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Woman Drops Sex Abuse Lawsuit Against Comedians Tiffany Haddish, Aries Spears
“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,” the 22-year-old woman who'd filed the suit said in a statement about its dismissal.
A 22-year-old woman has dropped her sex abuse lawsuit against actress Tiffany Haddish and comedian Aries Spears.
The woman, referred to in court documents as “Jane Doe,” filed a notice of dismissal Sept. 16, according to a filing provided to Law & Crime by Haddish’s lawyer, Clifton W. Albright, Jr.
The lawsuit, which had alleged that Haddish and Spears had groomed the woman and her younger brother to appear in sexually-themed comedy sketches, has been dismissed with prejudice, meaning that the woman will not be allowed to re-file the claims at a later date.
Haddish told TMZ on Wednesday that she was “relieved” the lawsuit had been dropped and said her primary concern had been about the kids involved in the sketches and “making sure they were OK.”
The lawsuit, previously obtained by Oxygen.com, had accused Haddish — described as a “longtime family friend of [the children’s] mother” — of grooming the victim, then 14-years-old, to gain her trust before having her appear in an allegedly “sexually explicit” video where Haddish’s character tried to teach her how to perform oral sex using a sub sandwich. (The girl was fully clothed.)
The lawsuit also accused Spears of sexualizing Jane Doe’s 7-year-old brother, referred to in court document as John Doe, on film during a comedy sketch titled “Through a Pedophile’s Eyes,” which had been uploaded to the website “Funny or Die” in 2014. The sketch was removed from the site several years later.
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One of Haddish’s attorneys, Andrew Brettler, had issued a statement alleging the lawsuit had been a “meritless” attempt to shake down the actress, but Haddish herself later released a statement on Instagram expressing remorse for participating in the sketch.
“Unfortunately, because there is an ongoing legal case, there’s very little that I can say right now,” she said at the time. “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.”
After deciding to drop the lawsuit, Jane Doe issued a statement to TMZ saying she was hoping to move on from the episode.
“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,” she said. “We wish Tiffany the best and are glad that we can all put this behind us.”
Although the suit has now been dismissed, Haddish told a TMZ photographer Wednesday at the LAX airport that the suit has already damaged her career.
“I lost everything,” she said. “All my gigs, gone. Everything, gone. I don’t have no job. I don’t have no job, bro.”
Haddish also said she no longer has contact with Spears.
Spears referenced the lawsuit’s dismissal on Instagram, sharing a headline about the dismissal and writing “HOPE YALL KEEP THAT SAME ENERGY.”
