-Thank you. -So, you made a documentary
about white privilege. -I did. My own, specifically.
-Your own specific white privilege.
And this is was an idea you had post-2016 election.
-Postmortem, I -- Yes. And in 2016,
I don't know if you guys know, there was an election.
-[ Chuckles ] Yeah. -A pretty big one.
I didn't like the way that went. -Yeah.
-So, I had a hard time with it.
And, you know, before the election,
like, my biggest decision was whether I was gonna build
a slide that came out of my bedroom balcony for adults
that went straight into my pool.
That was, like, my biggest stressor.
And then, the day after the election,
I was running around my neighborhood
passing out water bottles to Mexican workers
like, "We love you. You're here. You belong here."
They're like, "We're legally here, so back off, bitch."
[ Laughter ] So it was a confusing time.
-Yes. -And I was very upset,
and I dug deep, and I went to therapy for the first time.
-Yeah. -The first real time in my life
at the tender age of 42, I think.
And I got real about my entitlement,
about being spoiled,
about what it's like to look outside of yourself,
get your head out of your own ass, you know?
And I started to look around and realized just how bad,
like, of bad shape we were in and how little I knew about it.
So I got educated.
-And with white privilege, this was something that,
is it safe to say you were a little just oblivious to
before you had this sort of introspection?
-Yeah. Like, I thought, "Oh, I'm super talented,
and I work really hard. That's why I'm successful."
It's like "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa."
When you start to read books, it's like
a person of color wouldn't have had the career I've had,
wouldn't have gotten away with the things I got away with,
and I had no accountability for that.
So for me, it was a deep dive into just understanding
what it's like to be a person of color in this country,
as good of an understanding as I can have,
because, obviously, I can't understand.
But I wanted to do something
that wasn't about me collecting a paycheck.
It was about communicating and just contributing something,
you know, in a more thoughtful way.
So I started with my own ridiculous privilege
and lifestyle, which is, you know, absurd.
So I learned a lot,
and we have to really pay attention
to people that are unlike us.
-And I think, you know, I feel similar probably to you,
which is, you know, you, as a white person, you succeed,
and it felt very hard, you know,
when you are in it and your perspective.
And you just need to realize, like, "Oh, I'm not saying
white privilege doesn't mean it was easy for you.
It just means it can be so much harder
for people that don't have that first step in the door."
-Absolutely. It means that when I get pulled over by the cops,
I don't have to worry about it being a life-or-death situation.
-Which is a huge difference.
-Exactly, so -- -You mentioned --
One of things you talk about is shoplifting,
how that is something you did
which then becomes a slap on the wrist
as opposed to what it could be for someone else.
-Yeah, I mean, my ex-boyfriend's in the documentary.
He's a black man named Tyshawn I dated when I was 16.
And I know everybody knows that I've dated 50 cent,
and my friend said, "Oh, great.
Now people are gonna think you only like black guys
and you discriminate against your own race."
So I would like to say that I'm available to white men, too.
-That's very nice of you to say. -Okay?
I want it clear that I don't discriminate against white men.
-That is very sweet of you. [ Laughter ]
-Even though, you know, you guys know what you did.
[ Laughter ]
Um, but --
Wait, what was the question? Sorry.
-Shoplifting. -Oh, shoplifting.
Well, he and I got caught, "A," with three dime bags
when we were 16, he was 18.
Every time, they let me go, and every time, he got arrested.
And he ended up spending 14 years in jail.
And I never thought about that at the time.
My director of this documentary
made me go back there and revisit that.
I was like, "No more ex-boyfriends."
Like, "I've met up with a couple, and it doesn't go well."
So I wasn't that into it.
But it was important.
And, you know, there are examples.
I mean, I've walked into an airport.
You know how annoying an airport can be,
and the slowness of a transaction
with the person behind the counter
or at a Hudson Bookseller.
I mean, I've definitely walked in, looked at her
and looked at the slowness of the transaction
of what it was going to take, taken a book, and just waved $20
up at the -- up at the camera -- the security camera
and be like, "Yeah, I'm taking this, and I'm leaving.
I can't deal with the slowness of this."
And when I was talking to her about that,
I go, "Is that white privilege?"
She's like, "No, white people aren't even doing that."
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
-She was like, "You just have problems."
[ Laughter ] So it was --
-Yeah, don't pin that on our race.
-Right. [ Laughter ]
-That is very specifically a Chelsea thing.
-I was like, "Yeah, it turns out
it is very specifically a Chelsea thing."
A lot of my issues are very,
you know, centered around my own experience.
-You were -- You were arrested when you were 21.
What was that for? -I got a DUI,
but my sister, who's in my dressing room,
my mother had given me her I.D.,
like, as one mother does -- as a mother does,
so that I could drink earlier than I was,
you know, legally able to. -Sure. Good parenting. Yeah.
-My mom was just like, "Whatever you need
to get the hell out of this house."
Like, "If you need a fake I.D., take it."
Anyway, I got pulled over, and I forgot
that I was 21 at that point, 'cause it had only been a week,
and I gave them my sister's I.D.
And apparently, my sister had reported me to, like, the FBI
or something, so I had to --
-For stealing your I.D.?
-She -- She was Mormon at the time.
So, she was really just, like, out to get me --
-Yeah, they call the FBI left and right.
-You know how Mormons are. [ Laughter ]
-They got it on speed dial. Yeah.
-It's like they're in bed with the FBI, basically.
No, so, I ended up spending like 48 hours
in this -- in L.A. County women's prison.
And then I had to go to this class where you had to get up
and tell your DUI -- You had go to DUI school,
which is basically a school you go to for like 8 to 10 weeks
where they teach you how to get out of your next DUI.
-Okay. -They're basically like,
"Don't ever admit --" I'm like, "What kind of class is this?"
But when I got up
to finally tell my story about my experience --
-Were you nervous about telling your story?
-Yeah, I had diarrhea. Like, I had diarrhea --
Every time I went to that class, the fear of getting called on,
I had diarrhea. -Yeah. Oh, wow.
-Public speaking was the scariest thing you could imagine
and I was like, "There's no way I can do this.
I can't talk publicly."
But when I did get up, I couldn't get back down.
I couldn't stop talking, 'cause the audience was like with me,
and they were listening to me. And my story was ridiculous.
I called the cop a racist. He was white.
I mean, none of it made sense.
And when I got off,
somebody's like, "You should do stand-up comedy,"
and I was like, "Yeah, that actually makes sense --
me talking and no one being able to interrupt."
So, that's kind of how I got into stand-up.
-So, I guess what you're saying
that any young potential stand-ups out there
is get that first DUI. Get in front of people.
-That's right. [ Laughter ]
-You know, work it out in front of an audience.
-Yeah, and if you could steal someone's I.D.,
go for that, too. Why not?
-Congratulations on the documentary.
It's always so great to see you. -Thank you.
-Give it up for Chelsea Handler, everybody.