Chelsea Handler was born and raised in Livingston, New Jersey.
Handler comes from a rather diverse religious background, with a Jewish father and Mormon mother as the youngest in a family of six children.[1]
She seems to identify with Judaism, but invoking a classic, iconic episode of Seinfeld, she might just be in it for the comedy. She once said, justifying the content of her race-oriented comedy:
I try to make fun of everyone as often as possible, especially minorities. I'm a Jewish woman, so…[2]
There is much speculation that Handler is an atheist–or at least demonstrably skeptical of religion. Apparently, she referred to Jesus and Moses as fictional characters once on her show[3] and in her book, Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, she "finds religion" in a bottle of Grey Goose.[4] (It actually makes even more sense when you realize the title of her book is a reference to the famous teen girl, coming-of-age book by Judy Blume, Are You There God, It's Me Margaret.)
It's a bit tenuous admittedly, but if Handler isn't an atheist, she's certainly irreverent. She proudly proclaimed that she had had an abortion at the age of 16 to the New York Times.[5] Whether you think that was right or wrong, it's certainly a bit strange to just bring it up to the New York Times. I would say it's a conscious decision to fly in the face of religious conceptions of morality. Maybe you disagree–that's what the comments are for.
You can't Handler these politics
Handler is relentlessly antagonistic toward Republicans. Seriously, the list goes on and on. She has said she wants to enter politics just to "take [Ann Coulter] down."[6] She has called Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, "ridiculous."[7] And she nailed the two most famous ladies of the Republican Party in one shot, saying:
Sarah Palin is a little bit more frightening than Michele Bachmann. Well, she's dumber.[8]
So? Democrat, then? It would appear that way. She's a pretty big Obama fan. She proclaimed her intention to vote for him before the 2012 election, saying that he hadn't had enough time to clean up a big mess.[9] And if that wasn't enough, she gave $100,000 to an Obama Super-PAC.[10]
And if you're wondering: Is she a liberal Democrat? Refer to the previous discussion on abortion.
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