Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Chelsea Handler says she needed 'therapy' before interviewing conservatives for white privilege documentary


Comedian Chelsea Handler indicated on Wednesday that she needed psychotherapy in order to calmly interview conservatives about white privilege.
She made those comments on "The View" where she discussed her new documentary "Hello Privilege. It's Me, Chelsea." According to Netflix, the documentary shows Handler "explor[ing] how white privilege impacts American culture -- and the ways it’s benefited her own life and career."
Co-host Sunny Hostin brought up one of the documentary's interviews featuring a group of conservative women. Hostin recounted how the women said white privilege was a "minuscule problem," that African Americans had privilege too, and that one of the parents is always missing in black families.
"What was your reaction when they said those things?" Hostin asked, noting that she liked hearing their honest responses.
"Well, listen," Handler responded, "I had to do a lot of therapy to even have these conversations with people because I have a temper and I'm reactive."
Co-host Joy Behar nodded and smiled as Handler responded. "When somebody's annoying, I want to tell them that they're annoying or that they're stupid," Handler added.
"But my exercise in this film was to be more quiet and to stop inserting myself and saying 'you're wrong, you're wrong,' and to let them say -- to be actually just kind of a space for everybody to speak openly," she said.
Handler asserted that it was important for everybody to hear others' points of view. Behar said that while Handler shouldn't "scream" at the women, "they need to learn history -- the history of this country, the history of slavery and Jim Crow, etc. before they open their mouths."