The Tiffany Haddish Sex Abuse Lawsuit Just Took An Abrupt Turn
The lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears has been dismissed.
This article is more than 2 years old
The sexual abuse lawsuit against Tiffany Haddish (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent) and Aries Spears (MADtv) has been dropped. The lawsuit was filed by a Jane Doe plaintiff who accused Haddish and Spears of forcing her and her brother to perform sexually suggestive acts on camera when the two were minors. According to court documents obtained by TMZ, the plaintiff asked for the case to be dismissed with prejudice — meaning that it can’t be refiled.
The woman who filed the lawsuit gave a statement on the decision to drop the allegations, saying “My family and I have known Tiffany Haddish for many years — and we now know that she would never harm me or my brother or help anyone else do anything that could harm us. We wish Tiffany the best and are glad that we can all put this behind us.” The statement did not include any remarks about Aries Spears, but he is still freed from facing the lawsuit.
The lawsuit against Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears was filed last month by a 22-year-old plaintiff. In the lawsuit, it alleges that the two comedians participated in intentional infliction of emotional distress, gross negligence, sexual battery, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse of a minor. Haddish also faces allegations of negligent supervision/failure to warn, breach of fiduciary duty, and constructive fraud. According to the suit, the alleged incidents happened when the woman was 14 years of age and the brother, listed as a John Doe, was 7.
Both representatives for Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears vehemently denied the allegations, mentioning that the plaintiff’s mother was attempting to “shakedown” the two actors with “bogus claims.” Haddish’s attorney Andrew Brettler went on to say that several attorneys who initially took the plaintiff’s case ended up dropping them shortly after. With the case being dismissed with prejudice, it appears that the plaintiff won’t be pursuing action again in the future.
At the center of the lawsuit against Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears was a sketch uploaded to the Will Ferrell-founded Funny or Die website that was titled “Through a Pedophile’s Eyes.” Allegedly, the sketch portrayed Spears as a pedophile who rubbed massage oil on John Doe’s back and observed him in a bathtub while smoking a cigarette. This alleged incident took place in 2014 and Jane was allegedly told to stay downstairs while her brother filmed upstairs.
The lawsuit also details a separate alleged incident in 2013 in a sketch that involved Jane Doe. The suit alleges that Jane Doe was shown a video of a man and woman simulating oral sex with a sandwich. It further alleges that Spears told Jane Doe to mimic the video and Haddish explained how to perform oral sex.
A representative for Funny or Die explained that the sketch was uploaded as user-generated content and they were not involved with the creation of the sketch. Funny or Die quickly removed the sketch from their site in 2018 when they were made aware of it. They added that they found the video to be “absolutely disgusting.”
After the lawsuit spread through the news, Tiffany Haddish took to social media to apologize for being part of the Funny or Die sketch. It’s unclear at this time if the lawsuit was dropped completely or if a settlement was reached out of court. We’ll keep you updated with further news, but it appears that Spears and Haddish won’t be dealing with these allegations any longer.
