Chelsea Handler mocks James Corden and Ellen DeGeneres in no-holds-barred Critics Choice opening speech

Crowd were especially surprised by the DeGeneres dig

Chelsea Handler hosted the Critics Choice Awards, and used the opportunity to mock James Corden and Ellen DeGeneres.

The comedian did not hold back in her opening monologue, during which she also took aim at Prince Harry.

Beginning the show, Handler joked that the cast of nominated food drama The Bear “showed us how gruelling and how absolutely miserable working in the restaurant industry can be, and they didn’t even have to wait on James Corden”.

Earlier this year, restaurant owner Keith McNally described Corden as “a tiny cretin of a man” for allegedly making nasty comments and demands of his workers at Balthazar on two occasions.

In an Instagram post, McNally declared he had “86’d” the comedian from his restaurant and Corden was no longer welcome there. Corden, who initially said that he’d done “nothing wrong”, later admitted that he had made “a rude, rude comment”, adding that “it was never my intention” to upset the staff.

McNally lifted the ban following Corden’s apology on The Late Late Show, which he will be leaving in 2023.

Elsewhere, Handler alluded to DeGeneres while speaking about Cate Blanchett film Tár.

She said: “In the movie Tár, Cate portrayed an iconic lesbian whose career is affected by her toxic behaviour. And she didn’t even have to host her own daytime talk show.”

While Handler did not specifically namecheck the talk show host, DeGeneres faced numerous accusations of “mean” behind-the-scenes behaviour in 2020.

Chelsea Handler took swipes at both James Corden and Ellen DeGeneres (Getty Images for Critics Choice)

Handler also referenced Prince Harry’s new memoir, titled Spare, which features a string of allegations about the royal family.

Featured in the book is Harry’s revelation that he was suffering from frostbite on his penis while attending his brother William’s wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011.

Handler quipped: “Niecy Nash-Betts is nominated for Dahmer. Dahmer became the third highest viewed show on Netflix, which a combined watch time of 1 billion hours, which, apparently, is the same amount of time we’re going to have to listen to Prince Harry talk about his frostbitten penis.”

Following laughs from the crowd, she said of Harry’s claims: “It’s enough already.”

Later in the ceremony, Cate Blanchett, who won Best Actress for Tár, used her acceptance speech to call out “the televised horse race” of awards season.

Find the full list of winners at the 2023 Critics Choice Awards here.