Tiffany Haddish Says She Didn’t ‘Get a Dime’ for First Starring Film Role, Despite Streaming Success (Video)

Tiffany Haddish has a bone to pick over her first starring film role, which she says picked up steam on cable TV and streaming as her breakout “Girls Trip” became a hit in the summer of 2017.

Haddish, in an interview with The Associated Press, said she wasn’t properly compensated after the film was “all over” BET, VH1 and other networks.

“Then the streaming is everywhere, that movie,” Haddish said in a video you can watch above. “And I don’t get a dime.”

Haddish, 43, didn’t name the film but said she was homeless as it was being shot.

“They were supposed to pay me $1,200 to do the movie,” Haddish said. “I wasn’t in a union. It was a nonunion film so there’s nothing I could do about it. They never paid me a dime. The producers gave me 10 DVDs and said, ‘Sell those. Good luck.'”

Haddish added that she never watched the movie, calling it the “second-worst movie” of her career.

By all accounts, had the role been shot under a SAG-AFTRA contract, it would have triggered significant residuals when reaired on cable networks. In any event, the reairs of the film on streaming platforms would have paid a fraction of what cable TV does. That’s been as a major sticking point for SAG-AFTRA in its strike against the AMPTP, which on Friday hit 56 days. (The WGA strike meanwhile is at 129 days and counting.)

Haddish’s fortunes soon changed.

Haddish said in 2020 she was paid $80,000 for “Girls Trip,” which helped propel her into other big leading roles. That includes 2018’s “Night School” with Kevin Hart and most recently “Haunted Mansion” and the Apple TV+ series “The Afterparty.”

“Girls Trip” — costarring Regina Hall, Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith — was released in theaters in July 2017 and became a surprise hit that summer. That was especially surprising considering the decline of mainstream comedies at the box office was already fully underway. On a $19 million budget, “Girls Trip” grossed more than $140 million worldwide.

Haddish’s first credited film was 2005’s “The Urban Demographic,” though it’s unclear if this is the film she was referring to in the video.

For more of TheWrap’s Hollywood strike coverage, click here.

An earlier version of this story misstated that Haddish was referring to “Girls Trip” and a lack of streaming residuals when she mentioned she doesn’t “get a dime.” The story has been corrected throughout to clarify the reference.

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