Chelsea Handler's Epstein Dinner Roasted at Kevin Hart's Comedy Special

Comedy just got a whole lot darker.

During Netflix’s “Roast of Kevin Hart,” host Shane Gillis didn’t hold back, dragging Chelsea Handler’s notorious dinner at Jeffrey Epstein’s New York mansion into the mix. The roast, part of the 2026 Netflix Is a Joke festival, took a sharp turn when Gillis dropped the Epstein bomb right before introducing Handler.

“Chelsea is a Zionist. Not saying that’s a good or bad thing,” the 38-year-old comedian quipped. “Speaking of dead kids, she’s a big fan of abortions. Chelsea’s been scraped more times than the grill at Benihana.”

Then came the kicker: “Speaking of tossing tiny shrimp into a child’s mouth, Chelsea Handler went to dinner at Jeffrey Epstein’s house in 2010. Look it up, there are articles.”

Gillis painted the dinner as an intimate affair, claiming it wasn’t “like a big party” since there were only “like seven people there,” including “like Prince Andrew and Woody Allen.”

But Handler wasn’t about to let Gillis have all the fun. As she took the stage, she fired back with her own jab: “Welcome to tonight’s episode of ‘To Catch a Predator.’ This is a real who’s who of statutory rapists.”

She added, “We’re all just lucky none of you could afford an island.”

Handler previously described the “awkward” and “weird” dinner during an appearance on Rob Lowe’s podcast in February 2021, just under two years after Epstein’s death in an apparent suicide while facing child sex-trafficking charges.

“I did go to dinner at Jeffrey Epstein’s house,” Handler admitted. “I didn’t know who Jeffrey Epstein was. It was like twenty – I don’t know what year it was, but it was a long time ago.”

She recalled attending with Katie Couric and noted that Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn were also present. “When we got there, I was like, ‘What is this gathering?’ Oh yeah, Prince Andrew was there with — no, with no one. He was there with Jeffrey Epstein.”

Handler insisted she didn’t linger at Epstein’s home for long, but she did run into Prince Andrew during the dinner. “Yeah, we had dinner, and it was so awkward and so weird. I was like what are we doing here?”

The “I’ll Have What She’s Having” writer emphasized that this 2010 dinner was her only encounter with Epstein. “I’ve never been on the private island, and I’ve never been on his plane,” she clarified. “I’ve met him one time, and that was the time.”

Epstein’s Little St. James Island and private jet have been back in the news after the US Department of Justice released over 3 million pages related to the late financier. While many names popped up in connection with Epstein’s island and jet, the Justice Department made it clear that being mentioned in these documents doesn’t imply wrongdoing.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.