Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears have been accused of taking care of a 14-year-old girl and her 7-year-old brother, and forcing them to film explicit skits, according to a new lawsuit obtained by Vidak For Congress.
The comedians are being sued by the siblings, identified as Jane Doe, now 22, and John Doe, now 14, in the legal documents. Jane, who is also John’s legal guardian, is the plaintiff in the lawsuit, both individually and on behalf of her underage brother.
Their mother claims that she and Haddish, 42, met through comedy and developed a close relationship during their respective divorces.
“We were both going through a divorce,” the mother told The Daily Beast, the first outlet to report the news. “Messy, messy, messy, messy divorces… We just got really, really super, super close.”
According to the lawsuit, Haddish called the family for “every birthday and every Christmas”.
In 2013 — the same year Haddish divorced William Stewart after five years of marriage — the “Girls Trip” actress appeared as a guest speaker at a summer camp attended by 14-year-old Jane.
Around that time, Haddish reportedly told Jane that she had discovered “a perfect role” for the teen in her own commercial. According to the lawsuit, neither Jane nor her mother were aware of the details of the shooting, while Haddish and Spears, 47, are said to have known about the plot.
During the shoot, Haddish would teach Jane how to mimic fellatio for a skit about kids arguing over a sandwich.
“I tried to mimic what they wanted me to mimic, but it still just came out super uncomfortable,” Jane told The Daily Beast. “When I left the booth, I knew I hadn’t finished what they wanted me to do.”
Haddish paid Jane $100, the lawsuit alleges, before sending her home.
Jane told The Daily Beast that she initially did not tell her mother about the alleged incident.
“I didn’t tell anyone else how weird I felt at the time,” she said.
A year later, Haddish is said to have contacted the siblings’ mother to let her know that she was interested in the younger brother, John, for a Nickelodeon sizzle reel.
The lawsuit alleges that the 7-year-old was harassed by Haddish and Spears while filming what became a disturbing video published via Funny Or Die and more online platforms, titled “Through a Pedophile’s Eyes”.
A representative for Funny or Die told The Daily Beast in a statement: “Funny Or Die found this video absolutely disgusting and would never produce such content. We were not involved in the conception, development, funding or production of this video. It was sent to the site uploaded as user-generated content and was immediately taken down in 2018 after becoming aware of its existence.
In a statement to Vidak For Congress, Spears’ attorney, Debra Opri, said, “He won’t fall for a shakedown.”
Haddish’s attorney Andrew Brettler reiterated that the lawsuit is an attempted extortion.
“Plaintiff’s mother, Trizah Morris, has been trying to make these false claims against Ms. Haddish for years,” he told Vidak For Congress.
“Every attorney who initially took her case — and there were several — eventually dropped the case when it became clear the claims were baseless and Ms. Haddish would not be shaken off,” Brettler continued.
“Now Ms. Morris is having her adult daughter represented in this lawsuit. The two together will suffer the consequences of pursuing this frivolous action.”
Both siblings claim to have developed debilitating social disorders.
The siblings also say their mother tried to reach a $15,000 settlement with Spears over the alleged molestation video. They are suing Haddish and Spears for damages.