Comedians Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears have been accused of child sexual abuse in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, August 30, which claims the pair coerced minors into filming explicit skits.
Haddish’s attorney Andrew Brettler has denied the claims, referring to the accusations as a “shakedown.” In a statement (via People), Brettler said that the plaintiff’s mother, Trizah Morris, “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.”
In the suit, a 22-year-old woman identified as “Jane Doe” claims that when she was 14, Haddish took her to the taping of a “sexually suggestive Subway commercial,” stating it would help with Jane Doe’s television career. The claim continues that Haddish allegedly showed Jane Doe how to perform inappropriate sexual acts.
It also claims that Haddish and Spears filmed a sexually inappropriate comedy sketch with Jane Doe and her then 7-year-old brother, referred to as “John Doe.” It alleges that Haddish witnessed “and aided, abetted, and watched Spears sexually molest a child” in the video that saw Spears playing a pedophile and Haddish playing the child’s mother.
The video was allegedly uploaded to the website Funny or Die in 2014 before being pulled in 2018. “Funny Or Die found this video absolutely disgusting and would never produce such content,” the website told TMZ. “We were not involved with the conceptualization, development, funding, or production… It was uploaded to the site as user-generated content and was removed in 2018 immediately after becoming aware of its existence.”
Haddish and Spears are being sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress, gross negligence, sexual battery, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse of a minor. Haddish is also being sued for negligence supervision/failure to warn, breach of fiduciary duty, and constructive fraud.
Spears is a stand-up comedian best known for his time as a cast member on Fox’s sketch comedy series MADtv. Haddish is known for her role in the film Girls Trip and playing Detective Danner in the Apple+ murder mystery series The Afterparty; she also hosted Kids Say the Darndest Things.
