Tiffany Haddish was referred to as “Auntie Tiff” by Jane Doe and her younger brother when they were kids. As her “niece” and “nephew,” the comedian used to address the children as she had done when she first met their mother on the comedy circuit. But the siblings claim that Haddish and her fellow comedian, Aries Spears, recruited each of them to engage in unnecessary acts on camera when they were kids in a lawsuit that was submitted pro se on Monday night. Jane is the unidentified plaintiff in the case on behalf of herself and her brother, who is a minor.
Due to their ages at the time of the charges, Jane Doe, now 22, and her younger brother John, now 15, chose pseudonyms. The accusation against Haddish and Mad TV alum Spears by the siblings is based on two alleged occasions in which Haddish and Spears allegedly urged one of the siblings to engage in sexually explicit behavior while underage on camera.
Spears and Haddish’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.
John was 7 years old and Jane was 14 at the time of the alleged video shooting. Their mother claims that she and Haddish connected over a common source of conflict after meeting through comedy: “We were both going through a divorce,” the mother told The Daily Beast. “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.”
Haddish has consistently checked in for years, whether it be from a movie shoot or abroad, according to the mother of the siblings.
The lawsuit claims that Jane, then 14 years old, visited a comedy camp where Haddish spoke as a guest speaker in the summer of 2013. Around that moment, Haddish allegedly informed the youngster that she had discovered “the perfect role for her”: a television advertisement. According to the lawsuit, neither Jane nor her mother was aware of what the shoot would involve. The only people who are claimed to have known the plot are Haddish and Spears, who was also present to make the video.
A group of coeds was apparently fighting over a subway sandwich in the tape Spears and Haddish requested Jane to watch in the recording booth. The clip reportedly appeared innocent at first, albeit a little weird. But then, according to the lawsuit, the coeds started eating the sandwich from different ends in a suggestive manner, “moaning and making sexual noises as they both ate the sandwich in a manner that simulated the act of fellatio.”
Spears allegedly instructed Jane to “mimic what she had seen on the screen, including the noises precisely like what she had heard throughout the video,” according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that the 14-year-old, who was “nervous and disgusted,” remained mute until Haddish entered the room.
The complaint claims Haddish verbally instructed the plaintiff Jane Doe on what was required of her before demonstrating the fellatio technique with gestures, noises, moans, and groans. “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.
According to Jane, she tried to emulate what they expected her to mimic, but it still came out as quite awkward.
Jane recalled that she made an effort to ignore what had occurred at the time.
Haddish allegedly made a similar pitch to the mother of the kids a year later in order to secure the services of John, Jane’s younger brother, for the next video. Even though the comedian reportedly informed the family that John would be making a sizzle reel for Nickelodeon, the lawsuit claims the 7-year-old ended up appearing in a video called “Through a Pedophile’s Eyes” that was posted on Funny or Die as well as other internet sites.
The lawsuit asserts that both siblings were present at the shoot, which was held at Spears’ house. As soon as the kids arrived at the house and were no longer with their mother, Jane claimed that Haddish’s conduct changed.
The kids have split apart during the production, claims the lawsuit. According to Jane, Haddish instructed her to stay on a couch downstairs while her brother was being photographed upstairs. The boy’s guardian, played by Haddish, is seen abandoning him with Spears, who is depicted as a pedophile, in the video, which The Daily Beast has reviewed.
John spends the majority of the video in just his underwear while Spears’ persona sneers at him through two holes he pretends to be reading in a newspaper. In the sketch, the camera playfully zooms in on the 7-year-crotch olds and buttocks. In one image, Spears massages the child’s shoulders with baby oil after spraying it on his back, while in another, the kid plays with a train in a way that resembles phallic masturbation. In another scene, Spears lights up a cigarette and sprinkles water on the child’s feet while he watches him undressed in the bathtub.
By the time the video is over, the kid is spreading baby oil on his shirtless shoulder and looking at his babysitter through a newspaper. The final line of on-screen text reads: “WATCH WHO YOU LEAVE YOUR KIDS WITH!”
According to the lawsuit, “Mr. Doe called his mother crying, indicating he did not want to film anymore” after the filming was finished.
