Happy Sad Confused - Chelsea Handler

Episode Date: June 2, 2021

She's a talk show host, a best-selling author, an actress, but above all else, Chelsea Handler is a stand up comedian and she's showing what she can do with her HBO Max special, "Evolution". Chelsea joins Josh for the first time on the podcast to talk about all of it, including her new podcast of her own, "Dear Chelsea"! Don't forget to check out the Happy Sad Confused patreon here! We've got exclusive episodes of GAME NIGHT, video versions of the podcast, and more! For all of your media headlines remember to subscribe to The Wakeup newsletter here! And listen to THE WAKEUP podcast here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Get after him or have you shot You mean blow up the building From this moment on None of you are safe New episodes every Wednesday Wherever you get your podcasts Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now.

Today on Happy, Say, Confused, Chelsea Hamler gets funny and personal in her HBO Max special, Evolution. Hey, guys, I'm Josh Harrow. It's welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused, another first-time guest on today's podcast. The very talented, the very funny, Chelsea Handler. Different sort of guests than we usually have on the podcast, but I'm thrilled nonetheless to have Chelsea because she has done so much amazing work over the last, I guess, what, probably decade plus, especially is really when she kind of came into her own. But a celebrated stand-up comedian, a talk show host, an author, she has a new podcast. She's kind of dabbled in everything and really succeeded in every aspect of the industry. And when you just get right down to it, she's super talented, super smart and funny.

and opinionated and willing to, you know, tell it like it is. And these are all the aspects that you want in a great guest. So thrilled to talk to this very, very funny and talented person who has a bunch of new projects worth checking out. I really enjoyed Chelsea's new, I guess, new-ish. She taped it during the pandemic. It came out, I think, a few months ago, but it's kind of getting a second life as we get into Emmy consideration season and all that kind of fun stuff. but I'm glad this gave me a chance to catch up with Evolution, which is on HBO Max, which is a stand-up special, I think partially adapted from one of her recent books.

But as I alluded to, it's very funny and very personal. It touches on kind of all the aspects of Chelsea's life that you're used to hearing, whether it's sex and drugs, but also gets, you know, pretty deep and personal by the end, talking about her own losses as a kid from losing a brother at a horribly young age and her dad and the effects that those have had, those losses have had on her life. So really, really dug that one. Also, I've really enjoyed her own podcast, which she launched very recently called Dear Chelsea, well worth checking out.

It is, as you would guess from the title, essentially Chelsea and her friend, I think her personal assistant's name is Brandon, if I remember correctly, and he's kind of the co-host, and they dispense advice. People send in, or they call in, actually, and they have the, colors on the show, which is great. And also they have, like, celebrity guests like Charlize Theron, you know, dropped in once on a recent episode. And, yeah, again, very funny, very interesting.

And well worth checking out, Dear Chelsea is the podcast. So that's the main event on today's Happy, Said, Confused. As always, a bunch of other things to mention. I think I teased a couple of these things last week, but by now, the conversation with Emma Stone that I conducted for MTV News is. up on MTV News's YouTube page. Check out my social media as well. I put it up there. Dwight full chat with Emma, who I've known virtually since the start. I didn't actually talk to her for super bad, but I did meet her on The Rocker. Anybody remember The Rocker out there

in which she starred opposite Rain Wilson? I have some stories about covering that one. Nothing bad about any of the talent, but it's just some funny stories that I'll share at some point if you guys are so interested. And the house bunny. So I very quickly got to know Emma in my early years at MTV right after Superbad and right as her career was starting to take off. And, you know, as I always say, it's always fascinating to chart someone's progress through the industry, through life. And that's kind of one of the joys of doing this for as long as I have is to kind of get to see them at the beginning in the middle and later, et cetera. So yeah, this was a fun catch up with Emma. She, of course, has the new film Cruella, which is well worth checking out

in theaters and on Disney Plus. If you didn't catch last week's episode of the podcast, made a lot of noise. It was, of course, with Zach Snyder. That was a blast. And as always, you know, we just wrapped up for the first month of the Patreon, the happy, sad, confused Patreon, where you can get all sorts of bonus goodies, video versions of the podcast. You can watch the Chelsea Handler podcast. Watch her and chat. You can watch the first two episodes of Game Night. We have a slew of Game Night episodes coming very, very, very soon, some very big, very big, very big stars. That was not just skipping on the podcast. That was me just repeating it for emphasis. So really psyched about that.

Go over to patreon.com slash happy, say, confused. Check out what we're all about over there. And in the meantime, enjoy the free stuff over here on the main podcast, the mothership. This is me and Chelsea Handler. Remember to review, rate and subscribe to Happy, Say, Confused. Spread the good word. Here's me and Chelsea. There's no pomp and circumstance, Chelsea Handler, but you are now a part of the Happy Say and Confused podcast,

whether you like it or not. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Of course. You are a woman of many talents. You're an author, a comedian, a talk show host, a nemesis of Pierce Morgan.

That's actually the thing I think you should take the most pride in and that you took that bastard down a peg or two. I take a lot of pride in my interactions with prayers Morgan. That wasn't the only time that I told him what I think of him, but it was the only public time. And I think using his own show to talk to him about what an asshole he was and is was really was, I even look back. I just look back at it so fondly. Oh, as you should. You should take great pride in it. I mean, I remember seeing it years ago, but like when he was finally justifiably sacked,

it was just a great excuse to rewatch that gem of a conversation, as you said, on his own turf, no less. Did you know, I mean, you can tell a lot about a person. You can tell I'm a wonderful, honest human being right from the start. You could tell that Pierce was an asshole, I assume, in the first moments that you met him. Yeah, I mean, he's pretty loud about being an asshole. Right. He doesn't hide it. It's pretty easy to pick up up. That's his brand.

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. It's, you know, I mentioned you obviously have a lot of talents. You, in the last year, there's a lot to talk about because I watched your special evolution and greatly enjoyed it, the HBO Max special. Thank you. You recorded it during this last Hellscape Year for all of us.

Before we get into the actual special, I'm just curious, like, what 2020 looked like for you. Were you one of those people that, like, learned a new language and learned how to bake bread or were you just yeah what was it like i know i don't know how to make bread and i never will and um i didn't learn a language i uh i took the first few months well i was stuck at home you know for a while and then i got antsy and i was like okay the east coast seemed to be opening up and i thought this might be a good opportunity to film my special you know like why not go east have it be like kind of a homecoming of sorts, because I kind of definitely had that vibe to it.

And I also really was felt compelled to put something out there during this time for my fans and to give levity to a time in our lives that was really dark and unexpected and, you know, unknowing. None of us knew what was happening, and I just wanted to lend my voice. I wanted to be, it was important,

I mean, I was gonna do the special regardless, you know, of the pandemic, but I could have waited until after, but I felt really passionate about doing it during the pandemic and kind of setting the tone that like, you know, things are going to be a little bit harder to film during this time, but it's so much more worthwhile because people really need it. They need the connection. They need the humanness of it. And so I just kept thinking, like, it was, you know, a little bit like a foot soldier. I'm like, I'm doing this for, for not just for myself. This is actually something that feels like I'm contributing more than taking, you know? Yeah, this is what you do.

This is how you contribute. This is part of the deal. Like, this is how you can help kind of contribute to people's happiness in a way. Yeah. So, I mean, the people that are happy when I contribute, you know. So I wanted to do that. Yeah, I felt pretty, pretty passionate about it. And then, you know, once I said, listen, this is going to happen.

I don't care what the audience size is. I don't care. I, you know, I know what the show is. And I had to have a lot of faith in my own abilities and my own, you know, to know that like, okay, it could be 50 people by the time they open up or it could be 250 people at the show. But I had passed all of that. And I just focused on, you know, the task at hand, which for me was a great exercise because for many, many years, I did so many things at the same time instead of taking each project

seriously in its own right and lifting the integrity of your work by paying such close attention to it. So it was a great exercise. It was very humbling, practicing and getting ready for this and comedy clubs where there was like 30 people allowed to, you know, be. And I had it performed in any of those places in so many years. So all in all, the experience was very humbling. And, you know, it just, it was, there was a lot of perseverance entailed.

And I felt pretty strong about setting that kind of goal and making it happen no matter what. Do you still think of yourself as a stand-up first? I mean, is that in your bones, like what you would, at the passport, you know, agency, what do you tell them? What's your, what's your occupation? Yeah, I'm always confused when they ask. I'm like, I don't, I'm like, I usually write author because I usually like, I don't want,

you know, that that usually stops the conversation. Oh, you write? Oh, I don't want to talk to you. Yeah. Oh, fuck. No. Yes. But, yeah, I do think of myself as a stand-up first.

I mean, it's how I began and it's how I communicate through human. I've had an evolution and I've become, you know, a more adult, mature person, but I've brought all the immaturity and silliness with me in a more responsible way now. You know, now I feel good about everything I'm putting out there. I didn't feel bad before, but I had a lack of awareness, you know, about how maybe my jokes were impacting others or, you know, using cheap jokes or, you know, cheap laughs. And the challenge of having to get your comedy to a different, you know, to elevate it is something I welcome, you know, I love to have a structure because I'm such chaos that I love when someone says, okay, you have to stay inside these lines and build a house. And it's like, okay, okay, let me think about this. Like, bring it on, you know. And I think a lot of women feel that way. Like, we're ready to make a change, make a difference, make a contribution, think about others. And, you know, work towards more empathy. Women are like on board for that in a way that a lot of, you know, straight white men are not.

Was your stand up always that honest and personal? I mean, you really do go through an arc even within this, this show. By the end of it, you know, it hits kind of like some of the familiar kind of topics that you often hit, but by the end, it gets pretty deep and emotional about obviously losing your brother at a young age

and, you know, talking about your relationships with men and kind of like, understanding where that comes from. Did it take a while to kind of be able to be honest in that way? I mean, for me, the real challenge for this show was allowing myself the space to be quiet and vulnerable and to have that moment and not rush through that moment. Because as a stand-up, I'm sure you can imagine

when there is too much time that elapses without a laugh, you're like, I do something funny, I gotta say, something funny. I got to get fuck or, you know, like, it's so easy to get that. It's so hard to restrain yourself. And my whole life has been about impulses and acting on them and not thinking things through. So my agent was very adamant about making that moment. Like, he's like, listen, you get a laugh every 30 seconds for 45 minutes. You're allowed to take five minutes to tell your story, and let it sit there. Like, let everybody go through this with you, you know? And

I listened to that and it was very hard because you know you have this emotional moment and then I immediately wanted to fix it like make everyone laugh right away so I would kind of you know when I was practicing I kept steam rolling over the really important parts because I wasn't comfortable with the silence and and I had to become comfortable with it and everyone was right there with me every single time that I practiced it as long as I was present and in the moment everyone was with me And it was a great lesson because you are allowed to be vulnerable. You know, you are allowed to tell your story, even in the, even in the medium of stand-up, you know, it's important. And Hannah Gatsby did it so effortlessly, well, not effortlessly.

I'm sure it took a lot of effort, but she did it so beautifully that I thought, oh, we can do that. I can do that. Yeah. I have a version of that. And it's, you know, I think about like, you know, the stand-ups comedians I've, like, known and followed for years, whether it's, you know, you or someone like Sandler when he did his stand-up and like by the end of that last stand-up special when he's talking about Chris Farley and you're like ready to sob. It's like kind of like you've earned our trust and by then you can go there and it becomes

just that much more resonant and powerful because like you've given us what we want. Like we came for the funny, but now it's like you're really opening yourself up and that's kind of a profound thing for an artist. Yeah, it was definitely a nice, you know, it was a, I feel a lot more mature as an artist as a performer, as a stand-up now, you know, I just, I felt like it gave me a lot of, it gave me a lot of confidence in my own ability to create something out of scratch, basically, you know, and the evolution, you know, like I wrote a book, I did a book about it, then I did the book tour and through that book tour by telling these stories over and

over again, I go, oh, this is a stand-up show, like you're doing stand-up, basically sitting down during your book tour interviews and thought was, you know, so I hadn't done stand-up in so many years and I didn't think I was going to do it again. And then I just realized like, oh, wow, I could turn this into something and this is something that I would be really proud to put out there. And also unexpected for me, you know, nobody's expecting me to, you know, talk about stuff like that. And it gives people a real, like a clearer vision of who I am or a clearer idea rather than thinking a person is one dimension, you know, or, you know, not multi-dimensional. And so it's, it, that, that was very fulfilling.

And, you know, the response has been very fulfilling. So, yeah, I'm back into stand-up now. I'm about to start touring next week. So I'm like, I'm over it. I'm like, I'm, you know, it brought me back to my roots, which was kind of a full circle for the whole story. Let's talk about drugs, Chelsea. So take a look at me.

what would what do you make of me am i some what are my predilections what's my nervous drug taker you're you probably don't go bananas right you're a little nervous i could tell i've never i've never done it i drink that's it which is the drug obviously as we know but that that that but that's it i can tell by your disposition that you would probably have a bad reaction to most things because you probably have a nervous feeling about them and that doesn't bode well for you enjoying the experience you have to have a little bit of a loosey-goosey personality and yes so Let's just skip that for you and you stick to alcohol. So I was going to say, so you think it's too late for me,

given you're spot on, obviously. 45-year-old man, nervous disposition, basically cut out of a, cut out of a Woody Allen movie, basically. Just stick with a liquor and I'm good? Yeah, I would stay with the alcohol. You don't want to push, listen, I've tried pushing this agenda on some of my friends that are similar to you or kind of have, you know, and they don't,

and I'm always thinking like, No, I can get everyone on board with cannabis. Like, cannabis, it's a new era, you know, microdosing. You could take a milligram. Like, why not help yourself out with your anxiety or your sleep issues or whatever the issues are? But I've learned now after prescribing lots of cannabis to a lot of unsuspecting customers that it is just not for everybody. Wait, what do you mean unsuspecting? Are you putting doses in?

Are you giving them brownies that they don't know? No, I don't do that, but people do come to me for drugs all the time. And I dole them out and I, you know, I have overdosed people in terms of I've given them too strong of an edible and then I haven't heard the end of it for two years. So it's like, listen, listen, what's not worth my fucking time? I hear you. Complain and complain. I don't call my doctor and complain and complain when he fucks up.

Do you have the work? Obviously, I mean, you know what you respond to and how you respond to things. But I would think for someone like you, you have to be so sharp. Like you have to, like that's your, that's your whole thing. Like you don't want to dull your senses in any way, I would think. to be a consummate performer. So has there never been a worry that like, this stuff is gonna add up at a certain point,

it's gonna start to like, just dull? Yeah. Well, you know, that's a matter of how you live your life. Yes, of course. If I sat around and just got stoned all the time, which is what I did for the first two weeks of the pandemic, yeah, you start to feel a little dumb. But, you know, I think I just took a 30 day break

because somebody called into my podcast about smoking too much. And I was like, oh, I'll do a 30 day detox with you. And I did it. it and I was like oh yeah my mental clarity is like I'm as sharp as attack now but you know you I like to use cannabis appropriately I don't like it to use me I don't like to have so much that I don't know what you know what I was just talking about you know that's fun when you're on vacation once in a while my girlfriend and I have a joke I'm like what did you just say she's like I don't know I wasn't listening I'm like I but you were talking she's like I would I know

but I wasn't listening I'm like neither one of us is listening to a fucking thing um so no yeah But you can use it for a creativity. I mean, I definitely used it in my book when I wanted to, like, I would, you know, I write in a way and then I go back and punch it up with stories and jokes in it. So I would always use it for that, you know, because you do have a funny way of thinking when you're a little stone. And my personality is just so open and free-spirited when it comes to that. Like, I always know I'm going to have a good time.

nothing ever really like knocks me out or drags me down of course i've had you know a couple or two questionable experiences but overall i'm pretty in control of my mind so if you kind of go into you know cannabis it's like setting your intention for anything else like if you go in and you're like all right i don't want to be too fucked up i don't want to be out of it i just want to take the edge off i just want to be a little bit more laughy or a little bit more talkative you know um for me it's helpful when I don't feel like communicating because I communicate all the time. I, and if I'm going to an event, it totally helps me socialize when I'm like tapped out. Have you learned, what were the worst places over the course of your life that you've indulged

perhaps? Like, you know, is it, does it work at a wedding, at a funeral, on a plane? Are there the places you know that are off the list that like this is just not worth? No, no. For me, I can pretty much operate under that, under the influence in any of those situations and have. I remember being at my nephews bar mitzvah and it was two hours or three hours long and I was like there are not enough edible like I was so mad at my sister I said you can't expect me to sit through a three hour bar mitzvah like it's just unreasonable this is oh like I already got bat mitzvah I don't want to fucking go to any bat mitzvah ever again and she was like just take some of your edibles I said there aren't enough edibles to make this fun they're just

aren't. So yeah, like it works, you know, for all of those things. My father's funeral, we all took edibles. My whole family, my brothers and sisters literally lined up and I gave them each an edible right before we had to start talking to people. They just put their hand out. And you know what? It's actually made our family really, like, in a way, like we've just had once edibles came on the scene, because we go every year, we go to Whistler, and we had this guy bake us cookies one year. And so we didn't, this was before things were labeled and everything. And so he was just handing him out and to our family and we'd go out to dinner. I give everybody a half a cookie and we'd laugh our asses off. And then the next year, my sisters were like,

where are the edibles? Like, this is what keeps our family going. And so it's kind of our family. A beautiful handler. A beautiful handler. Reunarce, as they said in this, mania. I'm curiously what you're added. Here's my. sense about you in terms of like I think of your relation to like LA wellness self-help is kind of like there's contradictory because I feel like you're kind of like that's you're seen but you also have like a very good BS meter for for things and like is there a yin and yang where like you're you're constantly exploring and and seeking out ways to improve yourself mentally and physically but you also kind of like this you have the self-awareness my is my sense that like some of this is kind of

crazy and i mean yeah no it's there's a whole crock of bullshit being served up in l.a for sure and you know my problem was that i actually grouped therapy into that like i was like oh therapies where people go to silent retreats and everyone's doing fucking yoga and eating kale chips and it goes on and on and on and every you know in lulu lemon only and you know everyone's doing deep stretching for no reason so yeah i definitely have that attitude i'm from new jersey i can't help it i find bullshit in everything. I'm like, this is so stupid. But I'm open-minded. I will try anything because who fucking knows if something's going to work or if it's not going to? The most important thing is to have your own opinion, right? Like not be swayed and be a follower

like everyone else. At least that is important for me. I don't like to be, you know, throwing around things like, you know, 100% even. When I hear that, I'm like, oh, fucking shut up. It's like these stupid phrases, correct. Now everyone's like, correct, correct. Or they say dead. In the middle of your sentence, they go, dead. It's like, I have a lot of dead people that would argue with you being dead right now. Like, I am like, I don't like trends.

I don't like when everybody's talking about something. Even if it's a great book and I read a ton of books, even if it's a great book everyone's talking about. I'm like, it's too annoying that everyone's talking about the same book. I'll read and read educated next year. Or, you know, like I'm very anti-trendy. So I definitely do have a mind of my own, but I am open-minded because there are so many things that can help you. And I was so judgy about people who spent too much time in therapy. And then I went to therapy.

And I spent, you know, a good two years going and took it very seriously and changed completely. My, you know, my personality has changed. So what's the biggest day to day? Like, how would that, what would friends say about you before and after therapy? That's the biggest change. I'm much kinder like I'm much I don't tell people what I think when they're not asking as much I don't insert myself when it's not necessary I do everything with a little bit of extra love and kindness knowing that I am brash and that my personality is I is heavy and like energized and that it can be intimidating like I have a better understanding of how I come across from therapy so I have a better understanding of how to like not present myself because it's not a presentation it's just a more, I have a deeper understanding that everyone's a little bit different and people need to be handled differently. You know, you can't just have a one-size-fits-all because that's not

fair. When you, when you're in the Chelsea handler orbit as a friend, is part of the bargain that like some of your escapades fun life with you might become fodder for the work? And has that gotten you into trouble over the years? Have you had to set boundaries on that kind of Well, they've wanted to set boundaries because I'm the one telling everyone everything in my books or my stand up. Yes, it's been a problem. Many friends have been very upset with me. Family members have been upset with me. So yes, I've gotten a little bit better about that because, you know, I don't just take the liberty or the license anymore. I try and really think of creative ways to not make it obvious and change that person's identity, which you kind of legally bound to do when you write a book like mine anyway. When you're telling true stories about real people, you kind of either have to get their permission or you have to fictionalize them. So, you know, I try to be more mindful about that for sure. But it's an ongoing thing because it is my life. It's like, you know, my family, I'm about to start doing stand-up. I have a

whole bit about how like unwoke my brother and my nephew are, even though they think they're, you know, progressive and liberal. It's like, okay, guys, listen, you don't fucking know a half of it, you idiots. You know, you're not practical. practicing what you preach. So, you know, they're not going to be happy about that. They haven't heard that bit yet. They're good. No, nobody's heard it yet. I haven't done it yet. I've just written it. I've written a bunch of stuff and then I go and workshop it for about two weeks. And then I will go on tour. One person in your orbit that, that we share a bit, and I can't claim to be nearly as close. But I've known her for many years is Charlize, who I know popped up on the podcast recently.

And that was delightful. Did you give her a heads up? She's doing laundry in the middle. seemingly in that. Did you give her any, like, hey, I might, I might hit you up in a second. Yes, yes. I gave her a heads up. I talked to her the day before, and I was like, hey, we need you to call into the podcast for this thing and da-da-da-da. And she's a close friend of mine and has been for a long time. So I'm glad she's in your orbit because she is one of the, she's one of the other people like in this industry that I'm tight with that is like that. No bullshit. You know what I mean? And we talked about that on the podcast. We talked about, you know she and I having a fight when we were in South Africa together once and and that was a

perfect example like I would never have been able to apologize for that had I not been going to therapy my therapist gave me very specific instructions like it doesn't matter if you think you're right or if you think you're wrong you hurt someone's feelings and that's it you have to take accountability for that and then just apologize and listen and you know if I hadn't done that our friendship probably would have been over so she is uh and she respected that I did that that, you know, and when you are really up front and vulnerable with somebody and willing to take responsibility for hurting their feelings, that's pretty much all anybody really needs. How do you pronounce her last name? I don't know how to pronounce her last name.

This is what I was going to, I think you mispronounce her last name. I only say this because she has given me, I think it's Theron, because I've been in her presence where she has given me such shit for mispronouncing her name, and I'm resentful. I think she knows how to pronounce her name. So don't even listen to what she's telling you. I know. I really shouldn't. I shouldn't let her get in my head. I'm going to pronounce it to Ron from now.

Yeah, I'm with you there. We're going to start that campaign. I'm going to change it. Yeah. Let's talk. You, like, I think we share most politics together. I follow you on Twitter. We were both, I think, had our brains melted by 2016's events. Do you think we're, are we going to be okay, Chelsea?

See, I mean, are we out of the woods? I don't know if we are, judging. We are not out of the woods. We are, no. I don't know that we're going to be okay. It's a really scary time when you look at the political climate in this country and you look at what people think is okay. I mean, look at how many, I mean, I don't understand what's going on.

I like to think that there's like a bigger picture that we all can't see and that, you know, these small incremental steps like, you know, Biden in office and winning Georgia are leading us to the right place, but then you look at all of the rollback on voting. You look at these abortion laws that they're passing and the Supreme Court is hearing this new abortion or this old abortion case. But you look at the state of Texas and you look at the Republican Party. You know, they have basically a sexual predator who sits on several committees that they leave there. And it's pretty clear this guy had sex with an underage girl. We'll find out more. But all roads are leading to that direction.

Yet they remove this esteemed congresswoman for telling the truth. I mean, it's fucking scary. And I went, you know, I went to Canada at the beginning of the pandemic. Not the beginning, sorry, the beginning of over Christmas. Yeah. I went and I have a place in Whistler and I went up there. And I, it was after Atlanta. It was after we won Georgia.

And I remember just thinking, oh, this is like walking into civilization. No one was arguing about wearing a mask. People who don't want to wear them or are just wearing them and not complaining or fighting about it in the middle of a CVS. I mean, I don't even think they have CVS there, but whatever the fuck, it wrecks all.

That's what they have there. And it was just a different, completely different environment. And I just thought how sad that America has gotten so out of control and we're so lost in so many ways. And I think, you know, I just am not a hopeless person.

I'm always trying to think, like, okay, things are going to sort themselves out in the right way. But I feel you. I know. I know. It's just unbelievable the leaders of the. It's like the man lost the election. He lost the House of Representatives. He lost the Senate, and he lost the state of Georgia. And they are still kissing his ass. He's a loser. And they won't, I mean, as we tape this today, won't investigate a attempted coup. But they voted that. I thought that passed in the house. House. So what's... I don't know the intricacies, but it seems like it's still in somewhat doubt. I don't know. Kevin McCarthy is to the list of the worst human beings on the planet. Yeah, Kevin McCarthy can go fucking suck a duck. But there are, I think we're like 25 or 26 Republicans that voted. It did pass in the House and it has to pass in the Senate, which I still don't understand why we can't just pass things in the Senate since we have the Senate. It's like, why? Why are we still, like, trying to pass bipartisan shit. We won. Yeah, by a significant margin.

I also worry, obviously, celebrity is no, is not a recent development in politics going back to to Reagan, but like, you know, is Dwayne Johnson's going to be our next president, isn't he? I feel like he's going to run. Like, I don't know if that's the, I love Jane Johnson, but is that really, is he really going to run for president? I feel like he is. Oh my God. Oh, my God. It's not the right path for us, is it? I mean.

Well, I don't listen. I mean, I would. When that came up during Trump, while Trump was in office, I was like, listen, I'll take an actual rock at this point as our president. Who cares about Dwayne the Rock Johnson? But I don't know why, I mean, I don't see how that would play out. I feel like we're all a little celebrityed out with the celebrity presidents, to be quite frank with you.

What about where you are, Caitlin Jenner's gubernatorial efforts? No, I'm not voting for her either. She doesn't have the qualifications I'm looking for in a governor. Yeah, yeah. Let's talk about your lovely podcast, which we've alluded to a little bit. Dear Chelsea, again, we've added to the many list of things, your jobs you're qualified for. You're the new Dear Abby, apparently. I'm disappointed.

Are you the go-to person for advice generally in your friend's circle? Well, you know, I have a long history of giving unsolicited advice. So there's always been that element. Right. Whether people were interested in hearing it or not. And then I kind of tapered that off when I went to therapy and realized how obnoxious that was. But I am a friend that. So this is your outlet.

So now that friends won't take your advice, strangers have to take it. Hey, well, you take my advice. If you ask me, then I can give it. But again, it was just another project where I thought I don't want to do another podcast where I'm just, or our podcast where I'm interviewing celebrities. Like, what am I going to do to contribute? Right. Like, what am I doing to contribute? Is this a vanity project?

I'm not doing that. I don't want to do that stuff. you know, when I don't have to. And so I thought about a way people do come to me a lot. I am kind of like great in a crisis. And I want people to be able to be braver. And everyone always, you know, everyone always needs a little oomph at a certain time in their lives. They need that push from their best friend who's going to be like, you go, you've got this. Go and take a risk or leave this relationship. It's not working for you or quit that job and do try a new adventure. Go move to Seattle. like I am that person that's going to push you and say, yeah, come on, believe in yourself.

And I have a lot of, you know, misplaced confidence. And I want to help other people get that confidence, not the misplaced part, but I want people to feel like I do. Like, be confident in your ability to make a decision, to make a move in your life, to make a change in your life, and to be bold, you know, and a lot of people really are lacking self-confidence. A couple of questions from my audience here. So this is from Christine Camiello Gordon.

She wants to know who your go-to person is for trusted advice. So who do you turn to? Well, I turn to Brands and my assistant a lot. He's on my podcast with me. So we do couples counseling. We're the couple. And then individuals call. But we should move on to couples counseling at some point.

I'm interested in that. I love interpersonal dynamics. And so I go to, yeah, I go to him a lot. I have a cousin Molly, who I'm very, very close with. I go to her a lot. But I have like a small group of like five to seven people that I, you know, if I'm not sure about something, I bounce it off of a lot of people until I get the answer I want. Are you sure?

Could you try? What about? Yeah. And if they don't agree with it, I'm like, oh, and then I'll ask another and I'll ask another. And if it's getting no feedback, I'm like, okay, this is not the right thing. So, yeah, I want to be that for other people. And it's just been so fun recording this podcast. because we thought we would get stupid problems, you know, and we do.

But we get so many meaningful people calling in with meaningful, like, life choices. And so sometimes we're a little bit out of our wheelhouse. And when we are, we have no problem admitting it and calling in an expert. We had Deepak, we have Deepak Chopra coming on, you know, people like that who can really lend their voice, you know, with some real credibility. Yeah. It's, you know, I'm just, I just think I'm a doctor, even though I'm technically not one and have to constantly audibly remind my listeners not to.

10 minutes of disclaimers before every podcast starts, just so you remember. Becky Flores wanted to know what your advice is about online dating, which is the best and worst. I assume meaning which apps, I don't even know. But what's your take on online dating nowadays? Well, I've got to tell you, I was visiting my sister last weekend and she was just going through her hinge or profile or maybe it was Bumble. I think it was hinge and I was going through it.

I mean, and I was like, is this how men are representing themselves? Like, I mean, it is just so depressing. I am totally for online dating, but you've got to have the appetite because it's a numbers game. You've got to go out with as many people as you can stomach in order to try and find your Cinderella. You know what I mean? Like you have, and that applies to men and women. Like, you have to find your person, you just have to really be ready to go through it. And that's the thing with online dating.

You know, I've been on this website, Raya, a bunch, and I've used that. But I haven't been on the main ones in a long time. So I can't really speak to that, but I'm totally pro people actively looking for a partner when they want one. You know, that's what you should. There's no shame in that at all. Going back, if you'll indulge me, like in terms of kind of a more of a career look at your, again, multifaceted career. I'm just fascinated sort of like the evolution of your career because, you know, it seems like most people weren't about you, which else. see lately, but I'm curious, like, prior to that, was there a fork in the road for you,

like, when you kind of, like, had to make a choice of what you were really going to pursue, whether it was, like, I'm going to be, damn, I'm going to be an actor, I'm going to be a stand-up, I'm going to be a host, like, or were you just kind of, like, throwing a lot of stuff out, pursuing all of it, and whatever stuck is where you ended up. I mean, I think the acting thing for me, I knew early on that it wasn't going to be the right fit necessarily for when I was when I was coming up because I didn't have an easy time spitting out other people's words. I wanted to be in control of my words.

And I didn't know. I never grew up thinking, oh, I'm going to be a stand-up. I didn't even know that was an option until somebody mentioned it to me and said, you should do stand-up, like your story. And I was like, stand-up, stand-up. And I was like, huh, like you create your whole own thing. no one's you're on stage with a microphone alone so no one could even interrupt you and I was like oh this is an interesting medium but of course it scared the living shit out of me but again I you know

I took the chance I did it and the and the reward was was incredible because when you position yourself as a stand-up the projects that you that you do are built around you you know built with you as the central focus and then you get to you get to create like that, whereas being an actor, you're kind of placed in roles instead of creating the roles. You know, now things are different because so many people are producing their stuff and they are creating their own material. But at that time, it was a great way to stay in control of my career without being slotted in as like, you know, the blonde pretty neighbor or the blonde wife who's married to some fat, ugly, middle-aged guy, you know? Like, I didn't have to do that stuff.

So, yeah, in the sense of that, like, it wasn't me committing to stand up ended up being very fruitful for me, and it was just, it wasn't, because it wasn't a strategy, it was just, it was the most, it was the closest thing to fit my personality. Was there a temptation later on when you really achieved, like, a lot of success? Like, I know you popped up in, like, this means war, right? That, that, like, which was a big studio movie, and you're kind of like, you know, the wisecracking best friend in that, and I'm sure there were other opportunities. I'm sure if you would wanted, you could have done kind of like the comedic vehicle and maybe kind of honored some of those early impulses or by then you were confident, like, no, again, stick with kind of the Chelsea world that I'm creating for myself or what?

Yeah, it's just never, you know, I'm like, we're adapting my book, Chelsea, sorry, Chelsea. We're adapting my last book, Life will be the Deaf of Me to be a TV show. And I will play myself in that. Okay. So for that kind of thing, like, yes, I am open to certain. opportunities, but playing the, you know, the best friend in movies. That was something I did because Reese and I were close friends at that time and she wanted me to do it. And I was like, sure, yeah, let's do that. So that was just a kind of simple like, sure. And, you know, I've done a couple of those roles. But it's not, you know, it's not my first passion. It's not, you know,

I don't want to spend my days on sets when there is an opportunity that presents itself that's unique or cool or unexpected. I'm always interested and always open-eared about that kind of stuff. Yeah, but it hasn't been the kind of cornerstone of my career by any means. So I don't I don't really rely on, you know, the acting component of things in my career. What's the filter for you as a producer? Because I know you have a couple mentioned one. I think you have a couple projects going at HBO Max. Again, is it just sort of like what you respond to you, what people come to you with or is it self-generated, like your book of a list of ideas and like, let's pursue these five things? Or how does it work?

Yeah, I mean, it comes from all different places. I have a production company and I have an overall deal at UTV Universal. And so I have a production company and then, you know, it's, I could read an article in the paper and I'd say, go buy the rights to that story. I can read a book. I just, you know, option the rights to a book by Rebecca Solnit and called Men Explain Things to me because I was like, this is a good time for us to do that. So it's a matter of just getting, you know, I read a ton, so I get a lot of my inspiration from reading and then the people in my company also work on bringing me young comedians to develop.

And, you know, that's something I'm passionate about. But yeah, it's got to be, it's got to be a little bit better than silly at this point of my life. You know, it's got to hold a little bit more heft than just being some kind of, you know, silliness. There's serious times. I get, I get it. For a second, you is speaking of silly things, but rewarding in their own way. You were attached to like a marble thing. You were going to like develop like an animated marble. Yeah, that fell apart, but I don't even know what happened there, so I can't really speak to it. I just learned about it in the news. I was like, wait,

what? I guess I'm not doing that one. We'll do something else. That isn't happening. I was going to do the voice for this character for Marvel, but I'm not. Fair enough. Fair enough. When the talk show happened and it blew up. Like, had that been on a list for you? Were you go, were you, were you like, was that an aspiration? Or was it, again, something that's circumstantially like, oh, this could be fun. Let's see if this suits me and if this works. Yeah, I would say, like, the one consistent theme in my career has been that I'm not a very strategic person. I don't have big plans. I just kind of take every moment and go, okay, great. Like, I wasn't trying to be a talk show host. I had a deal at E, and I did my first show at E, which was like a, you know, a variety kind of show,

sketch show. Right. And that didn't do very well, but they wanted me to do something on the network. So they kind of were like, what about every night, you know, doing like a half hour talk show. And I, you know, I just was, I kind of wrapped my head around the idea and thought, I could do that easily. That's, that's so easy. And then it, you know, it blew up in its own way.

But it wasn't like I sat down and was like, I'm going to be a talk show host. And then I'm going to do this. I'm going to become an author. Everything kind of, I'll try everything. And the things that work, wait. And if they don't work, that's okay too. You know, there's no harm in any of that. So I'm always just open to trying whatever.

Did you feel at the time in those years you were being held to a different standard based on your gender? I mean, I think about, like, and I grew up, like, I loved Letterman was my guy, right? And like he, his being acerbic was like his greatest. strength and people love that. And it was, that is the same for you to a degree, but many, some responded in a different way to that. And I, and I would surmise that some of that was based on the fact that you happen to be a woman and not a man. Did you feel that? Absolutely. I mean, in retrospect, I can recognize it. In the moment, I wasn't thinking about those guys. People were comparing me to those guys. That's not the dialogue or narrative that was going on in my head.

I was completely focused on my show and the group of friends I had around me at the show and all the comics and we had a fucking blast and it was fun and I wasn't staying up late at night thinking about competing with men or sexism. I was just doing my thing and, you know, that is something that I am good at is not looking around too much, you know, just kind of trying to stay focused and not compare and contrast and angling because that is, there's a thing. thirstiness and a competitiveness in that that I don't inherently have, to be quite honest with you. I'm not super competitive. I'm not like that. I want to just have a great time and inspire people

and make them laugh and think. I'm not like, I got to be the best. I got to be the best. I got to be number one. And it wasn't, it wasn't like, and I got to use this to get to like the late night network show. Like I didn't need that. Like you did it on your own terms at E pretty much. I mean, I'm sure there was some battles back and forth over the years. But like, you kind of probably had more freedom, relatively speaking, then if you had been in a network, in retrospect. Yeah, and I had those conversations. I mean, that was something that I would, you know, I could have done had I wanted to pursue that path, but no, the restrictions for network late night shows, I was like, no way am I going to be able to fit into those four

corners, you know, and not say fuck, shit, hit, you know, like that was the fun of the show is that it was so out of control. So looking ahead, it sounds like you're going to be busy because you are going back. You said you're going to be back. on the road as of next week? Yeah, I started, yeah, I start doing shows next week. I do shows for like two, well, three weeks. I go to Nashville doing a bunch of shows and then I just do a theater tour

that I'm gonna announce in the falls to start performing. And then I'll work the hour, the new hour out. And yeah, probably go off on white men, you know. We deserve it. You guys have had it coming for a long time. Yeah, we had our time. It's okay, it's your turn now.

We're all good. Chelsea, it's really been a pleasure to get to know you today. I'm a big fan of your work. Everybody should check out the special on HBO Max Evolution and Dear Chelsea, the podcast. I really dug both. And yeah, hopefully one of these days will be in person. Oh, awesome. It was a pleasure to talk to you.

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