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Tiffany Haddish To Battle Ex-Husband In Court After He Sued Her For Defamation Over Abuse Allegations In Her Memoir
In a chapter of her book that does not mention her ex-husband by name, Haddish wrote about being in a relationship with a man who was routinely abusive.
A judge has set a trial date for actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish and her ex-husband William Stewart, who claims his ex has defamed him.
Stewart filed a lawsuit against Haddish in July, alleging that the “Night School” star falsely accused him of being abusive in a chapter in her memoir, “The Last Black Unicorn,” Page Six reports. Stewart claimed in the suit that, in an effort to reach a settlement, he tried multiple times to reach out to Haddish and Simon & Schuster — the book’s publisher, also named in the suit — but nothing came of it.
However, Haddish and Stewart can now expect to see the inside of a courtroom early next year. A judge in Texas has scheduled a trial date of April 20, 2020 for the exes, The Blast reports, citing court documents.
Stewart’s issues with Haddish’s memoir stem from a chapter titled “The Ex-Husband,” according to Page Six. The book does not mention him by name, but Stewart, who was married and divorced from Haddish twice, reportedly felt that the allegations were “harmful and defamatory” toward him. Furthermore, he implied in court documents that efforts to reach an agreement about the issue were met with dead-end responses from Haddish; “be patient your blessings are coming,” she is alleged to have responded to him at one point, in addition to allegedly telling him on another occasion, “start to think positive so positive things can come your way. Because your blessings are waiting on you.”
It was enough to prompt Stewart to file a suit asking for more than $1 million, citing defamation, libel, and slander, according to Page Six.
Haddish claimed in her book that her ex was at times abusive in public, and that the violence she suffered at his hands once caused her to have a miscarriage, E! News reports.
In his court filings, however, Stewart denied the abuse, and claimed that a restraining order Haddish received during their marriage was later dissolved after she “recanted the allegations” and confessed to having actually assaulted him, Page Six reports. He also claimed that his ex said in a 2012 interview that he was not abusive, but “just choked [her] a little bit,” something he says she requested that he do during sex, according to the outlet.
Haddish did not respond to Page Six’s request for comment and has not commented publicly on the suit.
