Sophia Michaels
Tiffany Haddish has addressed the child sex abuse lawsuit filed against her and fellow comedian Ariel Spears, saying in a social media statement Monday that the incident involving the two minors was over a comedy sketch that “wasn’t funny at all.”
“I know people have a bunch of questions. I get it. I’m right there with you. Unfortunately, because there is an ongoing legal case, there’s very little that I can say right now,” Haddish said.
“But, 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. I really look forward to being able to share a lot more about this situation as soon as I can.”
With Haddish’s statement, the actress positioned herself as hired talent on the videos, and not their creator.
“We are not swayed by Tiffany’s meager attempt at shifting responsibility solely onto Aries Spears,” the Jane Doe plaintiff said Monday in a statement to Rolling Stone. “Tiffany did not apologize for the harm she caused to my brother and me. Tiffany did not acknowledge the fact that she intentionally lied to our mother by telling her that my brother would be filming a Nickelodeon sizzle reel, when in fact her real intention was to isolate him and molest him with Aries Spears.”
The lawsuit — filed by a now-22-year-old Jane Doe — alleges that Haddish and Spears coerced the then-14-year-old girl and her seven-year-old brother to appear in sexually explicit comedy skits that left them with “severe emotional damage.”
The plaintiff claimed that the comedians groomed both minors and compelled them to participate in separate, sexually suggestive video shoots without a parent or guardian present in 2013 and 2014.
One of those videos, titled “Through a Pedophile’s Eyes,” was uploaded to comedy website Funny or Die, which confirmed the video was shared on its platform before it was later deleted.
“Funny Or Die found this video absolutely disgusting and would never produce such content,” the company said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “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.”
Jane Doe previously said in an email to Rolling Stone, “The evidence is out there for the world to see. There is no denying that my brother was molested by Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears in 2014.”
Haddish’s lawyer Andrew Brettler said in a statement to Rolling Stone, “Plaintiff’s mother, [name redacted], has been trying to assert these bogus claims against Ms. Haddish for several years. 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.”
“We are not going to stop until we receive justice,” the Jane Doe plaintiff added Monday. “We are asking that the public support us by signing the change.org petition calling for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears.”
