Trigger warning: This story contains instances of child molestation and lewd behavior
Comedians Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears are at the center of a shocking new lawsuit in which they face accusations of child sexual abuse.
In a bombshell report from the Daily Beast, the suit stems from a Jane Doe who is suing the public figures on behalf of a minor and her sibling, John Doe. In it, Jane cites two instances where Haddish, described as a close family friend at the time, recruited both her and her brother to perform inappropriate and sexually suggestive acts when they were 14 and seven, respectively.
For Jane, her recruitment came in the form a commercial in which Haddish and Spears allegedly provided her with a clip they wanted her to reenact where she had to eat a sandwich “in a manner that simulated the act of fellatio,” according to the suit.
From the Daily Beast:
“Haddish verbally explained what was expected of Plaintiff Jane Doe and then showed Plaintiff Jane Doe how to give fellatio, including movements, noises, moaning, and groaning,” the lawsuit states. “At that point,” Jane told The Daily Beast, “I knew a hundred percent what they wanted out of me.” The lawsuit describes Spears allegedly looking on while a “physically, emotionally, and mentally uncomfortable” Jane received this instruction.
“I tried to mimic what they wanted me to mimic, but it still came out just super uncomfortable,” Jane told the Daily Beast. “I knew when I left the booth that I didn’t complete what they wanted me to do.” Haddish paid Jane $100, the lawsuit claims, before sending her home.
As for John Doe, his situation is a bit more disturbing. Both children and their mother were allegedly approached by Haddish who pitched them to do some acting for a sizzle reel for Nickelodeon. What it actually ended up being was a video titled Through a Pedophile’s Eyes, which later made its way onto the Funny or Die platform via user-generated content but was later taken down.
Per the suit, Jane explains how she and her brother went to the shoot at Spears’ home and were separated upon arrival—she was downstairs while her seven-year-old brother was upstairs with Spears. In the video shot upstairs and obtained by the Daily Beast, Haddish plays a guardian over John who then leaves him alone with Spears who portrays a pedophile.
More from The Daily Beast:
John spends most of the video clad only in his underwear as Spears’ character leers at him through two holes cut into a newspaper he pretends to read. During the sketch, the camera zooms in suggestively on the 7-year-old’s buttocks and crotch while he plays. Spears sprays baby oil onto the child’s back and massages it into his shoulders in one scene, and at another point the child plays with a train in a manner that suggests phallic masturbation. In another sequence, Spears smokes a cigarette while observing the child nude in a bathtub and pours water on his feet.
By the time the video ends, the child is peering at his babysitter through a newspaper and rubbing baby oil on his shirtless shoulder. The final line of on-screen text reads: “WATCH WHO YOU LEAVE YOUR KIDS WITH!”
After filming, John was visibly upset, crying, and called his mother to tell him he did not want to participate in filming anymore. Afterward, the children’s mother said she tried to contact Spears to get an explanation about what happened on the tape but Spears allegedly told her that the footage was “unusable and subsequently deleted.”
In a statement about the video, a representative for Funny or Die said: “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.”
Due to the trauma, stress, and years of therapy that they’ve both gone through (and are still going through) stemming from these scenarios, Jane is now suing Spears and Haddish over “intentional infliction of emotional distress, gross negligence, sexual battery, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse of a minor. Haddish is further accused of negligent supervision/failure to warn, breach of fiduciary duty, and constructive fraud.” She’s seeking general, special and “any appropriate statutory damages.”
Lawyers for both comedians have since responded to the suit. In a statement provided to People, Haddish lawyer Andrew Brettler said the plaintiff’s mother “has been trying to assert these bogus claims against Ms. Haddish for several years. 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.”
He later added, “The two of them will together face the consequences of pursuing this frivolous action.”
Spears’ lawyer echoed Brettler’s sentiments, saying that his client “isn’t going to fall for any shakedown.”
The Root reached out to Haddish’s lawyer for additional comment, he referred us back to the official statement provided to People.