Earlier this month, comedians Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears were sued for child sexual abuse while shooting comedy sketches in 2013, including one called “Through a Pedophiles Eyes.” The plaintiffs, siblings Jane Doe and John Doe, were 14 and 7 years old at the time and accused the comedians of coercing Jane Doe to mimic fellatio and filming John Doe nude in a bathtub. Yesterday, TMZ broke the news that Jane Doe already filed to dismiss the lawsuit. She released the following statement:
“My family and I have known Tiffany Haddish for many years – and we now know that she would never harm me or my brother or help anyone else do anything that could harm us. We wish Tiffany the best and are glad that we can all put this behind us.”
What in the hush-money hell?
Haddish was connected to the children through their mother, a woman Haddish met through the Los Angeles comedy scene, while they were both going through divorces. The two became fast friends and her children called Haddish “Auntie Tiff.” Describing the toll the abuse had on her, John and Jane Doe’s mother wrote in the initial legal filing, “for months” after the alleged incidents, “I used to sit in my closet and cry until I fell asleep.” She said she even contemplated suicide at one point.
Haddish herself posted to Instagram a few days after the Daily Beast first broke news of the lawsuit, saying she “deeply regret[ted] having agreed to act in” the sketch and that she “look[s] forward to being able to share a lot more about this situation as soon as I can.” Haddish’s lawyer is Andrew Brettler, who has previously represented clients like Prince Andrew, Armie Hammer, and Chris Noth.
The plaintiff’s statement released Tuesday announcing the dropped charges did not mention Spears at all. Despite that, Spears still celebrated—while also promoting his podcast in the same Instagram post.
Doubtful we’ll ever know exactly what happened, but we have our gue$$es.
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