As we discussed last week. Chelsea Handler was one of the liberal-types on the cover of Variety. Handler spoke as if she was one of the few salient liberal voices in America, and like she’s doing the lord’s work on her Netflix show (that no one watches). While beggars can’t be choosers in Emperor Baby Fists’ America, I’ve never believed in Chelsea Handler. She brings a lot of white privilege to the table, not to mention her history of racism and mockery of immigrants, children and more. So why is it hard to believe that Handler said something stupid during her video interview with Variety?
Handler, who has been openly critical of President Trump and helped lead a women’s march in Utah after his inauguration, made the remark during a recent interview with Variety. When asked if she would ever invite the new leader of the free world on her show, Handler said she wouldn’t. Asked whether she would ever interview his wife, the comedian said: “To talk about what? She can barely speak English.”
“I don’t respect either one of those people,” Handler added.
The First Lady was born in Slovenia, according to her White House biography. She can speak five languages, including Slovenian, English, French, Serbian and German, CBS News has previously reported.Many Trump supporters on social media rushed to point out Melania Trump’s multi-lingual skills while slamming Handler.
As I’ve said before, my cup does not runeth over with sympathy for Melania Trump. I would go far as to say Melania is one of many enablers to a despotic tyrant. But literally the least offensive thing about Melania is that she’s an immigrant from Slovenia and that she speaks with an accent. Insult her for copying & pasting Michelle Obama’s speech. Insult her for being a vapid golddigger. Insult her for being an apologist for a misogynistic madman and sexual predator. But the fact that English is not her first language and that she speaks with an accent? Who cares? Which just goes to show you why Chelsea Handler should not be the face of anything having to do with the Resistance. It’s easy for the Deplorables to point to Handler and say “See? That’s what they’re all like.”
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
I hate to think that Melania is the First Lady, for innumerable reasons. But making fun of the woman’s accent? When Handler speaks fluent, unaccented Slovenian, she can comment, perhaps. In the meantime, she should shut the hell up. Sheesh.
As a talk show host, she makes a valid point. It’s hard for Melanie to speak on camera, as we have seen the two times she has done so. So hard in fact, she has to use other people’s words.
Oooh, burn!
You’d have a better comedy show than Chelsea, that was significantly more well crafted joke.
The woman speaks five languages for goodness sake, English is not and does not have to be spoken by everyone. I also hate when people say ‘oh you speak with an accent’, no I speak how I speak, it is just a different accent from yours, the whole world doesn’t have American accents.
Loopy I agree with you.
For some strange reason English native speakers think all the world should speak English. I am Italian and i speak 4 languages. I don’t have an Italian accent while speaking English ( I learned English in the US and I work in the UK so my accent swings from American to English) and German is my other native language but I guess I have an accent in Spanish which makes me I’m sure ridicolous and over the top but at least I can make myself understood when I travel to places where the main language is Spanish and English is not so popular.
So yes, Melania can be ridiculed for many reasons, but her English isn’t one of them.
And also, in most countries even speaking on a rudimental level of their native language will get you praise. In English speaking countries you get looked down upon if you have an accent ( well, if you don’t have a “fancy” accent ala french).
@Loopy – do we have proof she speaks 5 languages? We have proof she speaks one and a half. In Trump’s “alternative” truth world, I believe nothing that comes out of that camp.
@NastyWoman – I’m pretty sure she speaks Croatian/Serbian because people her age in Yugoslavia pretty much had to. As for French and German, I don’t know.
I still find it weird that there’s so mch interest in the President’s spouse.
@ Loopy
I don’t believe she speaks 5 languages but Chelsea shouldn’t have said that
Well, she speaks Slovenian, and like Locke Lamora said, definitely would be taught Serbo-Croatian (in our old days one language, now two) + one more foreign language in elementry school. The most common one was English, then German.
If the info of her highschool is correct, she’d have one (English) or two (German OR French most common back then) foreign language courses there too (either it’s one or two depends on the program). So she definively had contact with 3 or 4 languages before going to college. How fluent she is in any of them is another question.
I have a slight accent. People can just deal with it.
I agree with Kaiser and all the commentors that no one should be denigrated for speaking with an accent. If I had a superpower, it would be learning languages instantaneously. I have several friends who are polygogues, and I’m very jealous.
However, all that being said, her husband built his campaign badmouthing immigrants and preaching ethnocentrism. He’s also a member of a party which would gladly make English the national language. So I find the comments defending her by arguing that English speakers have a false sense of superiority ironic considering she’s married to the loudest of them all.
Rachel: But aren’t we supposed to be better than him?
“However, all that being said, her husband built his campaign badmouthing immigrants and preaching ethnocentrism. He’s also a member of a party which would gladly make English the national language.”
THIS. The white house website removed the Spanish language stuff within days of Trump being inaugurated. Additionally, her husband’s fervent anti-immigration policy was front-and-center during his campaign
So yeah, the irony is not lost on me when it comes to our new First Lady’s very thick accent and mediocre grasp of the English language.
I don’t think she should be mocked for her accent but I also don’t think it hurts to point out the hypocrisy.
“For some strange reason English native speakers think all the world should speak English.”
I don’t think everyone all over the world should speak English, but because of Trump’s stance on immigrants I do think it makes sense for the First Lady of the United States to have a good grasp on English. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with expecting either the President or the First Lady to have strong English language skills, particularly since they occupy diplomatic roles and English appears to be the dominant language in diplomatic circles.
That said, Melania’s English has never struck me as terrible. It’s the fact that she copies other people’s words that are the problem. But her overall grasp of English does seem similar to Handler’s — I don’t know if I see much of a difference. Handler’s vocabulary doesn’t seem that large.
Because the Trumps lie so much, I do have a hard time believing that Melania speaks French and German though.
Trump’s English language skills seem pretty sucky. The fact that English IS his first language makes his language skills appear all the more embarrassing for a President.
Didn’t Chelsea’s family immigrate here from Europe? I could have sworn she use to have an accent. Wow how we have evolved, the first lady is not a citizen. I think if the law states POTUS has to be born in America, the law she be applied to the first lady too. Call me ignorant.
Are you actually believing the White House website? On Melanie’s personal website for the longest time it listed Austrian as a language she spoke and not German. I highly doubt speaks French or German with any fluency.
Remember she also lied about having completed university.
This is a family of liars. She speaks English and Slovenian and that’s it. Anything else I will need to hear directly before I believe it.
You can work to reduce an accent when speaking English though. My mother spoke only French until high school and forced herself to learn to speak English properly without a French accent. Melania just doesn’t care to try or doesn’t have the ability to work on it. I don’t think she speaks English very much and seems to stick with her parents, so her accent never improves.
Everyone keeps saying she speaks five languages, but is there any proof of this? I mean given what that family chooses to lie about, why would this be any different? I find it hard to believe and would like to hear some evidence. Because to my ears, she speaks English very poorly and has a limited handle on the language overall. She’s lived here a long time and I would expect it to be better. So it’s hard for me to wrap my head around her being fluent in several other languages.
I thought there was no end to my depths of loathing for Chelsea Handler, but her making me actually side with anything a ‘Trump supporter,’ says, makes me rage anew.
She is the absolute worst.
Her being the face of any movement would make me auto default to the other side. If Chelsea’s for oxygen, sign me up for some kind of alternative as of yet not realized way of breathing.
She is effing FOUL.
This is the work of her PR flunky Huvane. I saw some extra piece that made it seem like she and ‘besties Charlize Theron and Mary McKormack” (as she introduced them) were behind the Sundance women’s march. Pretty sure it was already in the works. But hey, the most devious PR flack wins the day. All i know is, i think much less of anyone who slinks around with her.
Oh and the interview where she said her stupidity re Melatonin, this really pretty young blonde was conducting it, and she was just so nasty to her, making it seem every question was beneath her. I really think her jealousy for this young woman made her say something so right at home at a Trump rally.
How are you gonna be anti Trump, and slam immigrants and people with accents like one of his Nazi supporters.
Handler being the face of anything helps no cause. Except maybe silently, in the background, no face time and a significant monetary donation.
I’m not & never will be a fan of Chelsea Handler’s particular brand of comedy. Very often, it’s just plain mean. I think Melania must be a rather smart lady to speak five languages. But if Trump is the person who announced this info., I’d be concerned this is an alternative fact. Melania does speak English, but her grammar is not great & her accent is so heavy, it’s difficult to understand what she says. I bear her no ill will, but after 15+ years in this country with all the money & access to professional help that it can buy, she should be able to speak it much better. I know immigrants with no money who became fluent in just a couple of years using youtube & online dictionaries. With all of the anti-immigration crap coming from the Trump administration, I think it’s hypocritical he wants to close the door after his wife gets in under questionable circumstances.
when there are so many valid things to criticize and condemn, it is ridiculous to strike low.
Chelsea while right sometimes ultimately has a mean girl streak.
Right? I was actually surprised to see she’s anti-trump. She always seemed bigoted to me. Her comments about Mexicans and Little People…yeah…
@pinetree
Her seemingly bigoted, “Mean Girl” comments about Mexicans, Little People are part of her comedic act. It’s satirical, parody. I guess you have to watch/listen to her carefully to get that, but I’ve never misunderstood her general world view or her a anti-Trump position.
Also, little more insight to Chelsea’s satirical style/act. She makes fun of and totally puts down white people / “white-ism” and middle class privilege entitlement more than she makes fun of POC. Again it’s her parodic and sarcastic style that she applies to anybody. Easy to be offended by if it’s used in sensitive issues, but this was her act going back years and even before Trump’s Birther crap.
I think these controversial figures like Chelsea Handler – a person who is genuinely not very well-liked in the best of circumstances – are not the people whose voices should be loudest. Celebrities like her are figures that the “other side” can emphasize and say “That’s what’s wrong with all the liberals!” They deserve to say what they want to say, but I don’t think ANYTHING they say should held up as an example.
With regard to Melania speaking English well or not, Chelsea SOUNDS like a hateful conservative about to spit out “Go back to your damn country!” I mean, the irony that Melania – an immigrant, non-native English speaker who has posed nude in the past – is the first lady speaks volumes in and of itself and basically hammers home the point that the “problem” they had with Michelle was the color of her skin – nothing else.
I agree, I cringe every time someone opposing Trump takes cheap shots. Because there are so many legit shots to take, why stoop to their level? All Handler had to do to answer the question would be to change “she barely speaks English” to “she doesn’t seem to have much to say about politics or America or any of the multitudes of incidents and events that are scaring the bejeezus out of us right now.” Or something like that.
It’s not Melania has an accent, it’s that she’s not presented herself as a bastion of thought or insight or substance. Imo.
Do you think She ever got a chance being around the huge EGO she is married to?
I agree that Chelsea is a TERRIBLE spokesperson for liberals and for women. But Melania does speak English very poorly. I am not talking about accent, I’m talking about sentence structure and vocabulary (and, of course, intelligence).
Tris – given how long she’s been in your country, I find it surprising how poor her English skills are. I get that not everyone takes to languages easily, but 20 years is a long time. She’s still making beginners’ mistakes. It makes me wonder if she’s putting it on because trump likes her this way – infantile, heavily accented speech.
Handler should have gone after something substantial.
Handler has no business being a spokesperson for women. She is the type of person that makes the movement seem mean and shallow. I would never support a group she I s a spokesperson for.
This woman, whose mockery and voiced dislike of immigrants/foreigners is an ugly part of her “comedy” (Angelina Jolie’s adopted kids, for instance) does not represent aware and self aware women at all. She’s a disgraceful opportunist trying to cash in on the unpopularity of Trump among her viewers by making snarky and inappropriate remarks like this, remarks which would almost seem to overtly put her in Trump’s camp. She apparently has no sense of irony–or decency. Shut up, Chelsea: Women can do far,far better w/out your “support.” Her mean spiritedness has NOTHING to do w those women who oppose Trump, and everything to do with what a bitter and unhappy person she is.
Handler is circling the drain and trying hard to hang on. Somebody should flush the toilet so we can be rid of her. She is not funny but she is petty and mean spirited.
Mike, you’ve said exactly what I was thinking, only a thousand times better!
Bravo, perfectly said.
Thank you. I was trying to find a succinct way to express my opinion of Handler. You did it for me.
Handler and Madonna were the 2 worst things about the Women’s March. Handler is not funny. And this is what she does to women. I don’t care for Melania.. but making some dumb racist joke about her accent is on par with what this woman does. She is not pro woman. Never has been. And yes she will be what his supporters point to and she reflects badly on what was a great event.
It also gives the Trump supporters a reason to act like a victim – something that they have done for the last 8+ years. They need to be abolished of their pseudo-victimhood. Melania is not and should not be a target unless she does or says something awful – which I don’t think she’ll get a chance to do anyway.
+1
Yep. They just *had* to make it all about them with incendiary comments. This is bad but Madonna is the absolute worst.
+1000
I’ve no doubt Madonna’s heart is in the right place. Unlike Chelsea who i find to be racist and misogynist on a regular basis. But you’re right, they come across as abrasive, arrogant and unlikable and usually end up putting their foot in it, in one form or another.
Said the same thing re Lena Dunham. She wrote the most cringe worthy piece about Trump (framed it as if she was his daughter, and he was her ‘Dad’ – it was eye rollingly bad and just…ugh).
Reminded me of the bit she did for Obama’s second term that was also embarrassing where she pretended to be a girlfriend waiting by the phone. Just… Ugh.. No.
There are so many together celebs they could get. Debra Messing is great on Twitter, America Ferrara was terrific, Scarlet was good. These are talented normal people sans narcissism. Do better.
Madonna is so far removed from real life – even if her heart is in the real place, she is not capable of navigating this political landscape because her ego is probably on par with trump’s. Of course, she’d probably make a better president – imagine that! – but packaging the message with Madonna doesn’t help. I don’t want to make it seem like Madonna or Chelsea Handler should not be able to speak their minds, but they’re not the best spokespeople.
In Melania’s defense, it is difficult to become fluent in a language when all you have said for the last 12 years is “yes, dear”.
Lol. But yeah, I doubt she gets to talk at all when she’s with Trump
Melania spoke clearly and fluidly with Joy Behar about Obama’s fake birth certificate, even telling Joy “the American people want to know”, as if she were speaking up for us. My opinion: Chelsea is not the issue, our FLOTUS is in just as deep as our POTUS.
Haha. Good one. I hate Chelsea, i wish she found a way to be feminist without bashing other women. And I can’t believe I am starting to defend Melania but I grnuenly frlt sorry for her after seeing her diluring the inauguration events. I am the kind of person who supports all women and theor life choices. So i don’t judge if you decide to have a carriere and leave you baby at home. I don’t judge you if you decide not to have a family or be a stay at home mom. I don’t even judge women like Melania who are goldiggers not intent on achieveing anything in life. You may look down on her or say that women like her only reinforces the stereotypes about women and womens role in the society but that was her choice and her pricate arrangement with the person she thought will be a free life long meal ticket. But she never intended to be so public and have the responsibilities that are thown at her now. This was not her choice. At least us feminists should not pick on her understanding that she probably is constantly put in her place, or even worse – is abused by the tyrant. I feel rather uncomfortable making fun of her now because now the position she is in was not the position of her choosing and making fun of her and how she looks and behaves in that possition seems rather unfair to me. The reason why some women are not feminists are not supportive of other women is because they are constantly psichologically abused. I am sure that the tyrant tells her she is beautiful but stupid. If you were told that for many years you would not aim to be your own person too
😀
Melania went on the View and defended her husband’s birtherism. She can also divorce him. I do not feel bad for Melania at all. She has more resources available than most women who are victims of domestic abuse.
Well melania trump went to t.v. to demand Barack Obama’s birthday certificate. Asking him to prove that he’s indeed American. This is the taste of her own medicine, enjoy!
Did she actually do that?? Wow.
She did! the video is all over the internet.
I have hard time believing she was acting on her own. Her tyrant husband made her go after Obama, forced cameras on her face just like he forced her to speak at some even during the inauguration events. She basicaly gave in to stop the awkwardness and humitiation. You may say that she gets what she signed for because she just wanted to be a trophy wife but I have problems with that attitude.
Im sorry but I don’t feel sorry for Melania Trump at all. She is a racist just like her husband. Remember her asking for Obama’s birth certificate on tv ?
i don’t feel sorry for her either, but why would anybody who disagrees with trump’s stance on immigrants pick on immigrants themselves? handler just sounds so stupid with these comments.
did she disagree with her husband immigration policies ? no she acted like she is better than every immigrant coming into the us. That’s called taste of her own medecine.
And Chelsea is incapable even ofaki g a decent joke about trumps without being offensive. There are way funnier jokes about that here in the comments section. Ugh. She needs to go away. She is not funny only offensive
Agreed. After all of the racist abuse the wonderful Michelle Obama endured, I think Mrs. Trump can handle one tasteless remark.
If I understand correctly, Melania speaks multiple (5) languages fluently. That’s what they say anyway. My uncle is also from that area and he speaks 8; he says it’s necessary around there so I tend to believe it.
Either way- this is not the hill to die on in this fight. Don’t be petty. It delegitimizes our cause.
I’m Slovenian – you only need to speak Slovenian here. Sure it helps if you speak other languages (English because of the internet, Italian by the sea (but all speak Slo too)), but it’s not necessary at all.
Which 8 if I may ask?
I’m from Croatia and apart from Croatian, you only need to speak English. A lot of people speak German or Italian because we have to learn 2 foreign languages in school, but you don’t “need” to know more than 1.
The older generations in Slovenia tend to speak Croatian because they had to in Yugoslavia, but the younger doesn’t anymore.
Here in Canada we had to learn our other official language French in school, but it wasn’t mandatory after grade 9. It would have been nice to learn 2 languages.
Low blow…doesn’t Melania speak four languages? Many Europeans speak multiple languages. Who cares if she has an accent? I’m from the Midwest and I like listening to accents. Like I said the other day I have some sympathy for Melania, I think she is being abused. Her husband is a monster and based on how he is in public I can’t imagine his wrath behind closed doors.
My thoughts are going in the same direction. . . .
Unfortunately.
Proof she can speak two languages –
I am not a fan but geez..low blow..Chelsea is not a funny woman rather she reminds me of that bitchy, mean woman who lives down the street. You want to avoid her like stomach flu but manage to bump into her in a public place and she holds you hostage with her virol rants..
I don’t know much about her but she is someone I want to slap. This is just for attention, she doesn’t care where it comes from as long as she gets it.
Stick to legit criticism. Making fun of someone’s accent is just petty and low.
+1
Part of me thinks this is hitting below the belt and as liberals we should be above that, but another part says Trump would’ve done the same thing so I don’t feel bad. He’s been screaming about immigrants since day 1 and the hypocrisy is unbelievable.
This. I want to feel bad for her, but don’t. Maybe if people fought Trump and his people at his level from the beginning, we wouldn’t be here now. Going high when they go low means they just scurry under you to the finish line.
Yeah, I’m kinda over taking the high road. The Republicans didn’t take the high road when Obama was in office, but now we are supposed to behave to make it easier for their king? Fuck that
This is where I’m at too. I tried for months after he was elected to engage nicely with Trumpets and I was met with vitriol and dismissive replies like “that’s fake news”.
The time for being nice is over.
I’m there too. I have zero f-ks to give over trying to be accommodating. RESIST!
I dislike Handler immensely. I have never found anything remotely funny in anything she says (not that I have ever watched her, but you get quotes like this on gossip blogs which tell you anything about the woman).
But one of the things I have discovered in recent months is that I take each statement from celebs individually; what I mean is, Streep has said some dumb things about feminism and ageism in HW – that does not diminish her GG speech. I dislike Miley Cyrus because I find her vulgarities completely of putting but I can appreciate that this is how she wants to express herself and that included her visible, vocal participation in the Woman’s March. And so on.
Which brings me to – yes, Handler is odious. However, her point about what would you interview Melania about on any show (or magazine or whatever, although I am sure she will get a ton…) is correct. The woman is completely useless except as arm candy, she does have a hard time communicating in English as we have seen in her so called interviews during the campaign, and the fact that she allegedly speaks five languages means as much to me as her “supermodel” status and her university “degree”.
I am sure she speaks her native tongue, we all do, that’s no great accomplishment. And yes, she speaks English sufficiently to make purchases in luxury shops and order servants about. She would have a hard time getting any job that required her to use anything other than her body, and you just know that any of these right wing Trump supporters who would get a call, sight unseen, from her applying for work would turn her down. Is it right? No, it is not. But I am tired of going “high” and playing nice while the other side has no trouble dismissing everyone and everyone not goose-stepping along. For instance, I give you Fox News calling the Woman’s March an “elite” liberal demonstration in liberal cities. Never mind the marches in Alaska, Texas etc. Never happened. #alternativefacts
Even if you (general you) think Melania had it coming and deserves ridicule, remember that if you mock one person’s accent you’re implying that an accent is something bad and worth mocking.
it means the person probably speaks at least one language more than you.
Chelsea was also so funny to post a group picture with asian people and using the hashtag #gangnamstyle
http://www.laineygossip.com/Celebrity-Social-Media-Round-Up-for-January-19–2017/46025
Chelsea is the worst advocate for women’s rights. I still don’t get why she’s famous.
Slept her way up and then became friends with Jen Aniston and her powerful media house CAA.
Was wondering how long before you bring up Aniston. Surprised you haven’t blamed her and CAA for the brangelina divorce.
Chelsea is the female equivalent of Trump – both racists, attacks children, cannot stand if people question them and more importantly, both attack women.
Chelsea claims to be a feminist and girl’s girl and yet she constantly attack women, uses racist slurs on adults and CHILDREN etc.
This woman and her little gang of white women (Jen Aniston, Charline, Sandra, Reese) should all be called out for their racism. If people who support and are friends with Trump are called racists, then Chelsea’s friends should also be called out for their racism.
Especially Charlize and Sandra who has adopted African American children and yet are BFFs with vile racist Chelsea.
yeah like, seriously? of all things you could say about mrs trump, and there’s plenty, you go pick on the one thing about her that is perfectly fine?
Perfectly fine is a little bit far fetched….
isn’t her mom a German with a heavy accent herself? I myself speak 7 languages and with accents for all of them. My ex-bf kept joking that between foreigners we must understand each other pretty well so whenever a Chinese client was calling he joked I was the one who understand his horrendous english. Anyway, Handler has some hints of racism. just because she is Lib doesn’t make her a genuine champion for any cause. It looks like she writes jokes for herself, see if she is gonna laugh and then decides that she is funny therefore she is a comedian.
I thought this piece of trash was gonna leave America if Trump was elected? Why is she still here?
They are all still in the US, like L.Dunham, don’t listen what they are talking, look what they are doing, then you know exactly who they are, a bunch of hypocrites….
Lol. She went on air after election night to proclaim that she really, really, really, really wanted to move to Spain right not but that her staff convinced her to stay by reminding her that she has responsibility to stay here, you know, because she’s such an influential celebrity, and help save the country with her pearls of wisdom. She’s just a nasty, vulgar, know it all. Who made her queen bee, voice of us all? We can speak for ourselves without this crackling grinch going for the lowest blow, the dumbest retorts, the stupid insults. There is enough to debate and argue here in an intelligent manner, something she would know nothing about. Anytime I see another celebrity hanging around with her I immediately lose all respect. She is the girl who tears you apart the minute you leave the room.
Eyeroll, she is only another Narcissist…..
Sorry you all and your horrible echo chamber are deplorable as well.
Well, if it’s on the new WH site, it must be true..just like the official site that said she never worked illegally or bragged about her education. The site is also being used to advertise whatever it is she sells, another new low. Handler is not a representative of anyone, she’s a comedian.
This^^
But if wish she would not have said that. Now, they are saying, see how nasty those liberals are!
…the only comedian who isn’t funny….
Dear Chelsea, yesterday, Melania’s husband, you know, the guy in the White House with the nuclear codes, did some really outrageous and horrible things. Indefensible things. And do you know what my FB feed is full of today? YOU attacking his wife. Good job. Really. Seriously. Now, that you have the attention you wanted, please take yourself and go sit in that corner way, way, way over there until you can prove you can be part a valuable part of the resistance instead of a self-serving distraction. No, you don’t have to sit there alone. You can take Rosie, Lena, and Madonna with you.
Ugh seriously. She needs to go back to the drain she crawled out of.
there are so many things to criticize about Trump Presidency, and all Chelsea could do was making potshots at someone’s ACCENT?
or maybe Chelsea is not as smart as she thinks she is then. if this is the best she could do.
Yikes! It’s comments like these (tho’ typically heard from some redneck demanding someone learn to speak “Murican”), I am reminded of one of Europe’s funnier pokes:
If you speak three languages, you are trilingual;
If you speak two languages, you are bilingual;
If you speak one language, you are American.
Of all the dumbass comments for her to make. And although I have friends at one degree of separation who have said, tactfully, that Mrs. Trump was not gifted in the IQ department, she is competent in a few languages (NOT fluent, but competent), so not only a dumbass comment, but pointless.
All of it 100+
Why do we pay attention to all the things this kind of person says?! Shailene Woodley’s post has about 7 comments and this mediocre creature’s has almost 50.
Mine included 🙁
There are so many things you can criticise about Melania, but it’s sad to see the huge amount of xenophobic insults that have been directed towards her.
Are you really surprised, then your’e not American, because that Nation is not really known for being xenophilic or, there is not even a word for antiracism/nonracism (i don’t know if that exist in your vocabulary )….
Sigh. You can’t support immigrants’ rights and then mock them for not speaking English well enough/with an accent. This is hypocritical of her.
Can I respectfully point out that not every English speaking person (well in the UK anyway) thinks everyone should be able to speak English. I am English and do not have a good ear for languages – struggling badly with spoken French at school, but managing to learn Italian post retirement. It ain’t easy for a lot of us. I respect anyone who is multi-lingual.
Chelsea Handler has ZERO CLASS. I pay no attention to anything she says. Her vulgarity and lack of respect assault my senses.
Not to stick up for her, because she’s shit, but people here were calling MT a mail order bride before people started to call them out on it. We all have been a little hypocritical when it comes to legit criticism of certain women and we all throw low blows. Either way, CH needs to shut up.
Once again, I’m not sticking up for CH, i’m just pointing something out.
Gross. How sweet, let’s drag down another woman while trying to fight for equality…FOR WOMEN.
My mom came from Israel to America at 33. It’s still hard for people to understand her because of her Israeli accent. She speaks English well, but the accent isn’t something that fades over night. She’s not a child where it’s easy to assimilate. My mom speaks Hebrew, English, French, Arabic (Syrian and Moroccan dialect) and Farsi. She’s also started learning Russian because of where she works. I wanna see white privileged Chelsea Handler speak all those languages as a native Hebrew speaker and immigrant.
She is one of these American, who only speak american, and thinks America is the World, but she is completely irrelevant.
Wow your Mom is learning Russian, that’s something, really difficult Laguage to learn, Hats off!
Anyone else remember Melania’s defense of Trump post Billy Bush Bus incident? It was during that interview that I first heard Melania talk, and I was really surprised that Melania had such poor grammar and sentence structure. She said during one painful moment (and i just rewatched the video clip): “They were kind of a boy talk, and he was lead on, egg-on…”
I’ve known many many ESL speakers. Some with very thick accents, thicker than Melania’s. Mimicking a native-speaker English (British or American) accent doesn’t come naturally to most people and it’s not really the most important thing, IMHO. What’s important is to keep working at understanding the rules of language so the content of your speech is clear. It’s just hard to believe she’s been in America on and off since 1996, presumably speaking English regularly since then, and is still making these kinds of errors. You’d think that daily communication would help, but maybe, living in a privileged bubble, she doesn’t get the natural corrections from, say, caring friends, that one might get in the wake of middle-class life.
Learning another language is hard as fuck and it’s super impressive Melania speaks so many languages fluently – but I think her English errors reveal the hazards of an over-privileged life in terms of personal growth. Chelsea Handler’s out of line with saying Melania barely speaks English, and it does not help us to understand the difficulties of ESL life in the USA most of us native-speakers don’t have to confront.
ETA: another point to consider is that this was a statement which was going to be broadcast on TV, which she probably (hopefully?) worked on with a PR person, preparing and refining it. How could this PR person not have coached her on her grammar? That would be a really easy fix within the Trumps’s considerable means.
It’s not the accent; it’s the plagiarism and lack of sympathy for others. I anxiously await the first lady’s defense of anyone other than her husband. Handler is not and has never been funny; why would she start now.
“They were kind of a boy talk, and he was lead on, egg-on…”
???
I know it’s about the infamous “Locker-Room talk” but that sentence confuses me…
I believe she meant to say, “They were talking the way boys will talk, and he was led on, and egged on by Billy,” implying otherwise he would never have said such things were it not for Billy’s corrupting influence on her fully-grown-adult-man of a husband. Yes, she literally said the words I typed out as I heard them, and it’s confusing because it’s terrible grammar.
Of course she would have an accent, I don’t see how anyone could criticize her for that. But she has lived in the US for decades now and has an English speaking husband….to be honest, I’m surprised that her English isn’t better than it is.
And she has access to the finest options like a language Trainer, which is expensive for normal had-working people, but she has no real Job, Time, Money, there is a lot of room for training…
I Think Accents can sound very lovely (i personally find it interesting), when the Person is able to speak that Language in a proper way.
sorry “hard-working”
Completely shallow, baseless and mean spirited snark on Melania and Barron is unconscionable. Say what you want about The Donald but his wife and child shouldn’t be splattered for standing nearby.
Think about it. Engaging in behavior like this by the left causes the Trump Supporters to feel justified in supporting him and HIS behaviors.
It makes everyone equally ugly and it gives everyone an “out” for their own contribution. “What I said (did) is NOTHING compared to (insert offending other here). So I’m cool (justified, without blame, etc..”. Ah hell no–you are not.
People are twisted and confounded in their logic when it comes to their own behavior. Be an adult and do the right thing.
I agree about Barron, yet some people will still try to defend why it is okay to talk about him.
I wanted her E show when it first came on, and I thought it was funny. But little by little, it stopped being funny, her humor just seemed lazy and mean.
She was the 12 year old bully. Every time her staff member at the “roundtable” opened his mouth she would scream “fag” at him.
Maybe funny once, as a riff on 12 year old bullies.
But I stopped watching because that lazy, mean spirited humor becomes less funny by the minute.
Was it the best, most carefully crafted argument about why Emperor Baby Fists is a disaster for this country? No. And it’s not something that bothers me. What bothers me is her husband is on the record going on about how in America we should all speak English. A major part of his platform and policies are keeping keeping immigrants out of this country, especially if they are entering ilegally. So…I don’t think it’s totally unfair that we hold his wife to those same standards.
Nothing wrong with saying everyone should speak English. Hes not saying that people should not speak any other language. I grew up in India, with its numerous languages and we have 2 official languages and everyone is expected to learn at least one of them. otherwise it’s difficult to have a sense of national identity and cohesivness.
Chelsea and Madonna need to go away. I hate that I feel they are making this all about them. Madonna wants so badly to be relevant again and I guess Chelsea is just trying to stay above water.
While I’m not going to feel sorry for Melania, I mean if this is the worst criticism she gets she’s fortunate. People called Michelle Obama far, far more atrocious things that I won’t even repeat.
My only dig on her is that she should be living at the White House to save taxpayers money. It is absolutely friggin ridiculous that they are getting away with that when the Republicans screamed about every.single.thing the Obama family did. They would have had hearings if Michelle and the girls stayed in Chicago. The hypocrisy literally make me sick!!
” It’s easy for the Deplorables to point to Handler and say ‘See? That’s what they’re all like.’ ”
As if there was anything Chelsea Handler or anyone on our side could do to make the Deplorables think any differently. It’s worthwhile to debate about how to present our message, but Handler could say and do everything exactly right and the Deplorables would still point at her and spit with venom.
Probably,
But do the right thing anyway.
Yes. I’m just suggesting it’s fool’s errand to think anything we say or do will change how the Deplorables react or think (or vote). They felt this way before now, they feel this way now even though they won, and they’ll feel this way when Trump et. al. are facing treason and corruption charges. Better to direct that same impulse towards policing ourselves and organizing our own base. If any of the Deplorables change their minds, that is just an added bonus. Lead by example, I guess, because our actual elected leaders aren’t doing it.
I don’t feel sorry for Melania. She can leave this marriage if she wanted to. He’s had previous wives that left him. She married him for his money and he married her for her looks, that is beyond obvious. They share zero love. I do think Chelsea Handler is a moron. Why do people think just because you aren’t fluent in English that you are somehow not intelligent? Can Chelsea speak any languages other than English? She needs to shut up.
Not to be defending Chelsea Handler here, not at all, she has nothing but vile things to say, but Melania does have a very limited vocab, then so does her husband… I have no doubt she experiences somewhat of the same problem in her mother tongue. It has nothing to do with her being Slovenian, it has everything to do with the person that she is. In all the years that she has lived in the US she probably never felt the need to become more affluent word-wise.
But really, what do you expect when you spend your live cooped up in a golden cage surrounded by deplorables?
THIS!
It’s a bit lazy to say it’s about the Language itself, it’s about the person, and to be honest, after 20 Years and all the options who came with Money (Language Trainer) i’m surprised about her linguistic performance, the accent is not a problem (in my opinion).
I know Chelsea Handler is not everyone’s cup of tea but I paused when i read “white privilege”. As a working female comic in late night, thats quite an accomplishment. She can absolutely be credited with bringing so many female comics into the fold. Her old show on E had at least two female comics on the panel over half the time. That is something she does not get enough credit for. Furthermore, Melania has gone on record to support her husbands racist and misogynistic policies. I just think Chelsea is an easy target too.. Meanwhile Fallon has baby fists on his show like no big deal.
Chelsea Handler should stop trying to sell herself as a commenter on women’s issues, first of all. Melanoma’s language difficulties are the least of her problems that I would find issue with. I’m totally fine if she can just take her horror show of a husband and sink back into obscurity. And oh, stop f***ing up midtown traffic and sucking down our city’s $$ while her husband promises to cut federal $$ to us to punish us for being a sanctuary city. Go live in DC like every other FLOTUS.
On the other hand, here’s an article from WaPo which has an interesting slant on how MT is liberating future FLOTUSs from a difficult position…??
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/01/19/melania-trump-refuses-to-act-like-a-first-lady-good-for-her/?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_2_na&utm_term=.b2cdb454b204
Thank you for this link. Unfortunately, the article is written by a Republican operative to undermine feminist positions and make Melania look like some kind of pioneer. She underplays the more controversial elements of Mrs. Trump’s life [ which wouldn’t matter so much if she were not the consort of a tyrant] Don’t forget. These are the same people who bashed Michelle Obama’s garden.
Interesting. Thanks.
Can you imagine if Michelle had stayed back with the girls how this would have gone down? MT is a selfish enabler to her crazy husband, and doesn’t give a s**t about her adopted country. But that’s the least of our problems in this era
Go away Chelsea. You are not helping.
Fair game. I have seen the nasty comments that a lot of white men and women (specially women) have wrote about Sofia Vergara’s accent. I call BS that Melania speaks 5 languages, some people who has never been out of the country think that all the Europeans “speak several languages”. If her french and her german and her siberian or whatever languages she speaks, are as good as her english……. well, I guess she is not fluent on either one of them.
By the way, I am latina and I have a strong spanish accent (just like Sofia’s or Salma’s or Penelope’s) and I took accent reduction classes at my local University but you have to do a lot of exercises and practice a lot (to reduce the accent not to eliminate it) and didn’t have the time or the patience to do it.
Thanks.
@ DOROTEA, almost all European speak several Languages, Fact, i’m European, but your’e right, i don’t believe the “5 Language” Fairy Tale, the more Languages you speak, the better you are to reduce/soften the accent sooner or later (it depends a little bit on your natural linguistic talent), and i’m with you, for her with all the Money she could afford a private Language Trainer, let’s say 18 Years ago, from the point when she was together with Agent Orange….I like a little bit accent, that’s the salt in the soup :), but i would try too, like you to train and reduce it, because alot of Americans look down at you, when they hear your accent, as if you’re not intelligent.
Are we sure she speaks 5 languages? They’ve also claimed she graduated college and worked legally in the US before obtaining her green card.
I love accents and love hearing people from other countries and other parts of US speaking. Of course, *I* don’t have an accent, everyone else does. /jk
#AlternativeFacts
Chelsea Handler is a pathetic bully. Her juvenile, school kid humor is so played. She was and never will be funny.
Keeping it classy, Chelsea, just like we expect of you.
Honestly, I’m shocked this woman gets airtime anymore. She’s not funny, just a no-class bully.
I saw the video clip of the interviewer asking Chelsea whether she’d ever have Melania on her show, and that’s when Chelsea responded “No. To talk about what? She can barely speak English.” and also clarified that she didn’t respect either one of them [her or her husband].
I know everyone wants to bag on Chelsea, but as far as her old show is concerned, she is right. She’s a comedian/social commentor not a journalist or mainstream talk show host. She’s racy and on the beat just like most shows of that type. I haven’t seen her new show. Is it like The View or something? If not, get real. She didn’t put down Melania for not being a good English speaker, she’s just being honest that Melania’s English proficiency level (that we can tell) would just not work on racy, entertainment TV as well as the fact that Melania doesn’t appear to ever have anything to say of interest or even have any opinions. So, Chelsea is just stating the obvious.
Btw, I know and have have in my family people with thick accents. I don’t mind struggling a little watching someone on TV with a strong accent if they have something interesting to say or have a personality, or something to convey. It’s all about context.
After re-reading Handler’s statement, it doesn’t seem that she actually made fun of Melania’s accent. All I could gather from her statement is that she feels Melania can barely speak English, which seems plausible considering even her husband can barely speak the language despite having English as his first language. Therefore, I find Handler’s criticism to be different from making fun of somebody’s accent.
Nonetheless, Handler herself isn’t a very sympathetic figure either. She’s so abrasive, she does run the risk of encouraging sympathy for Melania, even among people who probably can’t stand the new First Lady.
If she wasn’t mocking Melania’s accent, I have no problem with the statement that M does not speak English well for someone who has lived here for quite a while, has all the resources in the world etc. It is absolutely accurate to say that neither she nor her husband speaks English well.
Melania speaks serbian because it was the official language in jugoslavia at her school. And it’s very similar to slovenian. So everybody in slovenia speaks serbian too. (Slovenia was part of former jugoslavia till the war began in 1990 Fyi)
i bet her german skills are minimal because everybody in former jugoslavia speaks a little bit german because this was also a language in jugoslavian school, this and russian so i wonder why she didn’t list russian too. And slovenia is near austria, everybody there had Family members who worked in austria or germany so also german is a common language and many jugoslavian people speak a little bit german.
She knows some words for sure but i highly dout that she can actually have a conversation in german or french. People who speak many languages are much better in the language of the country they live in. But shes a typical jugoslavian hillbilly who just cant speak properly English. After 20 years in the us, her accent should be less. I am from former jugoslavia too, i know what im talking about. I know people who have the same history like her, went to the us or germany in their 20s and they speak much much better then melania, why? Beacause these people forced themselves to read and educate themselfs. Nothing what Melania did obviously. She had other skills.
I dont blame her for her life but shes a liar like her husband. She lied with her university degree and with the language she claims to speak. A person who has the guts to lie about her education and a college or university degree is nobody to trust because this is not a little lie this is a mayor fraud. And you can be sued for that.
Do we even know for sure EXACTLY how many languages she speaks? Most people say 4. Some say 6. Two people said they read she spoke 3. Without wanting to align myself with Handler, I honestly doubt it is more than 2 fluently. Do we have proof? Or just bios that say different things? Considering she lied about her degree from that Slovenian university, I doubt any claim made by her.
I agree with the Celebitchy article. There are many, many reasons to criticise Melania but her accent is not one of them. The fact that English is not her first language shouldn’t be a reason to criticise her either.
Ugh….ok so while I guess I don’t personally care bout accents as much as most (apparently) and saying that to also be clear this isn’t even personal to Melania however I can totally see where chelsea was coming from…Im usually more offended trying to alternate MY English speaking to accommodate someone else’s LACK OF…this is think) is America yes English speaking dominates always will….if I go to Spain indeed I should b able to communicate the way THEY do….why is it offensive to feel that it goes for them too??? If u can speak 5 languages it’s only impressive if u execute the skill…I shouldn’t have to dumb down English tongue bc u learned the bare minimum and I’m sorry but soooo many speak such lousy English frankly that’s offensive like eff it I’d rather pronounce everything wrong use mismatched words they’ll misunderstand everything u say and you in turn misunderstand them ugh why is THAT OK