Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears have been accused of grooming a 14-year-old girl and her 7-year-old brother, coercing them to film explicit skits, according to a new lawsuit obtained by Page Six.
The comedians are being sued by the siblings, identified as Jane Doe, now 22, and John Doe, now 14, in the legal docs. Jane, who is also Johnโs legal guardian, is the plaintiff in the lawsuit both individually and on her minor brotherโs behalf.
Their mother alleges that she and Haddish, 42, met through comedy and developed a close relationship while over their respective divorces.
โWe were both going through a divorce,โ the mother told The Daily Beast, the first outlet to report the news. โMessy, messy, messy, messy divorcesโฆ We just got really, really super, super close.โ
According to the lawsuit, Haddish called the family for โevery birthday and every Christmas.โ
In 2013 โ the same year Haddish divorced William Stewart after five years of marriage โ the โGirls Tripโ actress appeared as a guest speaker at a summer camp attended by 14-year-old Jane.
Around that time, Haddish allegedly told Jane that sheโd discovered โa perfect roleโ for the teen in her very own commercial. According to the suit, Jane nor her mother were aware of shoot details, while Haddish and Spears, 47, were said to know the plot.
The shoot allegedly involved Haddish teaching Jane how to mimic fellatio for a skit about kids arguing over a sub sandwich.
โI tried to mimic what they wanted me to mimic, but it still came out just super uncomfortable,โ Jane told The Daily Beast. โI knew when I left the booth that I didnโt complete what they wanted me to do.โ
Haddish paid Jane $100, the lawsuit claims, before sending her home.
Jane told The Daily Beast she didnโt initially tell her mother about the alleged incident.
โI didnโt confide to nobody else about how weird I felt at that moment,โ she said.
A year later, Haddish allegedly reached out to the siblingsโ mother to let her know that she was interested in the younger brother, John, for a Nickelodeon sizzle reel.
The suit claims the 7-year-old was molested by Haddish and Spears while filming what became a disturbing video published via Funny Or Die and more online platforms, titled โThrough a Pedophileโs Eyes.โ
A representative for Funny or Die told The Daily Beast in a statement, โFunny 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.โ
In a statement to Page Six, Spearsโ attorney, Debra Opri, said, โHe isnโt going to fall for any shakedown.โ
Haddishโs attorney, Andrew Brettler, echoed that the lawsuit is an extortion attempt.
โPlaintiffโs mother, Trizah Morris, has been trying to assert these bogus claims against Ms. Haddish for several years,โ he told Page Six.
โEvery attorney who has initially taken on her case โ and there were several โ ultimately dropped the matter once it became clear that the claims were meritless and Ms. Haddish would not be shaken down,โ Brettler continued. (PagSix)