Chelsea Handler Fires Back at Heather McDonald's Claims: 'I Hope She Was Living In Fear'

Chelsea Handler is calling out her former employee Heather McDonald, who said she “lived in fear” while working on Chelsea Lately.

“I lived in fear, 100 percent lived in fear,” Heather, 45, said on the Allegedly podcast. “I enjoyed my time there, I was happy, but I mean something would happen and my heart would be beating and I would be like, ‘Is this it?’ – you know? And then somehow I just managed to keep surviving.”

Chelsea went on Howard Stern‘s SiriusXM show on Tuesday (January 19) and cleared up the drama, saying Heather actually sold stories about her to the press.

“I could have fired her. I did not fire her. She had a job for four more years. I never hung out with her personally again. So I hope she was living in fear,” Chelsea said. “It’s not an internment camp. If you’re living in that much fear, go get another job.”

“I just thought it was a betrayal … I wasn’t paranoid, I just withdrew from that whole social scene – I withdrew from her,” Chelsea continued. “I wouldn’t hang out with her, I wouldn’t be alone with her. You know, she’s somebody who would love to hear about Jennifer Aniston‘s house on the weekend. I could never, ever share my personal life with her again.”

Also pictured inside: Chelsea doing promo work for her new Netflix series on Tuesday (January 19) in New York City.