Tiffany Haddish says she ‘deeply’ regrets being in sketches that prompted sexual misconduct lawsuit
On Monday, Haddish shared a post on Instagram in which she acknowledged that the skit at the suit's center wasn't at all entertaining.
Tiffany Haddish has expressed her deep regret for participating in the skit that has placed her and fellow comedian Aries Spears at the center of a sexual misconduct lawsuit.
On Monday, the “Girl’s Trip” actress shared a post via Instagram in which she acknowledged that the skit in question wasn’t at all entertaining, but there wasn’t much else she could say, given that the case is still pending.
“I know people have a bunch of questions,” her message read. “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 the 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.”
Two siblings who have chosen to go by the monikers Jane and John Doe filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing Haddish and Spears of sexually abusing them as children, theGrio previously reported. The now-22-year-old Jane filed the case on behalf of herself and her 15-year-old brother John, alleging sexual battery, sexual harassment and abuse of a minor.
According to the lawsuit, Haddish was a “longtime family friend” of the siblings’ mother.
Haddish and Spears are said to have groomed the siblings and “stole the youth of a 7-year-old child and a 14-year-old child” by coercing them to act in sexually explicit skits back then.
NBC News reported that the mother, who is not named as a party in the lawsuit, was not aware of the specific details of the skit prior to her children taking part in it.
According to the lawsuit, in the first sketch, which was shot in 2013, Haddish instructed a then-14-year-old Jane to imitate fellatio on a sub sandwich.
The next year, 7-year-old John made an appearance in the sketch “Through A Pedophile’s Eyes,” which featured Spears as a character who lusted after the child, as well as “massages the child” and “gets into a bathtub with him.”
“John” is said to be in his underwear for most of the sketch’s sequences, NBC reported.
“The plaintiffs are both traumatized for life,” the suit read, according to theGrio. “Similar to the manner in which Giselle (sic) Maxwell groomed young girls for Jeffrey Epstein, upon information and belief, Haddish made Plaintiff Jane Doe feel comfortable and special, but this was all a grooming tactic by Haddish to entice and coerce both children into filming sexually explicit child pornography skits.”
The mother of Jane and John Doe discovered that the sketch starring her son had been posted online in June 2018 — four years later.
The sketch was on the “Funny or Die” YouTube channel until four years ago, when it was removed. Since then, the company has released a statement denying any involvement in the video, noting that they found it disgusting and would never produce such content.
“‘We were not involved with the conceptualization, development, funding, or production of this video,” said a spokesperson for the company, theGrio previously reported. “It was uploaded to the site as user-generated content and was removed in 2018 immediately after becoming aware of its existence.”
Attorneys for both Haddish and Spears have refuted the allegations lodged against their clients.
The plaintiff’s mother has “been trying to assert these bogus claims against Ms. Haddish for several years,” Haddish’s attorney Andrew Brettler said in a statement, according to theGrio. Brettler called the accusations “meritless,” and said Haddish “would not be shaken down.”
In a separate statement, Spears’ attorney Debra Opri also refuted the claims and said Spears “isn’t going to fall for any shakedown,” theGrio previously reported.
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