Chelsea Handler announces split from Jo Koy: ‘Continue to root for us’

Chelsea Handler has announced she has split from fellow stand-up comedian and boyfriend Jo Koy in an Instagram post on Monday night (18 July).

Handler and Koy, who have known each other for two decades, began dating in summer last year, and made their relationship Instagram official in September 2021.

On Monday, Handler, 47, posted a video the former couple had recorded together to mark their one-year anniversary, explaining instead that they had “decided together that it is best for us to take a break from our relationship right now”.

The former Chelsea host’s caption read: “I know many of you were invested in our love, and I wanted to express to you how much that meant to both of us. How much it still means. And how much I now believe in love for each one of us.”

Praising Koy, 51, she continued: “This man blew my heart open with love and because of him, my life experience has changed forever. To be loved and adored by Jo Koy has been one of the greatest gifts of my life.

“He renewed my faith in men, in love, in being 100 per cent who I am, and I’ve never been more optimistic for the future,” she wrote.

“This is not an ending,” she affirmed, adding, “It’s another beginning, and it’s a comfort to know that I am still loved and love this man the way the sun loves the moon and the moon loves the sun.

“YOUR PERSON IS COMING,” she wrote, asking fans to “please continue to root for both of us, because you never know what life will bring”.

Several celebrities including Marvelous Mrs Maisel star Rachel Brosnahan, and Patrick Schwarzenegger expressed support for Handler in the comments.

Brosnahan wrote: “Mad respect, CH, Sending [love].”

Schwarzenegger left a series of heart emojis under the post.

Koy also posted a picture of himself with Handler on his Instagram account, writing that they “will always remain great friends and will always have love for one another”.

He continued: “I’m her biggest fan and I can’t wait for you all to see what she has in store for the future. Keep killing it Chelsea!”

Handler and Koy have been friends for 20 years. During an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in October last year, she revealed that the pair grew close when Koy was a frequent guest on her late-night talk show Chelsea Lately, which ended in 2014.

During the appearance, she also revealed that falling in love at 46 gave her “hope for every person in this world”.