Chelsea Handler is facing intense backlash after mocking Ariana Grande’s relationship and joking about the Nickelodeon sexual assault scandal during her opening monologue at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards. Fans have condemned the comedian's jokes, demanding an apology on social media.
Handler, 49, took aim at Grande’s romance with Ethan Slater, referencing his role as a Munchkin in Wicked by quipping, “And now Ariana has even found love with a munchkin.” The joke was met with an awkward response from the audience.
Grande’s devoted fanbase quickly reacted online, slamming Handler for making fun of the singer’s personal life.
Handler then stirred even more controversy by mocking the ongoing Nickelodeon sexual assault allegations involving former producer Dan Schneider. After acknowledging the success of former child stars like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, and Ariana Grande, she said, “To succeed this year, you had to either survive Nickelodeon or World War II.” She followed up with, “I saw that documentary, and Nickelodeon looked harder.”
For those looking, here’s the whole clip of the #CriticsChoiceAwards ari & co. jokes pic.twitter.com/8BR4CsbfH4
— Nikki ミ☆ (@kryptonfriend) February 8, 2025
Many viewers were disgusted, calling the joke "rude and disrespectful" given the serious allegations of abuse faced by child actors from the network.
they invite her, make fun of her relationship, bring up her traumatising childhood on live tv and then loses all her nominations pic.twitter.com/mkuono8hxA
— regina☀️ (@everytimereg) February 8, 2025
omg this pissed me off so bad ari doesn’t deserve ts
— lili (@gymgaliyah) February 8, 2025
Bringing up Nickelodeon documentary comment is crazy
— Yelena Melo (All men are bisexual or gay) (@obrigadapower) February 8, 2025
sooo rude and disrespectful !!! the silent pauses were definitely intentional
— genesis ♡*•.🫧 (@joeeganics) February 8, 2025
As outrage continues to grow, neither Handler nor the Critics Choice Awards have issued a response to the backlash.
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