Last week, Tiffany Haddish and fellow comedian Aries Spears were accused of child sex abuse. The allegations were in response to comedy sketches the two were part of in 2013 and 2014.
The suit has been filed by two plaintiffs who are choosing to remain anonymous. They accuse Haddish and Spears of requiring the two anonymous people to perform indecent acts to benefit the comedy sketches.
The two anonymous plaintiffs were fourteen and seven years old when the sketches were filmed.
The lawsuit they have filed accuses Haddish and Spears of intentionally inflicting sexual harassment, sexual battery, sexual abuse of a minor, emotional distress, negligent supervision, gross negligence, constructive fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty.
What did Tiffany Haddish do to cause the lawsuit?
Allegedly, Haddish had a large role in the distress the two plaintiffs experienced. The female plaintiff, who was fourteen at the time of the incident, says that Haddish and Spears took her to a Hollywood studio in order to record a ‘sexually suggestive’ video.
Arriving at the studio, the plaintiff was asked by the two comedians to view a video of women eating a sandwich, “moaning and making sexual noises as they both ate the sandwich in a manner that simulated the act of fellatio.”
After the video was done, the plaintiff says Spears asked her to recreate what she’d seen in the video. The suit says she was specifically asked to mimic the noises precisely like what she had heard throughout the video.”
For this work, the plaintiff says she was paid $100.
Haddish and Spears organize another sketch
One year on, Haddish and Spears reached out again to make a second video. This time, the seven-year-old brother of the female plaintiff is used. The video, called ‘Through a Pedophile’s Eyes’, required the seven-year-old to take off all his clothes but his underwear.
Spears then acted as though he were “lusting over the 7-year-old child and molesting him throughout the video.” The suit alleges that Haddish was present during the filming of this video.
After filming was over, the young child called his mother “crying, saying he did not want to film anymore.”
How has Haddish responded?
Haddish’s response comes in two parts. The first was Haddish’s initial response, which came through her attorney, Andrew Brettler.
In a statement to BuzzFeed News, Brettler denied the allegations. Calling the lawsuit ‘frivolous’, Brettler suggested that it was merely an attempt to get money from Haddish.
In the past week, however, Haddish has responded to Instagram with a statement.
“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. 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.”
People have not taken to the response well. Many have felt for the children and their families.
Like…there’s literally VIDEO evidence of what Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears are accused of. There’s no defending the shit. My heart breaks for the mother, because she’s been screaming at the top of her lungs about what happened to her kids, for years, and was ignored.
— Bean Nicky Barnes?????? (@BeanNickyBarnes) September 1, 2022
While others have pointed out that Haddish’s legal counsel has a history of representing well-known sexual abusers.
That lawyer also represents… Armie Hammer, Dave Portnoy, and Chris Noth. He’s well-known for defending people accused of sex crimes and for using victim-blaming and shaming tactics
— Kat Tenbarge (@kattenbarge) September 1, 2022
The result of the case may take a while to figure out. Sadly this isn’t the first and likely won’t be the last time public figures are accused of sexual assault and harassment.
