Chelsea Handler has done a lot of soul searching.
During the filming of her new Netflix documentary Hello Privilege. It's Me, Chelsea, Handler said she had to face up to a few things. Most notably, how being white places her in a position of privilege and that 'white privilege' isn't just a term that applies to wealthy white people.
"I always thought it was a certain group of people that get into Harvard or Yale or that have rich parents," Handler told Kimmel. "It's a privilege just to have white skin in this country, it's a privilege just to go into a grocery store and not be stared at, it's a privilege to get pulled over and not worry if it's a life or death situation."
Notably, during the filming, Handler had to take sexual harassment training after she slapped a black woman's behind while hugging her.
"Immediately I became defensive. I'm like, I'm not hitting on her. So, I got on the phone and I said,'Please tell me what I did wrong.'"
"She said, 'Listen, for years and years, black women have been defined by their hair and their asses. You have no right to touch my body,'" Handler continued.
Once she'd heard about the impact her behaviour had had on the woman, she said she had "a big wake up call".
"It's not about how you mean it, it's about what that person takes it as."
Topics Netflix
