From Dinner Party: My American Experience, with Chelsea Handler.
This week, an old clip from her interview with Regina King, Jennifer Garner, and others resurfaced online.
Netflix describes the episode as a sit-down for them to "discuss their roots, patriotism, religion, and modern America's complexities."
The video begins with Chelsea asking her guests — who also include Rob Riggle, Mary McCormack, and Dan Savage — to share a little about their families and where they're from as they sit down for dinner. Regina goes first, sharing that she's "proudly" from LA. "Born and bred," she says. "One of the few people that are born and bred in LA."
"It's, I think, a very cool thing," Regina adds, "and I kind of wear it on my chest very proudly because so many people say, 'Oh, LA is this and LA is that,' and I'm like, well, you're not from LA, so you don't really know it."
Jennifer — who's sitting across from her — then interrupts to ask, "But do you know where your ancestors are from?"
"Well, yeah," Regina replies, laughing slightly awkwardly. "They were part of the triangle slave trade. From Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Senegal, but my parents are both from the South."
Jen's from Houston, but she was raised in West Virginia, if you were wondering.
People found the question strange and inappropriate. And shocking, coming from one of our faves to another.
[quote] Oh I see why Ben left her ass . — Marie, MSN, APRN, FNP-C (@FnpMarieOH) August 2, 2023
[quote] Bitch what? Has Jennifer Garner been a KKKaren this whole time? — Tanesha, BSN RN Karen Kryptonite (@ERnurse86) August 3, 2023
[quote] The look on her face + that backhanded ass question oh that was a hard R for sure — Maya Angelique👑 (@moneyymaya) August 2,
[quote] JenniferGarner knows full well that AfricanAmericans ability to know where our ancestors came from is marred by the fact that they were STOLEN from WestAfrica. Chelsea asked where her parents were from not her 5thgreatgrandmother. Shout out to ReginaKing for not going in on her. — Renee (@ReneeRevelation) August 3, 2023
[quote] that jennifer garner clip really hits home bc you’ll be having a nice conversation in a group and all of a sudden someone asks something completely out of pocket that turns the whole conversation awkward af like she’s a weirdooooo :/ booo tomato tomato tomato — k$ (@k_warr4)
[quote] “buT Do yOu KnOw WhErE YouR anCesToRs aRe FrOm?” Idk man that question and the look Jennifer Garner is giving? I *don’t* like it. pic. — Shay (@shaynuh_elle) August 1, 2023
[quote] jennifer garner killed her good girl rep overnight omg 😭 some people need to rly sit there and eat their food and mind their business — b (@coldbabyy) August 4, 2023
[quote] However you want to cut it, Jennifer Garner’s question was insensitive ( and possibly disgusting. Depending on the way she meant it). Apparently the premise of the episode was ancestry, and it slipped her mind. And that’s a big “if.” Regardless, read the damn room. — 𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒃𝒂𝒍’𝒔 𝑫𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 (@Dixonapocolypse) August 3, 2023
So far, neither of them has commented on the resurfaced clip, but we'll let you know if they do! In the meantime, you can see the whole convo here on Netflix.
