Our phone shows 10:30 a.m. (7:30 a.m. L.A. time), and Chelsea Handler is still in bed, but the comedian, author, host, actress, activist, producer, and heavy cannabis user is wide awake. She even “sat up straight”, just to be “alert” for our interview. And you can hear it.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
Our day may have started three hours early due to jet lag, but Chelsea Handler is so quick-witted that you’d swear she had just left a full afternoon of oratorical debate. Whether we’re talking about the culture of banishment, the ills plaguing the United States, her imminent arrival in Montreal or the “more committed” direction she’s been taking for some time, Chelsea Handler responds with frankness, intelligence and aplomb to all our questions.
“Donald Trump’s election was a turning point,” says the 47-year-old American. It was a very dark time. It was scary. It pushed me to think more about others, instead of always thinking about myself. Since then, my speech has been much more enlightened. I no longer want to pocket a paycheck without thinking. »
His journey bears witness to the change of direction. After piloting a pop culture talk show (Chelsea Lately) safe ! for seven seasons and published several bestsellers in the New York Times (whose My Horizontal Life, in which she describes her one-night stands), Chelsea Handler began producing documentaries for Netflix. And the more the years pass, the more she is interested in the major issues of society. All this without ever abandoning its irreverent and caustic style.
Since 2021, she also hosts Dear Chelseaa weekly podcast in which she guides, with humor and relevance, her listeners struggling with different types of problems (love, sex, money, family).
“Like everyone else, I had ups and downs,” she says. Today, I feel like I’m in control. I am anchored. I do what I want. I say yes to the things I want to do, and no to others. It’s a nice feeling. It’s powerful as a feeling. I like to think that I can be a role model for young women who think there are things they can never accomplish because we live in a man’s world. We can have a choice. But you have to dare and take risks. It takes courage. »
American madness
Speaking of courage, Chelsea Handler has never lacked it to express her opinions without filter, even if it means suffering the wrath of the Republican electorate. In recent months, she has not been shy about decrying the cancellation of the stop Roe v. wadewhich guaranteed the right to abortion in the United States, and the inaction of politicians in the face of the epidemic of mass killings.
It’s crazy ! It seems that we are going backwards, that we are regressing. It’s the far west. It’s horrible. And that’s why I take every opportunity to get out of the country.
Chelsea Handler
This week, the comedian will combine business with pleasure by temporarily leaving his adoptive California (she comes from New Jersey) to pilot a gala at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal. On stage, she will offer new material to the audience, written expressly for the event. She will therefore not dip into her one-woman-showentitled Vaccinated and Horny (in French, Vaccinated and horny), which she currently walks all over North America.
During her time at Théâtre Maisonneuve, she will be surrounded by eight stars of British humor, including Vanessa Gonzales, Atsuko Okatsuka, Celeste Barber, Sam Jay and Salma Hindy. “The new generation of comedians is so funny and talented. She inspires me a lot,” she insists.
Chelsea Handler has never hidden her love for Canada. Those who follow her adventures on Instagram know that she spends a lot of time there, especially to ski. We could also cite a short video shot last winter (and seen 6,200,000 times) in which she runs down the slopes topless, a joint in one hand, a cocktail in the other.
I love Canadian women. They are strong. They are the ones leading the boat. It’s something I appreciate! Canada is a much more civilized alternative to the United States.
Chelsea Handler
When informed that in Quebec, certain personalities like to repeat – on various platforms – that “we no longer have the right to say anything”, Chelsea Handler is not moved. As a famously outspoken comedian, she never felt she wasn’t free to say what she wanted.
“All we ask of people is that they stop being racist and sexist,” she sums up. That’s all we want. It’s not very restrictive. If you are not smart enough to respect these limits, which are after all quite clear, you should re-evaluate your career. It’s not a particularly high challenge to have to maneuver within some heightened parameters. That says a lot about your real talent, if you can’t do it. »
Listening to her speak, we understand that Chelsea Handler no longer has patience with her colleagues who are crying out for censorship.
” Your job, it’s not to discriminate, it’s to make people laugh and stimulate discussion. And promote living together and inclusion. Everyone complains that everything is too politically correct, that you can’t say this, that you can’t say this. The idea is not to resist change by saying: “Ahhhh! I can’t do my job!” That’s the easy way. You have to be able to adapt to the times in which you live. »
In therapy
These days, Chelsea Handler is running out of hours to complete her many projects. Between two performances at the microphone, she finishes writing a new book. Initially, the work was to be called The Filipino in Me (in French, the Filipino in me), in a nod to comedian Jo Koy, whom she has been dating for the past year, but since the couple has just announced their breakup (only a few hours after our interview), we do not know what fate will be reserved for them .
The star is also preparing a semi-autobiographical television series for Peacock, the NBC network’s streaming platform.
“It might be brand new to me. I’ve never played my own role on television before. It will be super exciting. It will be a bit like Curb Your Enthusiasmbut with me in therapy trying to figure out why I’ve become such a fat bitch. »
Chelsea Handler hosts a Just For Laughs gala with guests Salma Hindy, Vanessa Gonzalez, Atsuko Okatsuka, Adam Christie, Sam Jay, Tommy Little, Jay Jurden and Celeste Barber. At the Théâtre Maisonneuve, Thursday, July 28 at 7 p.m.