Best of 2024: Chelsea Handler on the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

‘I wanted adulthood’: Comedian Chelsea Handler opens up on life-shaping experiences ahead of NZ tour

US comedian Chelsea Handler is set to bring her controversially-named tour to New Zealand shores this July.

Handler had a diverse, long-running entertainment history, having worked as an actress, writer and television host for over two decades. It’s been a long career, the result of big plans and ambition brought about by a complicated family dynamic.

“I was not satisfied at all with my family dynamic when I was born as the youngest of six children. I remember being very young and looking around like- who’s in charge? Because it wasn’t my mom, it wasn’t my dad, they were two hot messes. And my brothers and sisters were just doing what they wanted.”

She told ZB’s Francesca Rudkin she knew she wanted to turn her life around, and she started working as early as she could to ensure she didn’t get anything less than the best for herself.

“I wanted a big life, I wanted freedom and I wanted adulthood. And I wanted to cut ties with anyone who was going to hold me back- I thought childhood was insulting, I never felt like a child.”

Her upcoming comedy tour promises similar anecdotes and stories to the ones she shared with Francesca- Handler vividly recalls the day she was told she would never fly first class, and that moment stuck with her.

“I remember walking past the first class section and I was sniffing around- this is my group, you know? It smells like my group! And my mom’s like- keep going, keep going, we’re in the back, we’ll never be able to fly first class. Those people are rich and we’re not. And I was like- first of all, speak for yourself.”

Handler knew from an early age she could get away with being opinionated and assertive. Despite her ‘messy’ upbringing as the youngest in a family of eight, her five siblings eventually looked to Handler as a family leader. She told Francesca she was bold and opinionated- and she hopes to encourage other women to do the same.

“It's all about women knowing their own power and standing up for themselves and being loud and brave. I like to live my life in a very loud, brave way as an example to everyone. You don't have to get married, you don't have to have babies to have value, there are a million things you can don in this world."

She’s copped some backlash for her controversial moments, but she’s unbothered by the headlines and negative comments. She explained to Francesca that she doesn’t feel the need to be liked by everyone, and that’s never her intention.

“Also if everyone does like you- what does that say about you? It says that you have no opinions, that you don't stand for anything, because it's impossible to be liked by everybody. I started my career understanding that a lot of people would not like me, so anyone who likes me is a bonus."

Chelsea Handler’s still looking forward to touching down in New Zealand, it’ll be her first tour since 2019. And depending on how a certain presidential election turns out- she could come back again much sooner, as she explained to Francesca.

“I want my life to be one big adventure, and it has been. Getting to come to New Zealand and Australia and travelling the globe to make people laugh is a total, total privilege." 

Chelsea Handler’s two-stop New Zealand tour, Little Big B****, will play at the Auckland Town Hall on July 5th and Wellington’s St James Theatre on July 6th.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks edb Right.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Comedian Chelsea Handler is renowned for her outspoken, ballsy style
of comedy. Aren't afraid to share her opinion on just
about anything. She is an author, a podcaster, a former
late night talk show host, and she's heading our way,
bringing her comedy tour to New Zealand in July. Chelsea
joins me now from Canada. Chelsea Handler, Hi, how are you?

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Oh my goodness, I'm doing well. Thank you? How are you?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
I'm good, thank you. We're having a chat over a
zoom and I'm just looking in the background and what
a beautiful view the snow covered trees. I know, Skiings
of Passion. Has it been a good season.

Speaker 3 (00:47):
It has not been a great season, which is okay.

Speaker 4 (00:50):
I'm writing a new book, so it's allowed me to
you know, focus and actually be productive because when there
is good snow, it's really hard for me to stay inside.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
So I got a new dog.

Speaker 4 (01:01):
I rescued a new dog this year and he's a handful,
so he I am keeping my hands full. So the
skiing hasn't been epic, but I'm still skiing. You know,
you still got to get out there and ski it up.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Is he as much of a handful as Gary was? He?

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Thank you for remembering Gary.

Speaker 4 (01:18):
I would like to go on the record and say
Gary was the only dog that I purchased and the
only dog that I returned. Rescues are where it's at
because they are grateful.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
And I want my dogs to be grateful.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Now, I haven't mentioned the name of your show. My
boss has said to me, I'm allowed to mention it once.
It's called Little Big Bitch. But I did wonder whether
you love the fact that you've called it something that really,
you know, people like myself and the media, we really
can't be blasting out over the airwaves.

Speaker 3 (01:49):
I have a tendency.

Speaker 4 (01:51):
My last tour was called Vaccinated in a Horny and
the same issue kept coming up about like on Instagram.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
You couldn't like forward it or like and.

Speaker 4 (01:58):
I was like, why do I constantly pick these names
that are not helpful to spreading the message. But whatever,
that's just my personality. I act first and then think afterward.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
The two is kind of an origin story stories of
your childhood. Tell me about the young Chelsea.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
What was she like, I'm very obstreperous.

Speaker 4 (02:19):
I was not satisfied at all with my family dynamic
when I was born as the youngest of six children.
I remember being very young and looking around, like who
is in charge? Because it wasn't my mom and it
wasn't my dad. They were two hot messes and my
brothers and sisters were just doing what they wanted. And
I was like, no, no, I need I have big
plans and I needed support for those big plans. So

(02:42):
I just started working as early as I could. I
opened up a lemonade stand when I was like eight,
but it was a hard lemonade stand where I served gin,
tequila and whiskey. And then I was like, you can't
make any real money in lemonade. And then I decided
to open up my own babysitting company when I was ten.
So I lied and I said I was fifteen, and
I ended up babysitting for a fourteen year old boy.
So I have like a lot of entrepreneurship in my background.

(03:06):
I just wasn't going to settle for anything less than
the best. I wanted a big life. I wanted freedom,
and I wanted adulthood, and I wanted to cut ties
with anybody that was going to hold me back or
you know, I felt childhood was insulting, like I never
felt like a child.

Speaker 3 (03:21):
I felt like I was in a baby's body.

Speaker 4 (03:23):
But it didn't make sense. I was like, no, no,
I'm a woman. I want to be my woman.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
You're very determined too, from what I can from what
I hear, Can you tell me about the time that
your mom said that you would never fly first class?

Speaker 3 (03:36):
Oh? Yes, my mom told me that.

Speaker 4 (03:39):
We went on our first plane ride, which is very
exciting when you're ten years old. I had never flown
and I remember walking past the first class section and
I just was like sniffing around, and I'm like, no,
this is my group. You know, this smells like my group.
And my Mom's like, keep going, keep going.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
We're in the back. We'll never be able to fly
first class. Those people are rich and you know, and
we are not. And I was like, uh, first of all, speak.

Speaker 4 (04:00):
For yourself, because I will be flying first class. That's
the only class I'll be flying. And so I saved
up so much money from my babysitting company. When I
was babysitting for a kid that was three years older
than me, four years older than me.

Speaker 3 (04:13):
Actually for three summers.

Speaker 4 (04:14):
No less, I baby slept with that kid until he
was seventeen and.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
I was thirteen.

Speaker 4 (04:18):
So I saved up so much money that I went
and got the next time we took a plane ride,
which was like three years later. So I had like
I had amassed a small fortune from my babysitting empire
I put. I went down the street to a travel
agent and purchased my own first class ticket. And this
time I was flying to California from New Jersey with
my two brothers, and I didn't tell anyone about my ticket.

(04:38):
I got on the plane, found my seat to see,
looked at both of my brothers with such joy in
my heart and said, see you idiots.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
At the end of the flight, the picture.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
On the tour postcad you look over. You look angelic
I was.

Speaker 3 (04:54):
And that was what was so tricky.

Speaker 4 (04:56):
I was an angel on the surface, but beneath the surface,
I had big plans and I was gonna run over
anyone who got in my way.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
It's interesting you tool about being obviously the last child
of six, and you're wondering who was in charge, and
everybody sort of had their own lives because what I
love about your stories is how close you actually are
to your siblings to this day.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
I ad, yeah, we're a tight fai. Yeah, it is,
it is. It is special.

Speaker 4 (05:25):
And I get you know, you always assume everyone's close
with her family, but that's simply not true.

Speaker 3 (05:28):
I know from my podcast, Dear Chelsea.

Speaker 4 (05:30):
I get calls all the time about family dynamics and like,
you know, and that is always surprising to me because
I'm like, it's your family, you have to.

Speaker 3 (05:36):
Figure it out. But I am like the leader in
my family. I am the one that is like, that's
not acceptable.

Speaker 4 (05:42):
You need to you know, Like I am the youngest
and the oldest at the same time. And now they
listen to me because they know that I was right
all along. I was like, listen, I'm going to the mountaintop.
You can come with me, or you can resist and
stay behind.

Speaker 3 (05:55):
It's up to you.

Speaker 4 (05:56):
But you know that's where I'm headed. And now they're
all like, okay, let's just stick with Chelsea.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
Away with her. Uh So you were you were ambitious
and you were determined. Were you who opinionited as a
child as well, and quite outspoken?

Speaker 4 (06:13):
I was always outspoken because that was rewarded in my
family being outspoken. My brother's like they thought I was
this little cute, kind of boisterous, precocious thing. So they
encouraged my loud mouth, you know, like they would their
friends would come over and they'd be.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
Like, go, tell them what an IDIOTY is. I'm like,
I got this, you know.

Speaker 4 (06:29):
I was good at that, like kind of putting people,
like reading people and telling them what to do, and
so it was rewarded. And then I just kind of
took it and ran. I mean, you know, I'm a
loud and proud kind of girl. I'm not meek or
easily influenced by others. I kind of like to run
my own shop, so to speak.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
And I like that, and I'd like encourage women to
do the same.

Speaker 4 (06:53):
You know. It's all about women knowing their own power
and standing up for themselves and being loud and brave.
I like to live my life in a very loud,
brave way as a kind of example to everybody like you.
I don't have to get married, you don't have to
have babies to be of value. There are a million
things you can do in this world that are valuable.
And that's only two of them, so, so you know,

(07:17):
I'm very outspoken on that front.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
Look, and that's what we love about you, that honesty
and that you're just so authentic. I do wonder though,
you know, there's a lot of headlines. The headlines will
read Chelsea Handler faces backlash, or Chelsea Handler hits back,
or Chelsea Handler goes rogue. I love it when you
go rogue. Does it get to you a little bit?
Do you sometimes think safcually I could just make my
life a little bit easier.

Speaker 4 (07:41):
No, because it doesn't make my life any harder. I'm
not paying attention to the backlash.

Speaker 3 (07:45):
I don't, you know, I don't if someone I don't
think of.

Speaker 4 (07:48):
Things in that way. I think of things as like,
I think I'm on the right track. I think I
am full of love, you know. I want to spread
happy vibes and joyfulness, and if anyone has a problem
with that, then that's a bigger problem for them than
it is for me.

Speaker 2 (08:02):
That's so refreshing because a lot of us, especially in
this kind of digital world where we're constantly presenting ourselves
in a certain way that might not be real, A
lot of people do struggle to actually accept that maybe
you're not for everybody. That not everyone's gonna like you,
and yet that's life, right, you know.

Speaker 3 (08:23):
Also, if everyone does like you, what does that say
about you?

Speaker 4 (08:26):
That says that you're not that you have no opinions,
that you don't stand for anything, because it's impossible but
to be liked by anybody. I mean, listen, I started
my career understanding that a lot of people would not
like me, and so.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
Anyone who likes me is a bonus, you know what
I mean?

Speaker 4 (08:41):
Like, I know that we live in a time where
it's still like, oh, you're so outspoken for a woman.
It's like, excuse me, of course I'm going to be
outspoken for a woman, but it's not for a woman.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
I'm an outspoken person.

Speaker 4 (08:55):
So you know, until we live in a time which
I'm sure I won't survive during to see that, But
until we live in a time where women are respected
and treated as equally as men are, then I will
continue to behave this way.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
And I love that. I love that you're a passionate advocate,
and I presume that you know for many things and
causes and I and comedy is just such a great
tool for that, isn't it.

Speaker 4 (09:21):
Yes, comedy is a great way to deliver some medicine
with laughter. And I have no problem making a fool
out of myself. So comedy comes very easily to me
because my whole life.

Speaker 3 (09:30):
Is just one experience after another that's so outlandish and crazy.
I mean, in my stand up.

Speaker 4 (09:35):
Shows, I tell this Bill Cosby story that is so ridiculous,
and I don't Not a lot of people can say
they have a good Bill Cosby story.

Speaker 3 (09:41):
I do.

Speaker 4 (09:42):
I have a great Woody Allen story that I share
because I got stuck at a dinner with him and
I was like, there's no way I could sit across
from Woody Allen and not confront him like that's not
the type of woman I am, So I.

Speaker 3 (09:52):
Tell that story.

Speaker 4 (09:54):
I have a lot of really ridiculous I was at
Kenny Bunkboard once during COVID, accidentally on three edibles, dealing
with the former president whose political belief system is very
misaligned with mine, So that was that's a good one too.
But anyway, yes, I like to share those experiences and
I like to have you know, I want my life

(10:16):
to be one big adventure, and it has been. And
getting to come to New Zealand and Australia and traveling
the globe to make people laugh is a total, total privilege.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
Just warning you there will probably be men wearing flip
flops or jandles in July even though it's winter. So
I'm just letting you know that because I know that
that's a small issue for you. That's just Australia and
New Zealand for you. Hey, look, I want to talk
really quickly the critics choice. You were always getting a
call Greta Gerwig and Mago Robbie out for that impromptued

(10:47):
acceptance speech. Was it sort of was it premititative or
did you did you actually just kind of do that
as a on a whim.

Speaker 4 (10:55):
No, Well, they had four minutes to kill and perfect, Yeah,
they had four minutes to kill and they were and
they said, go can you go up there and you know,
just do some material?

Speaker 3 (11:05):
And I was like, well, are there any other options?

Speaker 4 (11:09):
Because I know that Barbie got an award before the show,
and then I thought, yeah.

Speaker 3 (11:14):
Let's give them some more flowers.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
Because you talked about it being the year of the woman.
What about twenty twenty three do you think was so
big for women?

Speaker 4 (11:24):
Taylor Swift first and foremost is dominating culture, dominating the
zeitgeist by it Beyonce Pink. Their tours are the most
successful tours of the year of twenty twenty three. And Barbie,
the movie directed by Greta Gerwigs, starring Margot Robbie. I mean,
there's just so many female success stories America Ferrara and

(11:45):
the culture and the economy.

Speaker 3 (11:47):
Like, women are so underserved that when you.

Speaker 4 (11:49):
Serve it up to us, we show up in droves,
and that's what we're telling the world, Like, you can't
tell us that we are not contributing, because when we contribute,
it's massive and it's actually more powerful than many men.

Speaker 3 (12:02):
So I think hopefully this will be the beginning of
a nice trend in females access stories.

Speaker 2 (12:07):
Tyler Swift slight small, slight, you know, sort of sow
point for many of us here in New Zealand who
missed out on tickets to go to Australia to see you.
It seems like everybody else got to go except me.
But that's okay. Do you miss late night television because
women are so underrepresented in that space? Would you go
back to it?

Speaker 4 (12:29):
I don't think I would go back to that schedule
that was pretty rigorous. And I'm now forty eight years
old and I love my life. Like I get to
do my podcast, I'm writing a new book, and I
get to tour when I want a tour and extend
it for as long as I want to extend it.
So I have a pretty sweet gig going, and I
get to take as much time off a year as

(12:50):
I want. And when I work, I go at it
pretty hard. And so I don't know that I would
ever be drawn back to that type of schedule, but
I would be drawn back to doing like a once
a week show or something if the right opportunity presented itself,
which it hasn't, you know. I mean, I'm always looking
at opportunities and thinking about things and what I'm going
to do, So it just really depends where I am

(13:11):
and what's happening.

Speaker 3 (13:12):
You know. If Trump gets elected, I'm out skate doodled,
so I'll be over there a lot more than I
already am.

Speaker 2 (13:17):
Would you move to Canada permanently?

Speaker 4 (13:20):
I don't know about permanently because I am a United
States resident and there are tax implications for moving. You
have to if you are American and you leave the country,
you have to pay American.

Speaker 3 (13:29):
Taxes for the rest of your life. So there's really
it doesn't really behoove me to leave, but I would
spend a lot less time in America.

Speaker 2 (13:35):
Chelsea Hander, it's been a delight to talk to you.
Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (13:39):
Thank you. Take care.

Speaker 2 (13:40):
That was comedian Chelsea Handler. Chelsea's stand up Comedian Tour.
Comedy Tour is coming to Auckland and Wellington this July.
Tickets on sale now.

Speaker 1 (13:49):
For more from the Sunday session with friend Jessica Rutkin,
listen Life to News Talks. It'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.