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Chelsea Handler and Piers Morgan lay down the smack talk — again

TV personalities Chelsea Handler and Piers Morgan squabble again during Handler's latest appearance on "Piers Morgan Tonight."
(Left: Rob Kim / Getty Images; Right: Ian Gavan / Getty Images)
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Chelsea Handler and Piers Morgan are at it again, with the comedian calling out the “Piers Morgan Tonight” host for tweeting during her guest appearance and being a “terrible interviewer.”

The “Chelsea Lately” host appeared on Morgan’s CNN talk show Monday to promote her latest book, “Uganda Be Kidding Me,” but railed against him for not giving her the attention she deserved -- a recurring issue between the two TV personalities.

The exchange started out pleasant enough, with the British host asking Handler what she does aside from work, but she was already visibly peeved, replying that she has “to come here to tolerate this nonsense.”

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“You can’t even pay attention for 60 seconds. You’re a terrible interviewer,” said Handler, 39, after revealing that her host had been tweeting during the commercial break.

“Well, you just weren’t keeping my attention,” said Morgan, 48. “It’s more of an issue with you than me.”

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“That’s not my problem,” she said. “This is your show, you have to pay attention to the guest you invited on your show.”

“If they’re interesting enough ...” he heatedly rebutted.

“Listen, it doesn’t matter how interesting I am,” she said. “You signed up for this job.”

“Of course it does,” said Morgan.

“Well, maybe that’s why your job is coming to an end,” she concluded, referring to the fact that CNN announced in February that Morgan’s low-rated talker would soon be canceled. But the interview continued in a sufficiently amicable manner for the two often-combative personalities, with Handler later responding to a question saying, “I don’t want to bore you with real genuine-ness because I know that then you’ll start to go online, so I’m can’t really even answer any of your questions with any sort of earnestness.”

Coincidentally, Handler, who is known for her deadpan and drunken comedic style, often goes off on totally inappropriate tangents with her own guests, completely losing track of whatever it is they were plugging during their appearance in the first place.

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Morgan, of course, took to Twitter on Wednesday to address the clash.

“For the record, what annoyed @chelseahandler was me checking Arsenal tweets during commercial break & ignoring her. Woman scorned etc.” he said, explaining that he ignored his guest because his beloved soccer team, Arsenal, “always takes precedence over Chelsea.”

“Arsenal lose, England lose, sledged by @lancearmstrong & abused by @chelseahandler ....what a 24hrs. Need a cup of tea,” he added.

There was no reply from Handler before publication of this post.

It’s not the first time the sharp-tongued comedian has gone after the British host. It turns out the pair have been squabbling for years.

In January 2012, Handler and Morgan swapped spots on his show and she interviewed him, calling him out on his pushy and disruptive interviewing style, flirting with male and female guests and asking him if he was a “buffoon.” A clip from a previous interview shows Handler repeatedly telling Morgan to “shut up,” and asks him to how his predecessor, Larry King, would have done things.

Then, on his February 2012 appearance on “Chelsea Lately,” she introduced him with a crude reference (as she’s wont do with her guests) and brought up their awkward exchange.

The whole tweeting-during-the-interview debacle came up again, and Handler roasted him for getting fired from “America’s Got Talent.” Morgan faked walking out of the interview, only to return to his seat before making it off the stage. Handler paid him a compliment and the pair ended the whole thing fairly cordially, aside from another spat over flirting and Handler’s rough appearance.

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A similar exchange went down on her show during his January 2013 appearance on her show with an irritated Handler and ultra-snarky Morgan going at it over their mutual loathing of each other.

So was the latest installment of the long-running feud a ratings push for Morgan? Who knows, but it definitely got us talking about his show and Handler’s book, so that’s a win for them right there...

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