'We wish Tiffany the best': Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears' accuser withdraws child sex abuse lawsuit
The woman who had accused Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears of sexually abusing her has reportedly withdrawn her lawsuit against both of them. Court documents obtained by TMZ revealed that the woman, 22, asked the judge overseeing the case to withdraw her lawsuit with prejudice. This means it cannot be refiled. The former plaintiff, an anonymous woman referred to as Jane Doe, had previously sued the two for allegedly grooming her and her younger brother when they were 14 and seven years old, respectively.
"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," the woman said in a statement after withdrawing her lawsuit. "We wish Tiffany the best and are glad that we can all put this behind us." Although both Spears and Haddish appear to be in the clear, Spears was not mentioned in the statement at all. The reason for the woman's change of mind is unclear.
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Previous allegations and lawsuit
Haddish and Spears were accused of grooming the siblings and compelling them to film explicit skits. The siblings, identified as Jane Doe, now 22, and John Doe, now 14, previously sued the comedians. Jane was John’s legal guardian and was the plaintiff in the lawsuit both individually and on her brother's behalf.
The siblings' mother claimed that she and 42-year-old Haddish met through comedy and became close friends. “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.” Both Haddish and Spears have been accused of intentional infliction of emotional distress, gross negligence, sexual battery, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse of a minor, as per New York Post.
The lawsuit, obtained by Page Six, claimed Haddish called the family for “every birthday and every Christmas.” Haddish divorced William Stewart after five years of marriage back in 2013. The same year, the 'Girls Trip' actress appeared as a guest speaker at a summer camp, which Jane happened to attend.
Haddish told Jane around that time that she’d discovered “a perfect role” for her in her own commercial. The suit claims that the girl and her mother were unaware of the shoot details. Haddish and 47-year-old Spears reportedly knew the plot. It has been alleged that the shoot involved Haddish teaching Jane how to mimic fellatio for a skit about children arguing over a sub sandwich. “I tried to mimic what they wanted me to mimic, but it still came out just super uncomfortable,” Jane said. “I knew when I left the booth that I didn’t complete what they wanted me to do.” Haddish allegedly paid Jane $100 and sent her home.
Jane said she did not tell her mother about the incident back then. “I didn’t confide to nobody else about how weird I felt at that moment,” she said. Haddish told the siblings' mother a year later that she would like John to participate in a Nickelodeon sizzle reel. According to the suit, John, then 7, was molested by Haddish and Spears while filming the video. The video, published via Funny Or Die and more online platforms, was a disturbing reel titled 'Through a Pedophile’s Eyes'.
A representative for Funny Or Die said in a statement, “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.”
Meanwhile, Haddish's attorney claimed the allegations are "bogus" and "meritless." "Plaintiff's mother, Trizah Morris, has been trying to assert these bogus claims against Ms Haddish for several years," attorney Andrew Brettler said in a statement to the Daily Mail. Brettler added, "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."
If you or anyone you know suspects child abuse, you are urged to immediately call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential and the hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.