Agency address offering Ms. Hindy nine additional Canadian tour dates for early 2024, and a 2022 email approving a prior expense reimbursement.

Ms. Hindy responded that the reimbursement email Ms. Handler shared predated the 2024 cancellations at the center of her allegations, and said she withdrew from the tour only after being told through representatives that pressing the issue could end her working relationship with Ms. Handler — warnings she acknowledged never came directly from Ms. Handler herself. Ms. Hindy also said Ms. Handler has since told her privately that she considers the account libelous and has contacted lawyers, though TMZ notes Ms. Hindy said she is not pursuing legal action herself and is instead seeking legal advice to protect herself.

Ms. Hindy said she was moved to come forward after rapper Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour following his own pro-Palestinian remarks onstage.