E! Entertainment talk show host and comedian, Chelsea Handler, may have a problem on her hands after making several jokes about Dancing with the Stars competitor Chaz Bono on her show, Chelsea Lately, Tuesday night. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) issued a request for Chandler’s apology on Wednesday.
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“Last night’s episode of Chelsea Lately repeatedly made a mockery of Chaz Bono’s transgender identity when discussing the transgender advocate’s upcoming appearance on Dancing With the Stars,” writes GLAAD’s Associate Director of Entertainment Media, Matt Kane.
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Kane points out that the “transphobic humor” started in Handler’s opening remarks and continued later in the show with her roundtable comedians, Fortune Feimster, Bill Bellamy, and Jo Koy.
“The Dancing with the Stars cast has been announced,” Handler joked in her opening remarks. “It includes Chaz Bono, otherwise known as Chastity Bono [laughs] before she got her penis [laughs].”
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GLAAD asks that Handler issue an apology and invite Bono or another transgender celebrity to the show, so that her fans can have “the chance to get to know them beyond a few hurtful punch-lines.”
Bono will be the first transgender celebrity to compete on the ABC reality dance competition. Additionally, he’s dancing with a female pro, five-year show veteran Lacey Schwimmer.
The casting has also recieved a flurry of negative reactions on ABC’s message board from viewers.
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