One of the keys to Chelsea Handler's success is her realness. While Hollywood tends to be a huge game of smoke and mirrors that insists its stars project certain images even if they aren't genuine, Handler has always refused to play by those rules. She is exactly who she is, what you see is what you get and along with that comes a level of candor that is pretty refreshing. She doesn't have to be your favorite to respect the fact that she's pretty honest in her interviews. On Thursday, while promoting her Netflix special Uganda Be Kidding Me, which is available today, Handler dished on why she has never hosted SNL.
While talking to HuffPost Live Handler explained that according to her agent's the show wanted her not once, but twice and then blew her off both times. Says Handler:
"They said, 'You're gonna host. They're gonna hate that I'm talking about this right now, but I really don't have a problem with that. So they said, 'Oh, we have to have you host.' My agent called, he said, 'You're hosting 'SNL'. They're gonna give you a date in the fall.' And then it never happened."
SNL also reached out after her book, Uganda Be Kidding Me dropped and Handler was cautiously optimistic
"I said, 'OK, great. Well, they blew me off last time, I don't know what the issue was.' And I think the thing I heard was something like...the writers have a problem anytime we bring on a comedian, which is complete nonsense. I mean, Sarah [Silverman]'s hosted, Lena Dunham hosted it."
Handler didn't end up with an SNL gig but she's not exactly upset over it. Uganda Be Kidding Me led to a multi-project deal with Netflix and the comedienne now describes herself as "bouncing-off-the -walls happy". She also says that SNL not really wanting her was never the real issue, she just wishes that they could have been honest about it.
Did SNL miss out by not having Handler host or do you agree that she might not have been the best fit for the late-night show? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
