Chelsea Handler is still on the air with her titular Netflix talk show. Why she is still on TV eludes me but she is. Since the show is still receiving a lackluster response, Chelsea tries to get out and stir the pot to get people interested in between taking swipes at Angelina Jolie. She recently spoke to People magazine about what drives her. According to Chelsea, it was her less than affluent childhood. Chelsea grew up one of six children. Her father was a used car salesman and her mother a homemaker. Because of her ‘humble’ childhood, Chelsea set her sights on becoming successful and she worked hard to do it.

An outspoken talk show host, bestselling author and producer, Chelsea Handler isn’t one to shy away from a little hard work.

“I love to be creative,” says Handler, 41, whose chat show Chelsea, airs on Netflix. “It’s a worker. That’s all I got going on. It’s not like I’m married or have babies. The show is like a dream come true for me. Work hard, play hard.”

“I wanted the opposite of what I had growing up,” says Handler, who has said she felt insecure around friends who had money. “I wanted to be comfortable and I wanted someone in my house, cleaning!”

Most importantly, the television star strove to find a way to stand on her own. “I didn’t ever want to rely on a man to provide for me,” says Handler. “I wanted to create something that was completely and utterly mine. And I didn’t want anybody in my life dictating what I do.”

Now, Handler says she’s open to a relationship, but is perfectly content with everything she’s accomplished thus far. “I don’t really have anyone to answer to,” she says. “That’s nice for work and it’s nice for life!”

[From People]

As I said yesterday, I appreciate a good work ethic. Although I am generally a little dubious about how hard somebody who was sleeping with their boss had to work, I’m willing to take Chelsea at her word here. Primarily because she never stops hustling but also because I very rarely can take Chelsea at her word. For example: her meager upbringing. She’s spoken before of her impoverished childhood, one that had her summering at her family home in Martha’s Vineyard. She claimed that she knew she was disadvantaged because she would go to her, “friends’ houses and I could tell things were different.” However, she wrote in her book, Are You There Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea, that her family was most decidedly not poor but she compared them with those around her who had trust funds and drove Mercedes. There’s nothing wrong with ambition. If you want to be fabulously wealthy and buy the house on the hill, do so. But don’t creative a false narrative about your upbringing to justify doing so.

As for her not wanting to “rely on a man to provide” part, nowhere is it written that the moneymaker gets to dictate anything. In many partnerships, there is a fairly clear understanding that it is because the non-working partner is managing their home that the working partner can get ahead professionally. Why can’t Chelsea just say she wants to be self-reliant without implying that a partner who makes less money is subservient? She clearly favors accomplished men and yet, I can accept that has nothing to do with a power imbalance in her relationships. I wonder if Chelsea will ever be able to support any thought she has without putting someone else down? I doubt it; it’s probably a lesson she learned during her hardscrabble summers in Martha’s Vineyard.

Photo credit: Fame/Flynet Photos