We Love Chelsea Handler
Caustic, clever and just a little crass (in the classiest possible way, of course), comedienne Chelsea Handler is taking her signature sarcasm from late-night to something altogether more binge-able: a series of four documentaries on Netflix (out now)—on everything from drugs to marriage—called Chelsea Does. “Not that I think of myself as a ‘documentarian,’” deadpans Handler over the phone from L.A. “I don’t think of myself as anything but a mess.” Here are four more reasons to laugh with, and sometimes at (she’s okay with that), the hilarious Handler.
She’s cool with being vulnerable. “When I was doing my late-night show [ Chelsea Lately], I drove the ship—everyone looked to me for validation. Doing these docs, I had to put myself out there in a way I couldn’t control. In the Drugs doc, I’m on camera vomiting in Peru while doing ayahuasca; in the Marriage doc, I talk a lot about being the age that I am and single. When I watch that back, I go ‘Oh, I feel so sorry for that girl; she seems sweet.’ And then I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s you.’”
She wouldn’t be caught dead reading a goss ip rag. “I haven’t bought any of those idiot magazines since I stopped doing my late-night show. What they talk about is so dumb, and more than half the time it’s just completely made up. Celebrities say that all the time, but I’m a celebrity who’s in with celebrities and, let me tell you, I know the stories behind these stories, and they’re not true!”
She’s honest to a fault. “My dad lied all the time when I was growing up because he was a used-car salesman, and I just never wanted to be like that. I want my house paid for, I want my car paid for, I don’t want my electricity to be shut off—I just want to be on the up and up as a general rule. If somebody asks me something, I’ll tell the truth—it’s not necessarily the softest way to say something. I’ve hurt a few friendships by being honest.”
She’s the nicest mean person you’ll ever meet. “My friends always say it’s the biggest secret how nice I am. I am very nice, very thoughtful—I really am!”