Chelsea Handler unapologetic about Priyanka comment: No idea Indians spoke English

We are waiting outside Vista, the café at Taj Land’s End, Bandra, for American comedian and TV host Chelsea Handler (41). She’s in India to shoot the second season of Chelsea, her namesake chat show on Netflix. We are at the location earlier than the slot assigned to us. After all, we have already been asked thrice to “be on time. “She is very particular about it.” The assumption, somehow, seems to be that we might not be.

But that’s not the only assumption Handler has made. In October, 2016, she stirred a controversy among Indian Twitter users, when she asked actor Priyanka Chopra if she spoke English back in India. While the Twitterati trolled Handler (“I hope she asked Chelsea when did you learn English,” said one user), Chopra handled the question with poise, confirming that most Indians do speak English.

But she stands by it. “What was wrong with the question? I know Indians speak many languages, but I had no idea English is a prevalent language in India,” she says bluntly.

The unapologetic personality isn’t new. If her show on Netflix is any indication, Handler is not one to mince words. She sips vodka on camera, has slammed President Trump by calling him a “toddler in the White House” (in an interview to Variety), and has gone all out to blame the Kardashians for changing the way reality entertainment is consumed in America. “It’s mindless television,” she tells us.