In case her current bosses at E! haven’t gotten the message, Chelsea Handler is doing all she can to make it known that she’s on the market for a new gig. Whether everyone in the market is interested in her services is another question. Last night, Handler posted a photo of herself holding some papers carrying a giant CBS eye logo. “Business meeting,” the tag accompanying the pic read. Was this meant as a subtle way of confirming a report on the Wrap last week that Handler was “in talks” to replace Craig Ferguson as the Eye’s 12:35 a.m. host? If so, CBS isn’t playing along. “There are no discussions with Chelsea Handler regarding the network’s 12:30 late night broadcast,” a CBS spokesman told Vulture. “Her meeting with CBS yesterday was a general meeting with our syndication [division.]”
Aside from that, though, it should also be noted that in Hollywood, taking a meeting doesn’t mean anything: Agents regularly “shop” clients to networks, with nets agreeing to sit down with folks as a courtesy to said agents. Or, sometimes, execs do meetings with talent simply out of respect for their celebrity. Cases in point: A few years back, I saw Nicole Kidman coming out of a meeting with CBS brass. I also ran into John Mayer in an Eye elevator once, right around the time there were rumors going around that he wanted to do a variety show. Both stars were at CBS for “meetings.” Nothing ever happened.
