What’s the Latest on the Tiffany Haddish Scandal?
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If you regularly watch the news, you may recall a recent lawsuit against Tiffany Haddish and comedian Aries Spears, whom Haddish worked with on several comedy sketches for Funny or Die and other online comedy platforms. There have been more developments in the case since everything surfaced at the beginning of this month, so read on below for the latest information on the Tiffany Haddish scandal.
Some background information
On September 1, a lawsuit was filed against actress Tiffany Haddish and comedian Aries Spears under the accusation that they allegedly sexually abused two minors. The lawsuit claimed that Haddish and Spears hired a brother and sister for roles in several comedy skits when they were seven and fourteen, respectively.
The suit alleged that Haddish and Spears asked both minors to perform sexually suggestive content while being filmed on two separate occasions. The girl was reportedly asked to simulate suggestive acts using a sandwich for one comedy sketch, while the boy was to perform suggestive acts in a sketch titled “Through a Pedophile’s Eyes.”
Spears’ comments
After making no initial comment about the lawsuit, Spears broke his silence on September 7th on his podcast “Spears & Steinberg,” where he and comedian Andy Steinberg discuss comedy and current events.
On the podcast, Spears called the lawsuit “extortion” and “a shakedown” and said, “We will not be shaken down.” Spears hasn’t said anything else regarding the case since then but apparently is no longer in communication with Haddish.
Haddish’s statement
The lawsuit has clearly had a serious negative impact on both Haddish and Spears’ careers, to the point where Haddish claims she is now unable to book comedy gigs anymore. Haddish won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 2019 and was named as one of Time’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2018, and she has been used to regularly selling out comedy venues in the past.
Regarding the lawsuit, Haddish said, ”I lost everything. All my gigs, gone. Everything, gone. I don’t have no job. I don’t have no job, bro.” Events like this can be career-ending or extremely damaging, even if the allegations are proven false.
The lawsuit was dropped
On September 20th, the unnamed woman dropped her lawsuit against Haddish and Spears. In a statement to TMZ, she said that she and her family “now know that (Haddish) would never harm me or my brother or help anyone else do anything that could harm us.”
The lawsuit was dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning that the plaintiffs are legally barred from bringing the same matter to court again. A lawyer for Haddish stated that the mother of the two minors involved, who evidently was a major factor in the lawsuit, “has been trying to assert these bogus claims against Ms. Haddish for several years.”
Haddish and Spears are now protected from further legal action. In response to this, Haddish stated, “I’m pretty sure ain’t nobody else going to be coming after me anytime soon,” she said. “And if there is somebody else, that s— fake.”