Who among us hasn’t been forced to give a friend a talking-to after a night out? If you don’t fall into that category, well, either your only friends are boring or you’re a pushover. Either way, it’s otherwise a universal experience—even if you’re a celebrity and especially if you’re Jane Fonda, apparently.
In Chelsea Handler’s latest book, I’ll Have What She’s Having (released on Tuesday), the comedian recalls a very stern scolding from none other than the legendary actor and activist after she acted a fool at one of her parties. Handler writes that she remembers Fonda being icy when she saw her months afterward at Shonda Rhimes’ fundraiser for the late congressman and civil rights icon, John Lewis (perhaps this one in 2017?) but hadn’t thought much of it until she received the email.
“I got an email from Jane Fonda one day that said, ‘Hi, Chelsea, It’s Jane. I was wondering if you could come over to my house for dinner. I’d like to talk to you about a couple of things,’” Handler writes in the book, noting the tone seemed “ominous” and “terse.”
When Handler arrived at Fonda’s, she noted her coldness, but Fonda cut straight to the chase.
“You behaved badly at my party,” she began, Handler recalls in the memoir. “From the moment you came in, you had a black cloud hanging over you and you insulted people and it brought the whole party down. I don’t know what drugs you were on, but a few people told me you were horrible to them.” She also asked why Handler would attend at all if she were in “that kind of mood.” Again, who among us hasn’t had to deliver a “you behaved badly at my party” speech to a friend? And if you’re me, you’ve also been on the receiving end. Side note: What does one prepare for dinner when they have to call out their friend like this? Soup? Roast chicken? A knuckle sandwich?
“The truth of the matter was: Who knows what drugs I was on? It could have been anything,” Handler writes. Clearly, it wasn’t the fun kind…
Handler described the conversation as “embarrassing, painful, and definitely cringeworthy” and that she told Fonda she was in therapy for “deep anger” which was likely related to the incident.
“‘Good,’” Fonda said. “‘Go find out what your problem is, because your gifts are plentiful, and sometimes people with the most gifts have the easiest time throwing them in the trash. Don’t be a product of your environment, Chelsea. Make your environment be a product of you.’”
Damn. Not that I would expect anything less of Fonda, but “make your environment a product of you” is one of those white woman idioms that actually makes an impact. And impact it certainly made on Handler from what it sounds like.
“I needed someone to do that with me, and even in that moment of shame, I knew she would never have to speak to me about my behavior again because that’s what that kind of honesty deserves: action,” Handler wrote.
On Sunday, Fonda was awarded the Life Achievement Award at the 31st annual SAG Awards, where she delivered another needful scolding via a fire and brimstone speech entreating her fellow celebrities to stand with the marginalized against the daily horrors brought by President Trump.
“This is it, and it’s not a rehearsal,” she said. “And we mustn’t for a moment kid ourselves about what is happening. This is big-time serious. We must not isolate.”
Now, if only Fonda had reprimanded Handler about her Zionism…
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