Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears are accused of grooming and molesting two children in 2013.
A lawsuit obtained by TMZ alleges that the child sexual abuse was filmed as part of a sexually suggestive Funny or Die sketch. The suit identifies two defendants as Jane and John Doe. Haddish is accused of coercing the 14-year-old girl into starring in the video. The alleged victim claims the comedian taught her how to imitate performing fellatio.
The girl claims her 7-year-old brother was also molested by Haddish and Spears. She alleges that the child was used for a sketch titled “Through a Pedophile’s Eyes.”
The two defendants claim to be suffering from social disorders related to their experience with the two stars.
"Tiffany came and told me to let him touch me. When I kept crying, Tiffany got mad at me, told me to get dressed, and took me home. I remember her yelling at me in the car, telling me I would never get on tv acting like that.”
Hollywood is disgusting. https://t.co/b1U1kw71FT
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) September 2, 2022
Here’s more from TMZ:
The siblings claim Haddish was friends with their mother and they say the video featuring John Doe was published online via “Funny or Die” when he was too young to consent.
In their suit, the sister says her resulting trauma has prevented her from dating because she’s scared she will be taken advantage of and “led down a path of false trust like the path that Haddish led her down.”
Both siblings say they have developed social disorders … and the brother claims he is so afraid of being watched or recorded he places band-aids over all the cameras on his electronics.
The siblings claim their mother attempted to reach a $15,000 settlement with Spears. They are seeking damages from both Haddish and Spears.
In a statement to TMZ, “Funny or Die” says they had no involvement in creating the sketch.
“Funny Or Die found this video absolutely disgusting and would never produce such content. 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,” the statement said.
Haddish’s attorney Andrew Brettler claims the lawsuit is an extortion attempt.
“Plaintiff’s mother, Trizah Morris, has been trying to assert these bogus claims against Ms. Haddish for several years,” Brettler said in a statement sent to Complex. “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. Now, Ms. Morris has her adult daughter representing herself in this lawsuit. The two of them will together face the consequences of pursuing this frivolous action.”
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