Last night, CNN reporter and host Chris Cuomo talked with comedian Chelsea Handler, who confronted the topic of white privilege head-on in her new documentary “Hello, Privilege. It’s Me, Chelsea,” now airing on Netflix.
During Cuomo Prime Time, Cuomo asked Handler about President Donald Trump.
Handler noted that, in her opinion, President Trump is “a perfect example of white privilege. Let’s keep other people down so we keep winning so I can keep filling my own pockets. At a certain point, if you really want equality, you have to be okay with other people succeeding. That’s what it’s all about. And he and the Republican Party at this point are all about no one succeeding except for them.”
She added: “That’s all they care about is money. I mean, we have children going into schools who are unsafe. There are guns — I mean, the NRA is running the Republican Party. Yes, that is white privilege. … It’s like the pinnacle of white privilege, is him. I mean, I don’t talk about him too much in the documentary because it’s nauseating.”
In this documentary, Chelsea Handler explores how white privilege impacts American culture and especially how it has benefited her own life and career.
Last week, in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel about the Netflix documentary, “Hello, Privilege. It’s Me, Chelsea,” Handler revealed that she was forced to take sexual harassment training after she was a little too handsy with an African American woman while the crew was filming a spoken word night for minority students at the University of Southern California.
While promoting this documentary she also was booked on The Talk and was pointedly interviewed by one of the hosts, Sunny Hostin.
Hostin noted that some of the women interviewed by Handler said white privilege was a “minuscule problem,” that African Americans had privilege and that one of the parents is always missing in black families. She asked Handler: “What was your reaction when they said those things?”
“Well, listen,” Handler responded, “I had to do a lot of therapy to even have these conversations with people because I have a temper and I’m reactive.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgn-bv02mqg
Hello, Privilege. It’s Me, Chelsea is currently streaming on Netflix.