Shane Gillis brings up Chelsea Handler’s Epstein dinner during Netflix’s ‘Roast of Kevin Hart’

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Kevin Hart may have been the man of the hour at his Netflix roast, but the sharpest blows of the night were exchanged between Shane Gillis and Chelsea Handler.

The 'Roast of Kevin Hart,' part of the Netflix Is a Joke Fest in Los Angeles, quickly veered into personal territory after Gillis introduced Handler by bringing up her reported attendance at a 2010 dinner hosted by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Gillis wasted little time before unloading on Handler in front of the crowd. 

“Chelsea is a Zionist. I’m not saying that’s good or bad. Speaking of dead kids, she’s a big fan of abortions. Chelsea’s been scraped more times than the grill at Benihana,” he quipped.

“Speaking of tossing tiny shrimp into a child’s mouth, Chelsea Handler went to dinner at Jeffrey Epstein’s house in 2010," he quipped as the room groaned, laughed, and cringed all at once.

Gillis insisted the story was real. “You can look it up, there’s articles,” he told the audience. “It wasn’t like a big party; it was like seven people there. Prince Andrew and Woody Allen were there.”

Chelsea Handler’s Epstein dinner controversy resurfaces

According to the BBC, Handler did attend a dinner gathering at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in 2010, two years after the convicted offender served jail time in a case involving a minor.

The dinner was reportedly described by Prince Andrew as “a small dinner party.” Emails later revealed several high-profile attendees, including Woody Allen, Allen’s wife Soon-Yi, Katie Couric, George Stephanopoulos, and Charlie Rose.

Handler previously addressed the dinner publicly during a 2021 appearance on 'Literally! With Rob Lowe,' hosted by Rob Lowe. She claimed she “didn’t know who Jeffrey Epstein was” at the time and described the evening as “so awkward and so weird.”

At the roast itself, Handler chose not to respond directly to Gillis’ Epstein crack. Instead, she returned fire by revisiting the controversy that briefly got Gillis fired from 'Saturday Night Live' in 2019 after clips surfaced of him using anti-Asian slurs.

“Shane, just so you know Judaism and Zionism are two different things,” she said. “Kind of like how Chinatown and Koreatown are two different things, but your favorite slur works in both places.”

Handler added, “Shane has been accused of being anti-Asian, which is ironic, considering he has the complexion and physique of a steamed dumpling.”

Gillis laughed at that one.

Chelsea Handler targets Trump allies at roast

Handler also took aim at Tony Hinchcliffe over his support for the Trump administration, saying he is “what happens when women don’t have access to abortion care.”

Then came a swipe at comedians who performed at the Riyadh Comedy Festival despite ongoing criticism of Saudi Arabia and its human rights record. Handler specifically mentioned Hart, Pete Davidson, and Jeff Ross.

“Now that your favorite leader is making the draft mandatory,” Handler said. “I assume that all of you will be signing up to go fight the war in Iran. Or do you tough-talking only go to the Middle East for comedy festivals?”

The 'Roast of Kevin Hart' is currently streaming on Netflix.