US comedian Chelsea Handler has claimed she was shut out of her school hall of fame because of her public comments on abortion.
The 47-year-old shared that she had three abortions while attending her high school in New Jersey during her guest host monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week.
“Do you know what men on the internet had to say about that?” Handler asked the show’s audience on Tuesday (28 June) night. “I don’t because I don’t give a f***,” she said, drawing cheers.
“But my old high school does,” Handler continued. “I recently found out that my high school in New Jersey, Livingston High School, is refusing to induct me into their alumni hall of fame.
“Jason Alexander and Chris Christie made it, but not me,” she said, referencing the former Seinfeld star and the controversial former governor of New Jersey. Christie was involved in numerous public controversies including lounging on a state beach that he’d shut to the public.
“Apparently, the school is upset about how much I talk about my abortions, so I decided to start a grassroots campaign.
“You should donate to Planned Parenthood, and then march, and then vote, but after you’re done with that, go online and tweet a message to the school district for my alma mater @LivSchools,” she said. “Let them know how you feel about this gross injustice and use the hashtag #Hall4Handler.
“Have fun with it. Make me proud,” she concluded. “Livingston High, the hall is in your court.”
The Independent has contacted Livingston Public Schools for comment.
Handler’s comments come in light of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn constitutional rights to abortion last week.
The court ruled in favour of a Mississippi law that outlaws abortion at 15 weeks of pregnancy while also overturning key precedents established by the 1973 decision in Roe v Wade.
