Chelsea Handler. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Comedian Chelsea Handler opened up recently about discovering her mother was not Jewish but still embracing Judaism when growing up.

Handler, 44, was speaking on stage at the 2020 Makers Conference in Los Angeles on Feb. 10 with best-selling Jewish author Judy Blume, 82, about the 50th anniversary of the latter’s young adult novel, Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret?, and said the book, which will be remade into a movie, resonated with her when she discovered her family’s true religious identity.

“I related to that kind of conflict of religion,” Handler told the author about her 1970 book, in which the protagonist struggles growing up in an interfaith family. “At that time, I just found out my mom was Mormon, on top of thinking she was Jewish, so it was a very confusing time. But your books were such a reprieve for me and such a joy.”

Handler — who is known for making controversial statements — added: “I grew up as a Jew and Mormon… so we had to choose and I chose Jewish, obviously, because Mormonism is so ridiculous.”

Handler’s father, Seymour Handler, was an Ashkenazi Jew. The comedian decided to follow her father’s religion and even had a bat mitzvah at a Reform synagogue.

Blume also talked about her own family and her late Jewish father’s influence on her, saying, “He was the parent that I looked up to, he was the parent that I identified with most. He was like, ‘Go for it, shoot for the moon.’ Unfortunately, he died suddenly when I was 21 and he was 54. I lost him. I lost that great promoter.”