Shots Fired at Chelsea Handler, Starlet Fires Back

Controversy over a New York Times post by Bill Carter brings up a question: Though the article focuses on Jimmy Fallon's move to NBC's Tonight Show, why is Chelsea Handler left out of the conversation and put in parentheses?

Titled, "Bullish on Boyish," the article dissects the male-dominated, late-night talk show circuit.  The only female mentioned is Handler, host of E!'s Chelsea Lately.  Handler's only mention is within parentheses and only describes her profession, gender, and age.   

Carter wrote, "Even with potent competition for younger viewers all over cable, from the likes of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central and Mr. O'Brien on TBS, the host NBC is clearly most concerned about is Mr. Kimmel, who is 46. (The only female host in late-night is Chelsea Handler, 38, on E!)." 

In her response to the post, Handler wrote in The Huffington Post, "What bothered me was that when I was listed in a paragraph with the late-night hosts, I was the only name put in parentheses."  Her response post is titled, "No One Puts Baby in Parentheses."

Handler ends her response by stating, "This isn't about Bill Carter. This is about being noted as a parenthetical, reaffirming what I feel has been an underlying, yet consistent inconsistency with how I am handled as the only woman in a traditionally male field. My only goal when I started this show six-and-a-half years ago was to offer viewers another voice to end their day with (even if my show is on E!). That's the appropriate use of a parenthetical."

Handler's photo stands alongside David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart and Seth Meyers above the piece.  Besides their captioned photos, Letterman, Colbert, O'Brien, Stewart and Meyers are each mentioned twice in the article. O'Brien is mentioned four times.  Each man is detailed for their work and described with the adjective "amazing" and boastings about view counts and ratings.