LadyGang - CHELSEA HANDLER: CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS, BIRTHDAY SHENANIGANS + CHELSEA'S NEW BOOK

Episode Date: February 25, 2025

This week on LadyGang, the ladies are joined by the unstoppable Chelsea Handler! As she gears up for her milestone 50th birthday, Chelsea shares her thoughts on having confidence, hosting the Critics' Choice Awards and opens up about the power of resilience. Plus, she teases her new book, I’ll Have What She’s Having which is packed with her signature wit and wisdom and is available now at chelseahandler.com/book Don't miss this fun and fearless conversation! We have deals for you!! Boll & Branch: Need bedding?! Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets at BollAndBranch.com/ladygang  Beam: Try Beam’s best-selling Dream Powder for up to 40% off at ShopBeam.com/ladygang and use code LADYGANG Cover Girl: Superboost your lashes with NEW Lash Blast Supercloud Mascara! Only from Easy, Breezy, Beautiful COVERGIRL. http://bit.ly/3Ez5HC9  Progressive: Wanna save on car insurance? Visit Progressive.com to see how much you can save! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

well what is this welcome to the lady gang that's amazing say that again the lady gang things are about to change around here each week we catch up with hollywood's hottest girl posse kelty knight becca tobin and jack vanik hello hello hello welcome to lady gang i am here with jack vanik and kelty knight and i'm becca tobin hi guys we're so excited to be here today yeah hey yo um i i hope you're not mad but my good week bad week is about both of you oh it is yeah like i it's it's has to do with both of you okay okay don't be mad do you want to do the thing okay it's time for good week yes it is bad week oh no so i'm gonna start with my bad week my bad week is that we the lady gang have been robbed of our coins recently we actually

a lady ganger found it do you remember on an episode like a hundred years ago we're sitting right here and you for some reason Becca we're talking about that you were giving up waxing and you were just going to shave yourself with a men's shaver like a little baby no this was recent this was kind of recent right yeah not giving up waxing but i really needed one couldn't get there and i had zach's little razor trimmer and electric trimmer in the shower and i was a whole new world and then we had big laughs about how you were like a dolphin and all this thing it was like a it's just a very quick little conversation yeah well the internet took the famous becca tobin yeah star of stage and screen they aided her voice and made an ad for a company yeah that

makes razors razors i almost ordered one and i think it worked and it's so crazy because she's like oh my god and then i just and they took out zach's razor and it's your voice saying the bullion bloom razor and it was so great and then it goes back it sounds exactly like my voice it sounds exactly like your voice. They covered up anything you said that wasn't about them with like different visuals and they put it out on as an Instagram ad. And one of our lady gang was like, Hey, I hope we're getting paid for this. This doesn't seem like this was the conversation you had. And we're like, no. So we went to go try to get it taken down. The meta like Facebook company doesn't have record of this account oh then we tried shady then we went on the and then

we're like oh there's a customer service email so we emailed them no response and there was a phone number and the phone number is a google phone that instantly disconnects you really yes and so it's like so it's literally nothing we don't know if we'll ever get our money no it's taken down we got an email we did yeah just like what did they say they just said it's down it's down is all they said ricky my manager oh send an email that says it's down oh great okay amazing all right my good week is we've been working very hard on our youtube channel i wouldn't say very hard but we do post a lot to youtube and it started to pick up steam where a couple thousand people each week will watch you know the episodes not on apple or spotify

they'll watch the youtube which i think is very cool yeah but do you know what the number one video that we have created on youtube on youtube a full length or a youtube short it is a number one overall is what it is which one jack poops her pants well that tracks relatable when did you poop your pants again i don't know i don't know which one it was there's been so many times I was like, it's not any of the housewives. It's not JC Shazay. It's not Luann. It's not any, it's not my hysterectomy journey.

It's literally Jack poops her pants. And then I was like, you know what? I think we need to start doing more click baity, baity titles. Cause baity titles. Cause I don't think you actually pooped your pants. I probably like almost shit my pants. Cause I took like some sort of, maybe it was the pair. Weren't we talking?

Oh, the plum, the plum. You almost shit yourself with the plum. Yeah. Share plum. Well, I'm still scared to take those. The internet is- Well, you didn't take it correctly. The internet's-

Yes, I did. I thought you ate the whole thing. Oh, I did eat the whole thing. That's not correct. And I took my normal herbs that I usually take. You're an idiot. But I was cleared out. You're an idiot.

I might do it. The internet is- You're so irresponsible. We're just trying to put out high quality content and you're making AI Becca and Jack poop in her pants is number one. Yeah. I love it. Wasn't manifesting.

Okay, Jack? um okay so my good week is uh after i had my surgery my one of my friends sent me and you're gonna hate this a squishmallow i'm obsessed i holding space i squishmallow holding space obsessed there's nothing your character so she sent me a grapefruit because my fibroid was the size of a grapefruit it was a very rare one so she had to buy it off of ebay and they sent it in like one of those like scented uh garbage bags which makes everything smell so bad so i had to get rid of the scent for a bit but it's so cute it's huge so i sleep with it like kind of under my back because i need to get a pregnancy pillow so i'm like making my own pregnancy pillows

you're not pregnant though that sound that that sounded like you're pregnant you just want to sleep with a pregnancy because i have no uterus and i sleep with a pregnancy pillow because it's amazing she said it was a hysterectomy pillow but it's not um but there's i'm i'm in i'm in i'm in on the squishmallows my friends and i are doing a squishmallow gift exchange for because there's so many different characters we're like sending each other ones that like this just doesn't make any sense specifically for you oh i think anything that on a that offensive looking in a home i don't know where i'm gonna store it in my house that's the problem you have to keep them in your closet i don't put them out they're not on my bed but when you make your bed

every day then you have to hide the squishmallow in your closet she goes in her seating area in the closet with my pajama which one do you have i have the um the one from tour like little slothy guy from tour i got it at the target she had she was ahead of her time no i know she was three years ago she's had a squishmallow i made fun of you but there's nothing i actually also looked up on reddit i was like is there a pillow that has the same kind of squishmallow filling because it's the softest thing i've ever what kind of filling is that it's like it's god chemical.com probably but isn't everything no yeah my pillows are all natural now i mean because i'm scared of squishmallow interior that's fine it's good i'll take the risk i'll take the risk um so weird and

they have all the it's it's amazing there's all there's literally one for everything everything there's also that new store that you can go and you buy them and they like like it's like a builder bear no it's not like a builder bear it's like they go and they're like oh you're gonna have this one and it's like a donut and then they it's a crepe and they like oh i've seen it oh yeah and they pretend they're like and they put you in and then they're like here you go they're just i love them they're just so cute um okay so that's my good week sorry becca it's fine my bad week is i got a uh well you're never gonna yuck my young with the chemicals in it there's chemicals and everything but that's we're dying yucking your yum not that it worked i'm saying but that

was me yucking oh you tried to yuck my yum yeah yeah usually it didn't yeah usually it works not with no not with anything that's like you're gonna be healthy because we're all dying from microplastics my bad week is i got a dm from a random guy and he was like hey i saw you on raya how are you doing because you're still on there i'm still floating around raya to this day why can't you just delete your profile because i deleted the app and i bet you now just put it back on reinstall it i bet you now i'd have to pay for it no because i was before my i was like in the beta version of it so i never had to pay for it they pay for it and then you cancel immediately i don't are you still paying for it no i never had to pay for it i'm saying

if you have to log in no i bet you can no i think it's fun i think it's fun too yeah see who hits on you yeah but then but then like people that don't know this story that know you and jared if they see you on raya then that's weirdness it's not i've told him because he obviously he knows yeah but i'm saying but then those people are just sitting there feeling like she's cheating if you ever do the real housewives which i really do think you should who's the husband you'd have to fix it oh i'm never doing real housewives or not leave it who's good storyline who who's husband oh no it was um lily allen and what's his name the guy from stranger things she was she found out he was cheating on her because he was on riot idiot gross so maybe he also tried

to delete his profile a long time ago and he's just floating around maybe who knows was he hot the guy that reached out no i don't know okay so my good week is the other episode a few episodes ago you guys were talking about your renewed love of pinterest yes yeah right and i was about to go out to dinner with a bunch of girls like 10 of us and it's very rare that we can all get out at the same time we're in town and we can whatever so we were texting with each other and we were like what do you even wear now what do you even wear now to go out as a human woman yeah yeah right And so we kept going back and forth. Is this still cool to wear?

Are blazers still even a thing? Or does that give away our millennial? So it's a really weird time to be dressing yourself. Because then you also don't want to look like all the girls that's, you know, the like Gen Z-ers that they've lined up with the same jeans, the same black shirt. Yeah. And sometimes you guys, your Austin girls do that. Wear the same thing?

Yeah. There's been, not the same thing, but it's like. No, versions of the same thing. You look like sister wives a little bit. Yeah. Well, it's one picture from the first time that I moved there where we all had hats on. Yeah. so don't say we sometimes do it because that's you've done it once you one time did it you one

time did it one time we were out at a farm having a dinner and we were all in a hat and you gave farm chic they were themed it pissed a lot of people off a lot of my friends that was a very triggering picture for them to see because they thought that i just like moved to texas you changed suddenly changed i was like no i was taking care of my my face yeah son um but we just don't know what to wear anymore at this age and so i thought i said to the group i said well Kelty and Jack said they get a lot of inspo for a lot of things on Pinterest. Yeah. I don't, I don't believe it.

I don't think I'm going to find a cute outfit to wear out on Pinterest, but I said, I'm going to give it a shot. And I did. It took me a while to figure out what to search. You got to get in the algorithm. Right. But I have to say it was the most inspired I've ever been. The freshest takes on fashion that I've seen in a while.

What did you search? What was your personal search? Well, Jamie, I made fun of her for like 45 minutes because her suggestion was mom's night out. And I said, don't you ever, don't you ever say mom's and I'm not let her live it down. Um, and then I did, um, I did like girls night out chic dinner outfits over 30. Um, cause there were some weird Gen Z options that were coming through. And then it was something ended up being like New York city, something in like urban New

York city evening, winter night out. because you also have to go with the season you're in because then it'll give you specifics for the season yeah so that was a real win guys all right thank you for i doubted you guys and you were right so good you were right i'm always right um my bad week is that ford had rsv which is this like respiratory thing which is just such a pain in the ass it's really dangerous for babies but for toddlers it's actually okay it just lingers forever so he had this cough that would not stop and one of those worst days of his cough he was not contagious anymore they just have like two weeks of this thing i take him to breakfast with my friend odette and her daughter who's his

age and they both have the same cough so i'm like they're just going to be gross together so we're sitting there we're trying to enjoy our breakfast and ford has this coughing fit and he keeps coughing coughing coughing coughing and i think he and i look over and i'm like are you okay are you choking and all of a sudden he coughs and puke starts spewing out of his mouth and i start catching it with my hands because otherwise it's going to go all over the restaurant and it's not paper napkins they have there it's it's yeah it's fabric napkins cloth napkins so i catch his vomit in my hands his hot hot vomit oh no with pancakes in it and i was just like this is the first time i've ever been puked on in my life well i'm sure there's more to come i know i'm actually shocked

it's been the first time you've been puked on i am too i mean he would spit up when he was a baby but that's not even the same projectile and like hot on that note we have a hot comic coming up next now back to the lady gang so chelsea's here and i'm going to introduce her in a second but i want to let you know that becca's late today because what a time to be childless it's school drop off and rosa the nanny has not arrived and so becca cannot hop on the lady gang podcast yet because she's with her child. Chelsea, this is why we didn't have children. So that's such a lame excuse. Actually, it's almost one of the best reasons to have a child is to be able to be like, I have to go pick them up or drop them off or they're having a tantrum. Like it's actually a great insurance

for getting out of stuff. Right. And nobody's going to question it. You're like, no, thanks. That aspect that I was completely not even thinking of. Totally. And also, you know, like I just had a birthday party this past weekend and Jack didn't come, but it's just cause she didn't want to. But other friends were like, I can't cause it's at bedtime. And I was like, well, okay, that's weird. But anyway, so I'm looking for more childless wonder friends. If you, you know, I hear you. It's you either have to catch women. Like now there's a whole new generation of women who are not interested in having children. So that's, and then you can also catch women once their kids are like out of that 12. Yeah. Or yeah. And then

they're not like so obsessed with them and talking about them all the time that's a good age 12 is still a little young though like you kind of want them to you need some older girlfriends that have adult children at 12 they're still doing like plays and shit that you don't want to hear about right it's like basketball and stuff okay well let me talk let me introduce you so we you know everyone knows why you're here because we've got a book to sell our guest today is the icon of our lives the blueprint for every opinionated basic bitch out there the woman who made being yourself something we could all be. She is the biggest comedian in the world with her own sold-out residency in Las Vegas, a TV host, television host who just crushed hosting the Critics' Choice

Awards again this year, a six-time New York Times bestselling author with a brand new book, I'll Have What She's Having, which is out today. She's also, no big deal, got a brand new Netflix special, The Feeling, which will be out March 25th. In addition to that, she hosts her own podcast, Dear Chelsea. And she's back on Lady Gang today so that we can collectively celebrate her 50th birthday. Happy birthday to Chelsea. You're the best in the world. Welcome back to the Lady Gang. Happy birthday. Let me just say that intro made me climax. That was really something else. Very, very professional and very well done. Thank you so much. I can't believe that you've written seven books. We wrote two and it almost freaking killed us. I know you guys,

I don't know how any of us do the things that we do. But you know, you kind of just, you have an assignment, and then you get it done. And then it's in the rearview window. And then all of a sudden, before you know it, you have seven books you've done. And I can tell you every single time I've written a book, I'm like, this is the last time I'm going to do this. And then there you go again. Yeah, I don't. And I also, like, this last time having to really think about what I was going to write about, like, not just like, I, the book came, I'll just start talking. So please. The book came about when I was fall had fallen in love with Joe Coy. So like, the book was originally supposed to be about a love story and fall. I'm so jealous that you have Celsius. I'm in Canada. We don't have that. Oh, my God, I'm going to Canada tonight. They don't you are oh no i am i haven't seen it but but where are you in a hotel somewhere sorry i'm in whistler i'm in my little oh no big deal well i'm going close i'm going to edmonton which

is near whistler sort of alberta mountains yeah not nearly as fun but good luck with that total shitty area okay bye uh i didn't say that you said that i said that i'm american i don't speak like that about my canadian no why would you so the book originally was supposed to be about me falling in love. Like everyone was so happy for us. And I had never really been that way publicly with a man. So that was the, uh, concept of the book initially. And then when we broke up, I was like, well, wait a second, here's, let me give you back the book deal. Like I'm not writing a book about this now, you know? And so I didn't really have to write the book. I was like, okay, well, this is not going to be about that. And my editor said, why don't you just sit with

it for a few months and see if there's anything. She goes, what about a book about breaking up in a new way, like in a way, the first kind of mature breakup I had had as an adult, you know, we always want to, but they're conscious uncoupling. Yeah. And you act like an asshole and you do all the things and drunk dial and drive by and say stupid shit. And you're vindictive. At least I was in my previous breakups, not my best self. So I was like, Oh, I could write a book about being, you know, like breaking up in a new, more graceful way. And I'm like, I'm not writing a book of an entire book about that and then that got me thinking oh that's part of my story it's no longer my story like my love story it's just one of my stories it's part of my story

and then that got me thinking okay we don't really ever think about as adult women what we thought we were going to be when we were little girls like the dreams we had for ourselves and the kind of woman we were going to grow up into like we don't spend a lot of time talking about that and I don't think we many of us are reflecting enough about like are we on the track we thought we'd be on are we fulfilling these dreams and goals that we had and are or have we done all of it that we thought you set out to do or have we done none of it like it's it's kind of an interesting concept so that's how that then the book I was like okay this is good because it's all about where I was as a child, who I was, which I believe is really the basic essence of who we

all are, is who we are as children before the world shits on us and gets our heart broken and all of the things that come with being alive. But when you're a child, that innocence and that essence is really unbesmirched. That's who you are. Yeah. No, it's 100% true. And you said something, I'm jumping to the end of my questions because you just brought this up, but you said something i i always like to like go through a book and pick out the the paragraphs or the lines that like really stick with us and you said something that said um my last relationship before therapy i don't think you're talking about joe in this but you said my last relationship before therapy was a toxic one with a man who i was madly in love with but who i just didn't

like very much like can you deep dive into that a bit because i think we've all been there like jack and i's mutual ex-boyfriend was definitely someone i was in madly in love with but like i knew my right brain was like you're the worst person in the world i don't even like you i don't like the way you do life i don't like the way you treat people i don't like the way you smell but like i'm in love with you yeah i think lots of us have experienced that you know you would never be friends with that person but you would date them yeah i don't like you but i love you yeah when people are like why aren't you friends with any of your ex-boyfriends i'm like because i wouldn't be friends with any of my ex-boyfriends they're there for like boyfriends that's it that's

their only role in my life, boyfriend or ex-boyfriend. But I think it's just a sign of immaturity and not, no, not even immaturity. Cause that has just such a negative kind of connotation within what we're talking about. I think it has to do with really not being secure as women, you know, really, we don't really grow into ourselves until our thirties. Some of us, some of us, not until our fifties, some of us never, you know, there's a whole spectrum of growth and like what we're willing to tolerate in like, we can flay what falling in love and like lust and like obsessive thoughts are, you know, being obsessed with someone and thinking like about them nonstop and, you know, having it run you is not

necessary. That's just like being obsessed with someone. Yeah. Love. And you don't have to like the person you're obsessed with. That can be anybody. So sometimes it's better not to ever even like that. It's like, you know, having a crush on a celebrity, like better to not know do not meet them and speaking of somebody's child has gone to school when bringing her in sorry don't have kids we already covered it we already covered it um okay chelsea i want to talk quickly about critics choice because you absolutely like killed it killed it killed it um do you get do you get nervous do you like where where's your head going into because it was a third year and it was you know you actually it well ruined my I don't even want to tell this

story I was supposed I would okay Chelsea I this is me in a nutshell but I can't believe I'm saying this why are you telling this no I'm not going to it's so embarrassing say her I'm talking about me tell her no no anyway it was the critics choice awards but I was so excited about that you're hosting because you're a star but I got asked to do the interviews on the red carpet for e-live which is a big deal because even though I host e-news I don't get to do e-live and I was really excited about it and then the fires happened and we moved it and then you moved it to the sat sunday the 26th and then they moved it again and then they canceled the e-live red carpet and i was like well i was basically sutton on um railhouse wives when dorit's house got broken

into and she's like i also had a hard day i had to manage people washing my windows all day like i was that girl and it's fine but anyway but it was a stressful situation for you chelsea because the critics choice awards has become you know the fourth you know there's there was always the big three was golden globes sags and oscars and critics choice has become now more important than the golden globes because it is the people who vote for the oscars so you get every star the stars that did not go to the globes that go to the critics choice award it is a very very very important event and it got kind of this year by moved around for a good reason but you you came out and you did a great job thank you i love that like those uh doing that show like hosting that

show it's really fun for me to you know there was all the five the five that we had the background of the fire so it was very kind of chaotic about where they were where I flew in the day of the fire to prep for that weekend from Whistler because you know I spend my winters in Whistler and so I flew in the fires were happening we had a writers meeting in our room we're like going through it meanwhile I had to check into a hotel because my my my street was evacuated as well and I I'm like this doesn't seem like we're gonna have an award show this weekend guys like this seems like pretty serious and but we were moving forward like we were because that's how you have to do it but uh and then it got postponed and then it got postponed again and then it was like okay

what kind of tribute are we going to make to the fires you know because the grammys had happened the the telethon had happened and it's like you know this happened to california this didn't happen to the rest of the world like you don't want it to be such a bummer and so heavy even though of course it is for all of us and it's kind of like you don't want that to run the evening so it ended up being great in terms of there was enough space in between the things that we didn't have to like we we of course honored all the first responders that were there but also tonally for the night i wanted really people we've been through so much this year and we need to celebrate And I love to go in and set the tone for a room that size and say, this is what we're going to do now. First, we're going to be serious and pay tribute to the first responders. And then we did a reset. I started my monologue. I'm like, now we're going to get stupid. And that is my skill set. So it really gives me a lot of pleasure to know that, A, I'm capable of doing that. So as far as nerves go, I'm kind of too old for that.

hmm yeah like i'm excited and i want to do well yeah i'm like oh it doesn't matter like of course but i'm not i i know i'm going to do well boom um how's your health are you okay because we kind of like you glossed over it on the on the critic's church where you're like i've got a thing in my arm and i was like okay yeah what's going on mess but i'm on the meds i had an infection in my shoulder. They had to surgically go in and clean out. And now I have an IV, a PICC line in my arm because I have to get intravenous drugs every 24 hours for six weeks because of the infection in my shoulder. So I was a bit, that was two weeks before Critics' Choice. So I am now on the mend getting my like, you know, movement back. Like you can see, I can't completely lift my arm yet,

but I'm on the mend. I'm getting healthy and I'm about to shoot my birthday video, my annual birthday ski video tomorrow. Are you feeling confident? This is a big one. You got to do something extra special, extra naked. I think it's just special. It's a whole thing we have planned. We're all, I mean, it's, it's a massive shoot and it's a massive undertaking. So I'm just saving my body and my health for that. I got to knock that out. And then I have a huge, you know, a month of promotion stuff and all that stuff. So, but I am feeling better. Thank you for asking, but I got really knocked down on my ass. But again, you know, with evidence of your life and all of the situations you've been through, I knew I'll be fine. I'll get through it. Like

I'll be fine. I'll yeah. I'll wear something around my arm during the critics choice and just make a joke about it. Like, I'm not going to let it, like, I'm not going to cancel or be like, I can't do it. I can do it. And I was like, this bitch is not even wearing a sleeve. She was like no i'm not changing my dress yeah the dress was too hot i was like for sure all right so the new book i'll have what she's having available today today is pub day we are with chelsea on pub day now this is very interesting to me you open the um book i think when you've written seven books uh you run out of people to dedicate them to in your life and so you're like oh you know what? I, mom, like parents are good. Friends are good. The dogs are good. Let me dedicate this

book to you. Her parents are dead, Kelty. Oh, you're right. You're right. We talked about that the last time we were here. I'm so sorry. Well, I could dedicate it to them, but they're not going to see it. Yeah. So don't waste that. Don't waste that, you know? So you gave it to the airline staff. That's relegating. That's diminishing to flight attendants because I have a longstanding relationship with flight attendants after what i saw them go through during covid i just couldn't believe the abuse that these people endure they did not sign up to be being you know like they're they're not they don't take krav maga like they don't they're not be like fighting crime in the sky what they had that's a good show though that is actually a great idea for a show but they you

know they deserve a lot more respect than they get especially because you know it's they think you're basically a server but you're trapped in the air with all these people who are farting for five hours then on top of it you're being treated like shit so i've always had a soft spot for flight attendants and i've like i've given them deals for my when i tour they always get a discount or one year they all got a discount anyway they or they got free tickets one year to my show all my shows if you were a flight attendant, you got in for free. But so I, I wasn't really out of anybody to dedicate it to. I can always, you know, make someone's day in my life. Like one of my personal friends or family members would love that, but I just don't dole that out so easily. You really

have to earn it. You should earn it the way a flight attendant does. Well, you said, you said in this, uh, the opening, you said, I've seen someone drying their underwear on a plane. Now we have talked many times about things that have happened on plane. We've talked about things that we've done on planes, barfing, pooping, all the things that we've done. I've never seen anyone drawing an underwear. Can you just describe that to us? Cause we love an, uh, an underwear mishap. Like I want to know exactly what was happening. This woman had her underwear out. Someone sent a picture. The people send me all these Instagram. So this was by proxy. Yes, this was by proxy. Sorry. That wasn't a first person, but someone sent me a picture and there was a woman in front

of her with her underwear hanging on that little lip of the seat cover oh my god as she was fanning it dry it meanwhile i've had wet underwear on a plane like i once went to the my the bathroom in my underwear on a plane and to the toilet and forgot to pull down my underwear because i had a face mask on so i pulled down the face and like completely mixed up the areas at this speed right into my underwear like I would have loved to know that I could just take my underwear off bring it back to my seat hang it up and wave at it and while my urine was wafting through the first class cabin it is so insane that airplanes and airports are truly the wild west like people just like let down their guards and do the craziest shit I like confrontation and when

a flight attendant gets into it with a flight like with a passenger I will always like step up and be like excuse me asshole you are being an asshole you can't treat her like that like that gives me so much i mean as we discussed when you came on you have a lot of things going on so you're not available for this but there is like a kathy bates matlock in the sky role for you that i feel like there's like an fbi and it's chelsea and it's like the undercover lady who you just think vigilante yes yes i would be like that like to play some ass kicker that would really actually be a great outlet for all of my rage and anger like yeah like some sort of angela lansbury type like um what was that movie murder she wrote no no not that one

gengar like electra meets angela lansbury meets snakes on a plane it's the snakes i fucking hate snakes okay um all right so the other thing i mean there's so many things i want to talk this book is so good and if you love chel like we've talked about this before you've been on the podcast before my horizontal life was like the book that got us all into reading books and that was your first book and if you loved that book and if you loved all the books along the way i think you've given us you didn't you didn't change it you didn't reinvent the wheel. You just gave us more of what exactly we love, which is like the perfect time, the perfect book. It's a bath book. It's a beach book. It's a plane book. It's a sitting while your

kids are doing gymnastics book. Like it's the perfect little book that you can pick up in these pieces and read these stories. And you have this story about doing focus groups when you needed money in LA. Now I was dying when you told this story, Chelsea, because I created a show a couple years ago and I got railed by the focus groups. The focus groups could not have hated me more to the point where it actually was the demise of the show. After the focus groups, the network was like, well, they hate Kelty. So we're just going to put this in like two years. We'll put it on at four in the morning. It's great. So were they honest with you that they said that, that the audience hated you? Well, here's the great part. I was an executive producer, so I got to watch the

focus groups and she was the host so she heard all the feedback about her on camera work real time real time feedback yeah like it was it was terrible it's an old it's a kind of trauma i'm still working through it um yeah i'm not done asking you questions now do you take that like did you take that hard uh yeah i did and you know what the girls were great because Becca and Jack like they really know me and they know how annoying I can be and publicly annoying when I get nervous or I get excited like right now on this podcast like this is not the real Kelty this is like I'm excited to talk to Chelsea Handler and I don't like I'm not normal I can't I can't rein it in so it's like that and they were just like listen they were really really good and

then my stylist was like you know they really hated the clothes like I was like oh I'm gonna like really show out and show up looks the looks and they were like they were like this girl looks very uncomfortable and I was like this is one of a kind Alex Perry go yourself you know what I mean like and anyway so it was critics was Alex Perry that purplish it was beautiful like the most beautiful clothes yeah so how did yeah it was terrible Kelty has an enthusiasm like she just brings a really enthusiastic genuine it's never forced and I think for people who are slightly dead inside at focus groups, that energy is obnoxious to them because they can't imagine ever being that happy. And she choked on a Celsius by the way. Yeah. We've been working

through this too. Um, it actually calms her down. So I think she needs to be medicated, um, properly, but she, she has a strong, like point of view, a strong energy. I feel like you're very similar where people either want to have like 10 servings of you or they absolutely never want to see you on their screens. I mean, those people, we know who they are. We know the trolls that they are, but yeah, you must have good advice for someone like Kelty, who's a really, really specific type of person. I do. I would say, cause I, it sounds like I've, you know, we are from like, uh, analogous in a sense, like outgoing and really you have a strong POV. i would say this though i would say like as we grow up and how old are you kelty uh for just

43 okay like perfect so like we're always evolving and that means our performance and our on-camera persona also is evolving so it's like notes like that yeah you can let them roll off your back like water off a duck's back like you know be like okay it doesn't matter doesn't matter. But you can also take a little and be like, okay, there's some room for improvement in this area. It doesn't have to be earth shattering. It's actually, it's, you're going to be really grateful for it as at once enough time passes. So even like I say this about good stuff and I say this about negative stuff, like whether it's good feedback or negative feedback, it's good to have a little, don't overdose yourself with it, but it's good to have a little

because we always are getting better at doing our jobs. So there's always room for improvement. Yeah, no, for sure. And I think that also like, well, anyway, thank you, Chelsea Handler. I heard you on Dax Shepard's podcast recently and you were talking about how you've kind of gotten quieter. Is that part of the adjustment

that you're talking about, Chelsea? Yeah, I mean, yeah. I've gotten like quieter while remaining like everyone knows exactly what i'm thinking but i don't even have to say it really yeah you know what i mean and that's probably sure the trajectory that you're on to kelty yeah no i love that and i think it was just like i think sometimes in life and this is like very generalized sorry to make it about me but like in generalized women in womanhood it's like that people make fun of on tiktok the pick me girl and i think i'm using this wrong jack so i'm sorry to

embarrass you with your TikTok-ness, but like, it's like the love me, want me, need me, look at me. No, no, no. Like I, I think I use pick me girl, but you're going to say that's not what a pick me girl is. Okay. But it's like, love me, want me, pick me, think I'm sparkly, all these things. And, and that actually works backwards to what you want when you just sit in it and you just radiate it and you're just magnetic. I think that that, that actually, that whole thing that I went through with that show was the end of my super desperation and into my 40s. I think that's a beautiful thing about 40s. And I wanted to ask you about turning 50 as well. My 40s so far have just been this great, wonderful acceptance of I don't need you to really love me anymore. And I

don't need to sit at tables that there's no seat for me. I don't want to sit in the cool girls club. I just want to be rich. And I want to be with my family. And I want to be successful on my own and I don't need everyone to know about it. And I don't need everyone to be like excited about me or talking about me or being on the list or being at the table or invited to the cool party. Like my own success and my own happiness is enough. That's a forties thing. Yeah. Do you feel that in your forties? Yeah, I feel, I feel, I mean, I had a kind of reverse like growth edge. I think I was more mature in my twenties and thirties and then I took a dip in my forties I had to do like a recalibration and with like you know find out who what like I kind of lost

track of like you know the woman I wanted to become like I kind of fell off the track and was like wait I became insecure I kind of went through what most people go through in their 20s in my early 40s so it was a little bit um unsettling and destabilizing but also again you know just another step into the direction that you're moving in and it's kind of like a necessary step even though that kind of stuff hurts and it's yeah and it's kind of not you know fun it's worthwhile and everything is worthwhile and then at a certain point you realize like everything you know like you have to own your oneness like you have to own no one is you and that's your advantage in life so make that as great as you can make it you know and then you're not competing with anyone

you don't have to look over your shoulder and see if you're not at the cool table because you are the cool table make it a shirt you're listening to the lady gang okay last thing i want to ask you about in your new book i'll have what she's having you tell this amazing Jane Fonda story. Jane Fonda gave you some tough, tough love. And this is perfect for the lady gang because we over the past decade of podcasting have gotten so good at calling each other out on our shit and like really being sisters in that way. Can you like, you have to get the book to read the story, but can you briefly talk about like of all the people I wouldn't want to like call me out on my shit, Jane Fonda is like at the top. No, right. So she, I went to a party of hers.

I was I and then I forgot about it like I didn't know anything was wrong and then she's kind of emailed me out of the blue one day and kind of summoned me to her house for dinner and I and I said of course yeah when you know and she's like tonight I'm like oh shit and did I like I'm in the you know like I'm going to the principal's office almost so I go over to her house for dinner I don't order a drink like the the her server or butler or whomever came over and I was like no oh, I'm going to be, you know, really sober for this and like, make sure I know what's going on here. And she basically read me for being an asshole at her party a few months prior that I was angry and on drugs and was rude to multiple people were upset with me. And I was like,

like, I couldn't even believe it. I was sitting there across from her thinking, what the how did you get in this situation you loser Jane Fonda upset with you for making a being a bitch at her party like what is your problem luckily I had just started therapy like real therapy for like I don't know maybe two months in but enough to know not to defend myself enough to know to apologize and accept whatever she was telling me because if she had he if she had gotten me two months earlier I wouldn't I would have been like defensive you know what I mean probably and so I had enough therapy to understand that if you're arguing about something you're usually wrong like if you're right you don't need to argue you just

you're right so that's good enough um you don't need to prove to everyone that you're right you know so when she said that I just was mortified of course and I was like oh my god did she do it in like full Jane Fonda yeah she wasn't yelling at me she was just like curious like why would you come out if you were in a mood like that why would you do that and then also she was like you know you're you're really talented you're gonna blow it like you're be blow it if you act like this and that was really scary to of course and but what I really took from that in that moment even as painful as it was, was sisterhood, was the fact that she took time out of her day, which she did not have to do. She could have just avoided me for the rest of our lives.

She took time out of her day to invite me over to her house to say that to me. And I was like, wow, that's badass. That's really somebody who gives a shit. And it was a blueprint for me kind of for the rest of my life. That's the kind of woman I want to be, someone who has the difficult conversations and doesn't shy away from helping another woman out when they're not seeing themselves clearly. That's amazing. Wow. Did you feel like there was an adjustment to be made after the conversation or did she genuinely just get you on a horrible night? Because we've all had those. No, there was an adjustment. I mean, I think when you do drugs and alcohol, if you're in a good space and you're in a good head space, then you're fine. If you're not in

a good headspace and you add drugs and alcohol, that's not a good combo. So she was absolutely right. I was going through something. I was really angry and rageful during that time. And luckily I had started therapy because of that very reason. But a nice check in to understand how you're coming across. Sometimes we lose all self-awareness and self-awareness is the key ingredient to being, um, cool. Yeah. Yeah. So true. We had Michael Yeo on the podcast just a few weeks ago. Um, he has a new, he had a new comedy special and he was here to promote it. And he always speaks so highly of you. And I asked him if we can have Chelsea lately again. And he said, and I said, do you think that, do you think that they would ever do it again? He goes,

they'll never get her they'll never get her now chelsea all we want i know it's all he wants and listen you did critics here's what i'm just gonna say this you did critics choice at which was on e this year you're on the lady gang podcast i'm like one of the only two employees at e you could come on right after e-news with justin and kelty you could be 11 30 it would be so sexy Chelsea, come back. I'll never say never because I never know what I'll do, but I just can't picture myself being tethered to any, it's so hard or job. Like I'm, I like to bounce around the world. So while that would be fun, you know, it really would have to be worth my while. Yeah. And not much is, you're not going to win. You're not going to winter in Whistler from the e-news

studio. I'll tell you that right now. Okay. Let's set up a Whistler studio for you. Yeah, that would be nice. You should just do it like real, like a shitty style, like not even a studio. It's just on your camera, wherever Chelsea is in the world. She does like a Chelsea check-in at 1130 and she just like tells us shit for 30 minutes and then goes off. That's all we want. I guess you could do that on Instagram. Sounds much more appealing. Like I could do that from wherever I am and rant and rave for 30 minutes and then go to sleep. Bye. Good night. Yeah, that's ideal. Right after I take my Xanax, right after my edible and a Xanax. It's honestly perfection. Okay. So the new book I'll have what she's having is available right

now. Chelsea is 50 today. Please wish her a happy birthday. And the last thing I wanted to leave us all with is a beautiful quote from your book that made me cry. She said, so often we are ready to give up or throw in the towel when right around the corner, there's a pocket of sunshine we hadn't known was headed straight for us. Even in my lowest moments, I keep my head geared toward the sky because I'm no longer in the business of missing rainbows. Wow. Thank you, Kelty. You have such a sweet heart. Thank you. We all do. We're all real sweet deep down. The book is fantastic. Becca, Jack, I didn't let you talk because I fangirled. Do you have anything you want to say really quick? We're doing a focus group on this interview. It's not going to bode

well for you Kelty no we're just we're all how Kelty was saying like we're all like you know just nerds when you come on the podcast because we've just you've been a person that all three of us and all I think I could speak for all the women that listen to this podcast like just a tentpole in our existence like just you've represented so many wonderful qualities that I think women were really shying away from for a while and shamed for for a while so you've empowered many generations, but certainly ours and happy birthday. Happy birthday, Chelsea Handler. And thank you, Jax. I'm Jack. Sorry. We call her Jax sometimes. It's like the dirt bag from whatever you want to call me. It's great.

Well, I love you girls. Thank you for having me on. Happy birthday. And we will see you next Tuesday. lady gang is produced by podcast one with podcasting production assistance from steve delameter derrick haley editing by jared monaco and social support from collie carrera and mastermind evil genius from kelty knight