Tiffany Haddish, 42, told TMZ that her career has taken a hit over the now-dismissed child molestation lawsuit, where she and fellow comedian Aries Spears, 47, were accused of forcing minors to perform sexual acts on camera. “I lost everything. All my gigs gone. Everything gone,” she said to a reporter on Wednesday, September 21 at LAX in the video below from TMZ. “I don’t have no job,” Tiffany added.
The lawsuit, which was filed by a 22-year-old identified as Jane Doe in early September, claimed that the plaintiff and her brother, identified as John Doe, were underage when they were subject to perform these alleged on-camera sexual acts by Tiffany and Aries for a comedy act, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Jane Doe later asked a judge to dismiss the case on prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled, according to Entertainment Weekly.
“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,” the plaintiff said in a statement after the case was legally dismissed.
Tiffany previously spoke out about the allegations in an Instagram statement shared on September 5. “I know people have a bunch of questions. I get it. I’m right there with you,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, because there is an ongoing legal case, there’s very little that I can say right now. But, clearly, while this 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.”
Aries, meanwhile, addressed the lawsuit on his podcast Spears & Steinberg at the beginning of September. He claimed that the accusers were trying to “extort” him and Tiffany. “Listen, this is an extortion case, this is a shakedown. We won’t be shaken down,” he said.