Chelsea Handler has a dirty little secret she’ll reveal in an upcoming Netflix special.
It may not be clear to the naked eye, but she’s white and it’s been a big boost to her career. The failed Netflix talker is back with a new book, entitled Life Will Be the Death of Me … And You, Too. And, as part of the book’s promotional push, she’s making the usual talk show rounds.
That means an endless barrage of woke banter met with adoration by her hosts. That tour included The View, where the far-left comic explained to co-host Sunny Hostin why she needed to have a conversation about her own skin color.
Spoiler alert: Hostin called her “brave” for tackling the issue, and Handler didn’t disagree.
No, white people certainly don’t want to talk about it. So I figured start with myself so you know I can hang myself out to dry at my own privilege, at my own reaction to the presidency. Like a spoiled brat, you know, the way so many people were crying and screaming. It was like, well, nothing in your life has ever gone that wrong before? I really had to look and go, no. Yes, my brother died. That was traumatic and awful. I have never been hungry, I’ve never been discriminated against that I knew about. I think As a person with a platform, you have to start thinking about what kind of contribution you’re going to make when you see the things that are going on in this world.
Typically, she uses her platform to fire off inane tweets or pot confessions. Consider the time she said comedians should be arrested for telling racist jokes (despite her own history on the subject). Or when she called for a military coup against President Trump. That’s the same president who drove her to therapy.
As activists go, she’s hardly the creme de la creme. And that’s being kind.
Handler continued her white privilege apology tour on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The host marveled at her freakish ability to shift gears from project to project, something very few comedians have ever, ever done before, while letting her preview her future Netflix special.
I did one on white privilege, my own. Because after I had this reassessment, and I just thought, okay, what kind of stuff am I putting out in the world, and I thought I was successful because I was talented. I didn’t think about the color of my skin or the fact that I grew up with privilege or that just by being white in this country is a huge privilege. A lot of us don’t think about that. And I really opened my eyes when I realized racism isn’t dead, women’s rights, we haven’t hit the glass. Nothing happened in the last couple years to make us believe in all of this naive thinking, I was thinking. It feels good to be awake and understand that these are issues that are not going away any time soon. And to be part of the solution rather than being part of the problem.
Handler likely worked very, very hard to get where she is today. Her E! show, Chelsea Lately, demanded significant time and energy. And if you ask any famous person, he or she will tell you all the hustle that went into their good fortune, the kind that looks easy on the surface.
The more obvious privilege Handler enjoys is the liberal kind. If she supported smaller government and less regulation, while spouting off similarly inane comments, she’d be laughed off the public stage.
Instead, she’s treated seriously by reporters and TV hosts alike. Must be nice.
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