Chelsea Handler has portrayed herself as a “victim” and claims the Los Angeles mansion she bought from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines is a goldmine, but sources tell Page Six that she is only using it as an opportunity to “smear and discredit” the couple.
The Lefty comic claims the US Health and Human Services secretary and his actress wife sold her a “toxic” house in the trendy Brentwood neighborhood, and now jokes that she may have gotten “chlamydia, measles and herpes” from Kennedy, 72.
But insiders familiar with the situation insist it was up to Handler to raise “red flags” when he acquired the property in October 2021 for $5.9 million.
“Chelsea sacrificed themselves,” said one source. “She pulled the trigger on a $6 million home. It was her responsibility and it was the inspector’s responsibility (to raise the issue). Why is she waiting five years to bring it up?”
The source believes Handler is striking because “she doesn’t care about the (Trump) administration. She hates Trump and his associates. That’s why.”
Handler, 51, claims she left the circa-1937 home that Kennedy and Hines owned for four years because it was in too disrepair to move in. “I haven’t lived in this house yet. That’s how messed up this house was,” she said on her Dear Chelsea podcast earlier this month.
But no one “held a gun to her head” to complete the purchase, the source said, insisting that “problems with the property were only discovered when Chelsea’s team started knocking down walls for major renovations. It’s an old house and she had every opportunity to check it out.”
Handler also said she first learned who the previous owner was when “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Hines, 60, left a letter at her home.
“Cheryl Hines wrote me a letter saying, ‘Thank you, I’m so glad you bought the house. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you,'” Handler said on the podcast. “And I thought, ‘Oh no! Did I buy RFK Jr.’s house?’ Like I’m the only person in the world flagging that I shouldn’t buy the house.”
A source said: “It was a beautiful handwritten note from someone wishing them luck in their new home… It’s not like Cheryl and Bobby were trying to unload their toxic home, but that wasn’t going to happen.”
“Everything Chelsea has said paints herself as a victim,” the source added. “You think people are going to feel sorry for you when they can’t afford gas or groceries.”
Despite Handler’s complaints, it appears the five-bed, six-bathroom property has already appreciated in value, with Zillow reporting it’s worth a whopping $8 million.
Meanwhile, Handler continued to tease the home sale during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday.
“It took us four years to move in,” she said. “There were a lot of problems with the house. I blame (Kennedy). It wasn’t discovered during the inspection. And there was a lot of drama in this house. But I just moved in for the first time yesterday. So I’m fine.”
“I mean, I have chlamydia and herpes, and what else does he have?” Handler joked of Kennedy, 72, “Oh, measles. I have chlamydia, measles and herpes.”
Handler has previously said that Trump’s election in 2016 caused such deep pain that she felt the loss of a family member, leading her to seek therapy and consider moving to Spain.
Handler claimed on the podcast that the engineer “opened up the house” and “said, ‘This house is the most toxic environment. You can’t live here for at least two years.'”
“I’m not exaggerating. It was a disaster, and I didn’t know it was going to go in…” she said on the podcast, claiming that three people in the east told her the house was “cursed.”
We reached out to Handler, Kennedy and Hines for comment.
Rick Tyberg and Douglas Elliman of Tyberg Duffy Group told Page Six that a “general inspection” is just the starting point for a home purchase.
“What’s really important is knowing when to bring in the right professionals, whether it’s water intrusion, mold, foundation issues, drainage, or something else that’s causing it,” he said.
“Some of these problems are serious, and more importantly, they are often never-ending. What may seem manageable on the surface can quickly turn into very expensive or even worse problems, creating financial problems for the buyer long after the deal closes,” Tyberg said.
“At the end of the day, it’s not just about getting into the home, it’s about making sure it’s the right home in the right conditions, and making sure there are no surprises after closing.”
