Tiffany Haddish | |
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.jpg) Haddish in 2013 | |
| Born | Tiffany Sara Cornilia Haddish (1979-12-03)December 3, 1979 (age 45) Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
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| Comedy career | |
| Years active | 2000–present |
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Tiffany Sara Cornilia Haddish[1] (born December 3, 1979) is an Americanstand-up comedian and actress.[2] Her breakthrough came with a leading role in the comedy filmGirls Trip (2017), which earned herseveral accolades and was included onThe New Yorker's list of the best film performances of the 21st century.[3] She was named one of the100 most influential people in the world byTime magazine in 2018,[4] andThe Hollywood Reporter listed her among the 100 most powerful people in entertainment in both 2018 and 2019.[5]
After guest-starring on several television series and a lead role on a cable drama, Haddish gained prominence for her roles in theNBC sitcomThe Carmichael Show (2015–2017), theTBS seriesThe Last O.G. (2018–2020), theHulu seriesSolar Opposites (2020–present), and theApple TV+ comedy seriesThe Afterparty (2022–2023), portraying Detective Danner. She also executive produced and voiced Tuca in theNetflix/Adult Swim animated seriesTuca & Bertie (2019–2022). Haddish also starred in films such asKeanu (2016),Night School (2018),Nobody's Fool (2018),The Kitchen (2019),Like a Boss (2020), andHere Today (2021).
She won aPrimetime Emmy Award for hosting aSaturday Night Live episode (2017) and published a memoir,The Last Black Unicorn (2017). She also released the albumBlack Mitzvah in 2019, for which she won theGrammy Award for Best Comedy Album, making her the second African-American woman to win this prize afterWhoopi Goldberg in 1986.
Tiffany Sara Cornilia Haddish was born and raised inSouth Central Los Angeles,California.[6]
Her father, Tsihaye Reda Haddish, was anEritrean Jew.[7] Her mother, Leola, was anAfrican-American small business owner, from aJehovah’s Witness family.[8][9][10][11] After Haddish's father left when she was three years old, her mother remarried and had Haddish's two half-sisters and two half-brothers.[12]
In 1988, while her family was living inColton, California,[13] Haddish's mother Leola suffered severebrain damage in a car accident. It was believed to have caused Leola'sschizophrenia; Haddish said her mother became quick-tempered, abusive and violent.[14] Haddish, then nine years old and the oldest of five siblings, became the family's primary caregiver.[14] It was around this time that Haddish became interested in humor. She said, "If I could make [Leola] laugh and turn her anger into some joy, I was less likely to get beat. Same thing in school: If I could make the kids laugh, they'd help me with my homework and protect me from other bullies."[15]
According to Haddish, herstepfather later told her he had tampered with the brakes on her mother's car, intending the wreck to kill Haddish, her siblings, and her mother so he could collect on their life insurance policies. However, the children chose to stay home that day, and the accident was not fatal for her mother.[16][14]
When Haddish was 13, she and her siblings were put intofoster care and temporarily separated from one another. While there, she used comedy to cope with being with unfamiliar people.[17] When she was 15, she and her siblings were reunited under their grandmother's care. At one point early in life, she was hospitalized withtoxic shock syndrome.[13]
She attended George Ellery Hale Middle School inWoodland Hills, Los Angeles and graduated fromEl Camino Real High School, also in Woodland Hills, where she was the school mascot.[13] She said she could not read very well until high school, but improved when she received tutoring from a teacher.[11] She also got into a lot of trouble at school, despite her award-winning participation in drama competitions presentingShakespearean monologues. In 2018, Haddish stated that she had been raped at age 17 by a police cadet, which she says led to her aggressiveness in avoiding unwanted advances from men.[18][19] After graduating from high school, Haddish was homeless, living in her car for a period of time.[20][21]
In 1997, after her social worker gave her an ultimatum to attend either psychiatric therapy or theLaugh Factory Comedy Camp, the 17-year-old Haddish opted for comedy as an outlet for her pain.[13][22] She says that the mentorship from many notable comedians—includingRichard Pryor,Dane Cook,Charles Fleischer and theWayans brothers—helped her discover a passion for comedy that "literally saved her life."[23][13] She incorporates her life experiences in her sets, finding that it functions as a "safe space" for her.[13]
Haddish was accepted toNew York University, but the tuition and her aversion todebt kept her from attending. She later attendedSanta Monica College.[24] Prior to her onscreen success, she held a number of jobs, including customer service forAir New Zealand atLos Angeles International Airport andAlaska Airlines.[25][26] She said she lived in her car during her twenties, which was also the early days of her comedy career.[23]
Haddish's first break was a spot on the comedy competitionBill Bellamy's Who's Got Jokes?[27] She has appeared on such shows asChelsea Lately,That's So Raven,My Name Is Earl,It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,The Underground,Nick Cannon's Short Circuitz,@midnight,Just Jordan,In the Motherhood,Def Comedy Jam,Reality Bites Back andNew Girl, and has starred in movies includingMeet the Spartans andJanky Promoters.[28] In 2013, she had a recurring role onReal Husbands of Hollywood. In 2014, she was cast in theOprah Winfrey Network drama seriesIf Loving You Is Wrong.[29] She left after the first season for a regular role on the NBC sitcomThe Carmichael Show, where she starred as Nekeisha, the semi-estranged wife of Bobby Carmichael (Lil Rel Howery) for three seasons.[27] In 2016, she co-starred oppositeJordan Peele andKeegan-Michael Key in the comedy filmKeanu in the role of Hi C.[30]
In 2017, Haddish starred alongsideRegina Hall,Jada Pinkett Smith andQueen Latifah in the comedy filmGirls Trip.[8][31] It received widely positive reviews from critics, attaining an approval rating of 91% onRotten Tomatoes[32] and a "generally favorable reviews" score of 71 out of 100 fromMetacritic.[33] Haddish was acclaimed for her performance as the loud happy-go-lucky Dina, with several critics likening her breakthrough to that ofMelissa McCarthy.[34][35] Katie Walsh of theChicago Tribune proclaimed that "this is Haddish's movie, and will make her a star. It's clear from the moment she hits the screen..."[36] Further,Girls Trip grossed over $140 million worldwide against its production budget of $20 million to become the highest-grossing comedy film of 2017.[37] In 2021, Haddish's performance was included onThe New Yorker's list of the best film performances of the 21st century.[3] The author of the list,Richard Brody, wrote that "...where most comedians, even improvising, appear to create a persona, Haddish imbues her work with the force of her own experience. If the seventeen-minute speech that she gave at theNew York Film Critics Circle banquet in 2018 had been released as a film, it would have made my list, too. Both it and her performance inGirls Trip, as great as they are, only hint at the power of her inventive imagination."[3]
In August 2017, Haddish's stand-up comedy specialTiffany Haddish: She Ready! From the Hood to Hollywood premiered onShowtime.[38] Reviewing the special forVox,Caroline Framke stated, "Haddish is just really damn funny, and deserves a recommendation wherever we can give it to her... [She] unleashes hilarious, filthy, and even moving anecdotes to tell the story of her life to this point, without anything holding her back, at long last."[39] Haddish also co-hosted theBET game showFace Value withDeon Cole. She hosted the November 11, 2017 episode ofSaturday Night Live, making her the first African-American woman stand-up comedian to host the show;[40] it won her thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.[41] Her memoir,The Last Black Unicorn (written withTucker Max[42]) was released in December 2017 bySimon & Schuster[43] and debuted at #15 onThe New York Times best-seller list.[44]
Beginning in 2018, Haddish starred oppositeTracy Morgan in theTBS sitcomThe Last O.G., her first lead in a sitcom.[45] Her 2018 film roles include a supporting part inUncle Drew, and a lead role, oppositeKevin Hart, in the comedyNight School, reuniting withGirls Trip director Malcolm D. Lee.[46] In parallel, she starred in theTyler Perry movieNobody's Fool withTika Sumpter,Omari Hardwick,Mehcad Brooks,Amber Riley andWhoopi Goldberg. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $33 million worldwide.[47] In 2018, Haddish signed a first-look deal withHBO[48] and was named one of the100 most influential people in world byTime magazine.[4] In the same year,The Hollywood Reporter listed her among the 100 most powerful people in entertainment, and again in 2019.[5]
In 2019, Haddish voiced Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi inThe Lego Movie 2: The Second Part; Daisy inThe Secret Life of Pets 2; and Tuca on theNetflix animated sitcomTuca & Bertie,[49] which premiered in May.[50] Also that year,ABC revivedKids Say the Darndest Things with Haddish as host and producer.[51] It premiered on October 6 as part of a three-hour family-oriented block of programming.[52] In August 2019, Netflix premiered her new comedy special,Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready. In each episode, Haddish introduced one of her favorite stand-up comedians in order to give them mainstream exposure.[53] The series included stand-up sets fromChaunté Wayans,April Macie, Tracey Ashley,Aida Rodriguez, Flame Monroe and Marlo Williams.[53][54] In 2020, Haddish starred inLike a Boss, the first studio comedy film of the 2020s, forParamount Pictures, co-starring withRose Byrne andSalma Hayek.[55]
Haddish was asked to host the2021 Grammy Awards pre-telecast premiere ceremony, but turned down the request afterthe Recording Academy said she had to pay her own way. She explained that the academy would not cover her hair, makeup or wardrobe for the three-hour-long event, commenting: "All of that would have to come out of my pocket, [...] I don't know if this might mean I might not get nominated ever again, but I think it's disrespectful. [...] It's like a guy asking you on a date but telling you that you have to pay for it."[56] She won the 2021Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album forBlack Mitzvah, with the news being broken to her in the middle of a taping ofKids Say the Darndest Things.[57]
From 2021 to 2022, Haddish voiced Lady K, the head of a recording studio, in the animated seriesKarma's World.[58]
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Haddish married William Stewart in 2008. He helped her locate her once-estranged father, who walked her down the aisle at their wedding, which she described as "one of the happiest days of [her] life".[59] She filed for divorce in Los Angeles County in 2011; it was finalized in 2013.[8][60] Haddish was in a relationship with rapperCommon from mid-2020 to November 2021.[61]
Haddish became a naturalizedEritrean citizen on May 22, 2019, while taking part in festivities there commemorating the 28th anniversary ofEritrean independence fromEthiopia.[62][63] She first visited the country in 2018 to bury her Eritrean father, who came to the U.S. as a refugee, and to connect with her relatives.[62][64][7] Haddish has been criticized for her support of Eritrean presidentIsaias Afwerki, who has been the head of the country since its independence.[65][66]
Haddish is Jewish.[67] Having grown up in foster care, Haddish did not know of her Jewish heritage during her childhood.[67][68] Subsequent to learning of her father's Judaism, Haddish became an adherent of theJewish faith. She had herbat mitzvah ceremony in December 2019 at the age of 40.[67][69][70][71] The ceremony was conducted byReform rabbiSusan Silverman, sister of comedianSarah Silverman; also attending was comedianBilly Crystal, who had given Haddish close personal support and encouragement regarding herconversion to Judaism.[64][72] On November 10, 2024, she served as emcee for apro-Israel rally inWashington, D.C.[73]
In 2017, Haddish revealed that she had briefly dabbled inScientology.[8][74]
Haddish partnered with Living Advantage, Inc., a nonprofit organization that focuses on the welfare of foster youth, for her Suitcase Drive for Foster Youth, where she collected suitcases in which foster youth can keep their belongings.[75] She volunteers at the Laugh Factory Comedy Camp.[13] HerShe Ready Foundation also helps foster care programs.[76]
On January 14, 2022, Haddish was arrested inPeachtree City, Georgia, on a charge ofDUI, as police suspected she was under the influence ofmarijuana. Around 4:00 a.m., police received a 911 call of a driver who had fallen asleep behind the wheel on Highway 74. Police located Haddish, driving the vehicle described to the 911 operator, as she was attempting to pull into the driveway of a residence in anAtlanta suburb. She was booked at FayetteCounty Jail and later released the same day on a $1,666 bond.[77] At the time, Haddish was in the area to take part in filming forHaunted Mansion.[78]
On November 24, 2023, Haddish was arrested for a second allegedDUI. The arrest came after theBeverly Hills Police Department received a call at 5:45 a.m. of a woman unresponsive at the wheel onBeverly Drive.[79] The charges were later dropped.[80]
On August 30, 2022, Haddish and fellow comedianAries Spears were sued for allegedgrooming andsexual abuse of two minors. According to the lawsuit, the children were recruited to film several comedy skits and were asked to perform sexually suggestive content. Tiffany Haddish's attorney, Andrew Brettler, released a statement saying the lawsuit had no merit.[81][82][83]
Haddish responded in anInstagram post stating that she deeply regretted agreeing to act in a skit that she said was meant to be comedic but was "not funny at all".[84] Several weeks later, "Jane Doe" filed to have the charge against both Haddish and Spears dismissed with prejudice, stating, "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."[85][86]
| Year | Award | Category | Project | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Grammy Awards | Best Spoken Word Album | The Last Black Unicorn | Nominated | [87] |
| 2021 | Best Comedy Album | Black Mitzvah | Won | [88] | |
| 2018 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series | Saturday Night Live: Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift | Won | [89] |
| 2020 | Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) | Tiffany Haddish: Black Mitzvah | Nominated |
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