Handler’s tweets draw accusations of racism

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Comedian Chelsea Handler drew accusations of racism after she was invited to take over The Huffington Post’s Twitter account during Sunday night’s Oscars and repeatedly touted her upcoming book, “Uganda Be Kidding Me,” whenever “12 Years A Slave” received an award.

In one, she tweeted, “Congratulations (hash)12yearsaslave Go to Africa or buy (hash)ugandabekiddingme http://amzn.to/1de1ka9 (hash)aheadofthecurve (hash)Oscars.”

People responded via Twitter with words like “disgraceful,” “offensive” and “racist.”

Huffington Post senior executive director Perri Dorset said the site was up-front about the Twitter feed takeover and has invited celebrities to do so in the past, adding, “the views are theirs not ours.”

Handler also took a swipe at Kenyan supporting actress winner Lupita Nyong’o, tweeting, “(hash)AngelinaJolie just filed adoption papers (hash)lupitanyongo (hash)Oscars -(at)chelseahandler.”

Handler’s publicist did not return messages seeking comment.