Chelsea Handler dragged for making ‘homophobic’ joke on National Coming Out Day
Handler outraged many of her followers with the tweet (Emma McIntyre/Getty and gazooly12/twitter)
Chelsea Handler has been heavily criticised after once again making a joke about a Republican politician being in the closet.
The comedian’s only tweet about National Coming Out Day to her 8.4 million Twitter followers this year was a pointed quip about South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham not wanting to come out as gay.
Handler also attacked Graham in January after he went from being one of Donald Trump’s fiercest Republican critics to a vocal fan after he was elected.
Senator Lindsey Graham (Drew Angerer/Getty)
She tweeted: “Holy, f**k f**k. I just the video of trumps bipartisan “meeting” yesterday. Hey, @LindseyGrahamSC what kind of dick sucking video do they have on you for you 2 be acting like this?
“Wouldn’t coming out be more honourable?”
On Twitter yesterday (October 11), Handler once again lashed out at the Senator, writing: “If you’re wondering why Republicans took a sick day today, it’s probably because it’s #NationalComingOutDay.
“Looking at you @LindseyGrahamSC” (chelseahandler/twitter)
“Looking at you @LindseyGrahamSC.”
People expressed their disappointment and anger with Handler for the tweet, which led one commenter to write: “F**k off Chelsea. Stop making it out like outwardly evil people are secretly gay.
“Stop making it out like outwardly evil people are secretly gay” (EliMatthewson/twitter)
“It’s old, it’s tired, it’s boring and your better than these repetitive s**t takes.”
Another person replied: “Why is there such a gulf in understanding this fact: being gay is not something to shame or embarrass someone with.
“It’s staggering that, at this point, people who appear to be our community’s allies still don’t get it” (jpbevi/twitter)
“It’s staggering that, at this point, people who appear to be our community’s allies still don’t get it.”
One person said: “Way to make a mockery of #NationalComingOutDay.”
“Way to make a mockery of #NationalComingOutDay” (gazooly12/twitter)
And another person pleaded with her to be more aware of other people’s feelings, writing: “I agree with a lot of what you say Chelsea but I think you need to stop this.
“It’s like you are saying being gay is an embarrassment. I know that’s not your intent, but it is playing that way.”
“It’s like you are saying being gay is an embarrassment” (KarenMBMiller/twitter)
Speaking to TMZ about Handler’s tweet, Graham said — unprompted — that he wasn’t gay, telling the reporter: “It’s a free country. She can say what she wants, I don’t care.
“I don’t think much about what she says at all, and, listen, if she wants to live her life that way, that’s up to her.
“Number one, she knows zero about me. To the extent that it matters, I’m not gay. These comments, I don’t think they reflect well on her.”
Handler has done this before (Emma McIntyre/Getty)
Last month, another comedian, Rosie O’Donnell, came under fire after she referred to Graham as a “closeted idiot.”
O’Donnell spoke out after the frequently pro-Trump mouthpiece made a string of dismissive comments towards women who have accused Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
Rosie O’Donnell (left) (Noam Galai/Getty)
She tweeted at Graham: “f**k u u closeted idiot – this is the patriarchy exposed – this is reality deal with it !!#NoKavanaughConfirmation #NotMyPresident.”
While Graham was criticising Trump last year, he was attacked by former Republican Governor of Arkansas and Fox News host Mike Huckabee, who said: “I sometimes wonder what uniform he puts on each morning when goes out to the field to play… and I’m not just talking about the partisan uniform.”
