Tiffany Haddish’s Controversies Go Farther Back Than Her Ignorant Comments About Protesters
Tiffany Haddish’s recent comments about college campus protests over Israel’s attacks on Gaza have led to her past controversies resurfacing.
The Girls Trip actress recently participated in the Netflix Is a Joke Festival, where she decided to insert her opinions on the Israel-Hamas war into her stand-up act. Specifically, she took aim at the protests happening on college campuses across the nation and slammed their efforts. Repeatedly she questioned, “Why would I give a f**k about the college?” while declaring that all students were “stupid motherf***ers” who never worked a day in their lives. Haddish also brought up 9/11, suggesting that America should have the same response to the Israel-Hamas War as it did to the terrorist attack.
She also went on a strange rant about her trip to Israel last year, stating, “I went over there to Israel, it’s a gang of Black people that live there, and they Jewish, and circumcised … every religion is there! … Everybody was there. Palestinians was there and they was telling me what it was like over there in Gaza, and they was telling me how hard it is to be from there, and I was like, ‘Damn, you describing South Central L.A. on 10, b***h.’” The bizarre rant left audiences in confused silence.
Haddish later clarified her comments to TMZ, stating that she wanted college students to take different actions, such as writing letters to Congress or entering politics themselves. She also claimed that all college protestors were blocking Jewish students from attending class, although most protests have been peaceful, and she compared what colleges were doing to Nazi rule. As Haddish’s ignorant and bizarre rant went viral, many were quick to point out that this was far from her first controversy.
Tiffany Haddish’s past controversies explained
Haddish has been involved in a few recent controversies, including two arrests for driving under the influence. In 2022 and 2023, she was arrested on charges of DUI after police received 911 calls reporting Haddish was unconscious behind the wheel while her car was still in motion. Haddish ultimately had the DUI charges dropped after accepting a plea deal. In April, she revealed she was three months sober but also pointed out it was court-mandated sobriety instead of her own choice. While she is now attempting to abstain from alcohol, it doesn’t change the fact that she endangered numerous lives through her actions on two separate occasions.
In addition to DUI charges, Haddish also faced a child sexual abuse lawsuit. In September 2022, a lawsuit was filed by Jane Doe on behalf of herself and her younger brother, John Doe. The anonymous pair of siblings were 22 and 15 at the time of the filing. In the suit, Jane alleged that Haddish and fellow comedian Aries Spears had forced the siblings to participate in inappropriate skits when they were both minors. The siblings knew Haddish because she was a friend of their mother’s. Their mom and Haddish struck up a friendship, given that they were both involved in comedy and going through divorces at the time they met. Haddish became close to Jane and John, even calling them her niece and nephew.
However, when Jane was 14, Haddish persuaded Jane’s mother to let her participate in a commercial that she and Spears were shooting. The content of the commercial was never disclosed to Jane or her mother beforehand. Jane was shocked and deeply uncomfortable when she was instructed to eat a sandwich in a sexually suggestive manner. When Haddish was unsatisfied with her performance, she allegedly explained to Jane “how to give fellatio.” Jane was deeply unsettled by the incident but opted not to tell her mother about it.
A short time later, Haddish and Spears had both Jane and John come to Spears’ home to shoot a video without their mother. Jane was told to wait downstairs while John completed his shoot first upstairs, which they claimed was a Nickelodeon reel. Instead, John ended up performing in a disturbing video titled “The Mind of a Pedophile,” which was later posted to Funny or Die before being removed by the site. He also alleged that he was molested by Spears during the shoot.
Immediately after shooting, John called his mother, crying and begging her not to do any more filming. Jane was also alarmed when her brother came downstairs, still crying. After the incident, the siblings’ mother repeatedly demanded that Haddish explain what happened or show her the footage of her son, to which the actress refused. Eventually, Haddish lied that the footage was deleted, even though it continued to be distributed without the family’s permission.
Finally, four years later, the siblings’ mother stumbled across a description of the video online and was horrified to learn the truth of what had happened. In 2019, the mother reached a settlement with Spears for the removal of the video. She also filed a police report in 2020, though nothing came of it. Jane ultimately filed the lawsuit, which accuses both Spears and Haddish of “intentional infliction of emotional distress, gross negligence, sexual battery, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse of a minor.”
Haddish’s response to Jane Doe’s lawsuit
Initially, Haddish’s lawyer vehemently denied the claims, calling them “bogus.” However, Haddish later issued a statement in which she acknowledged she took part in the skit, stating, “I deeply regret having agreed to act in that skit.” The lawsuit was soon dropped, though, at the request of Jane. She did not explain her reason for dropping the suit but asked it be dropped with prejudice, meaning it cannot be reopened. Jane also offered a brief statement saying she and her family knew Haddish would never harm her or her brother or “help anyone else do anything that could harm” them.
Haddish later described it as a “relief” that the suit was dropped and complained about supposedly losing gigs and jobs over it. She also gloated, “I’m pretty sure ain’t nobody else going to be coming after me anytime soon.” Of course, many were unsatisfied that Haddish faced no legal consequences even though the existence of the video was confirmed, and Haddish admitted her involvement in it. The matter isn’t over, though, as the siblings’ mother later filed a defamation lawsuit against Haddish, which is still pending.
(featured image: Leon Bennett / Getty)
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