Tiffany Haddish “Deeply” Regrets Comedy Video That Caused Child Sexual Abuse Suit; “Wasn’t Funny At All”
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A week after being sued for alleging sexually abusing a minor almost a decade ago, Tiffany Haddish has finally spoken out.
Referencing the 2014 video “Through a Pedophile’s Eyes” made with co-defendant Aries Spears, the Afterparty star took to social media early Monday morning to say that “clearly, while this sketch was intended to be comedic, it wasn’t funny at all – and I deeply regret having agreed to act in it.”
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In the Instagram post, Haddish also said, “unfortunately, because there is an ongoing legal case, there’s very little that I can say right now.”
In an explicit and disquieting eight-page complaint filed August 27 in Los Angeles Superior Court, Haddish and MADtv alum Spears are accused of grooming and molesting a then-14-year old Jane Doe and her then-7-year old John Doe brother. “The Plaintiffs were both minors and were incapable of consenting to participate in sexually graphic videos distributed and published via Funny or Die‘s platform,” the suit asserts. “There was no parent or guardian present,” the unsettling filing states, and claims Haddish “aided, abetted and watched Spears sexually molest a child.”
The children at the heart of the legal action are the offspring of a woman who was a “longtime family friend” of Haddish’s, according to the complaint, which seeks unspecified damages. Lacking a lawyer, Nevada resident Jane Doe is representing herself in the suit (read it here).
Although Haddish was silent at the time the complaint was filed, her lawyer Andrew Brettler and Funny or Die were not.
“Plaintiff’s mother, Trizah Morris, has been trying to assert these bogus claims against Ms. Haddish for several years,” said Brettler in a statement to Deadline. “Every attorney who has initially taken on her case — and there were several — ultimately dropped the matter once it became clear that the claims were meritless and Ms. Haddish would not be shaken down,” the Lavely & Singer attorney added. “Now, Ms. Morris has her adult daughter representing herself in this lawsuit. The two of them will together face the consequences of pursuing this frivolous action.”
“Funny Or Die found this video absolutely disgusting and would never produce such content,” said the company in response to the lawsuit. “We were not involved with the conceptualization, development, funding or production of this video. It was uploaded to the site as user-generated content and was removed in 2018 immediately after becoming aware of its existence.”
Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/TV production company founded in 2007 by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme and Chris Henchy.
This suit represents Haddish’s second run-in with the law this year. The Girls Trip actress was arrested in January on suspicion of driving under the influence while in Georgia filming the Disney horror comedy Haunted Mansion. Grammy and Emmy winner Haddish was released quickly after posting a $1,666 bond. Although Haddish has joked about it publicly since, the matter is still ongoing in the Peach State.
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