If true, this is way too much for me to even process..

https://www.thedailybeast.com/comedians-tiffany-haddish-and-aries-spears-accused-of-child-sexual-abuse?ref=home

A Jane Doe and her younger brother allege in a new lawsuit that the comics recruited them into performing inappropriate, sexually suggestive acts in sketches when they were minors.

Laura Bradley
Entertainment Reporter
Updated Sep. 01, 2022 7:30PM ET / Published Sep. 01, 2022 5:35PM ET

During their childhoods, Jane Doe and her younger brother say they called Tiffany Haddish “Auntie Tiff.” The comedian had met their mother through the comedy circuit and used to refer to the siblings as her “niece” and “nephew.” But in a lawsuit filed pro se on Monday night—in which Jane is an anonymous plaintiff on behalf of both herself and her brother, who is a minor—the siblings allege that Haddish and her fellow comic, Aries Spears, recruited each of them to perform inappropriate acts on camera when they were children.

Jane Doe, now 22, and her younger brother John, now 15, have adopted pseudonyms due to their respective ages at the time of the allegations. (Jane, who is also John’s legal guardian, is the plaintiff in the lawsuit both individually and on her minor brother’s behalf.) The siblings’ complaint, which names Haddish and Mad TV alum Spears as defendants, centers on two alleged incidents in which Haddish and Spears allegedly encouraged one of the siblings to perform sexually suggestive acts on camera while underage.

Representatives for Spears and Haddish did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.

Jane was 14 years old when her alleged video shoot took place, and John was 7. Their mother alleges that she and Haddish met through comedy and bonded over a shared source of strife: “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.” The siblings’ mother noted that for years, Haddish reliably checked in—whether that be from a movie set or overseas.

In the summer of 2013, when Jane was 14 years old, the lawsuit states that she attended a comedy camp where Haddish appeared as a guest speaker. Around that time, Haddish allegedly told the child that she’d found “a perfect role for her”—her very own commercial. Neither Jane nor her mother knew what the shoot would entail, according to the lawsuit. Only Haddish and Spears, who was also on hand to produce the video, are said to have known the plot.

The clip Spears and Haddish asked Jane to watch in the recording booth allegedly seemed innocuous at first, if a little strange: a group of coeds were arguing over a subway sandwich. But then the coeds began eating the sandwich in a suggestive manner from opposite ends, “moaning and making sexual noises as they both ate the sandwich in a manner that simulated the act of fellatio,” per the lawsuit.

The complaint claims that Spears told Jane “to mimic what she had seen on the screen, including the noises precisely like what she heard throughout the video.” The 14-year-old, who was allegedly “nervous and disgusted,” fell silent until Haddish returned to the room, the lawsuit claims.

“Haddish verbally explained what was expected of Plaintiff Jane Doe and then showed Plaintiff Jane Doe how to give fellatio, including movements, noises, moaning, and groaning,” the lawsuit states. “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.

“I tried to mimic what they wanted me to mimic, but it still came out just super uncomfortable,” Jane told the Daily Beast. “I knew when I left the booth that I didn’t complete what they wanted me to do.” Haddish paid Jane $100, the lawsuit claims, before sending her home.

At the time, Jane said, she tried to shrug off what had happened. “I didn’t confide to my mom—I didn’t confide to nobody else about how weird I felt at that moment,” she said. A year later, Haddish allegedly approached the children’s mother with a similar pitch, recruiting Jane’s little brother, John, for another video. Although the comedian allegedly told the family John would be filming a sizzle reel for Nickelodeon, the suit alleges the 7-year-old wound up starring in a video posted on Funny or Die and other online platforms, titled “Through a Pedophile’s Eyes.”

A representative for Funny or Die told The Daily Beast 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.”

I didn’t confide to my mom—I didn’t confide to nobody else about how weird I felt at that moment.
Both siblings allegedly attended the shoot, which the lawsuit claims took place in Spears’ home. Jane said Haddish’s behavior changed once the children arrived at the home, no longer in the company of their mother. “It was like a whole 180 almost,” she told The Daily Beast. “Tiffany had never been mean to me—never raised her voice to me—until this point.”

According to the lawsuit, the children were separated during the shoot. Jane recalls that Haddish told her to remain on a couch downstairs while her brother’s shoot took place upstairs. The Daily Beast has reviewed a recording of the video, in which Haddish plays the boy’s guardian and leaves him with Spears—who plays a pedophile.

John spends most of the video clad only in his underwear as Spears’ character leers at him through two holes cut into a newspaper he pretends to read. During the sketch, the camera zooms in suggestively on the 7-year-old’s buttocks and crotch while he plays. Spears sprays baby oil onto the child’s back and massages it into his shoulders in one scene, and at another point the child plays with a train in a manner that suggests phallic masturbation. In another sequence, Spears smokes a cigarette while observing the child nude in a bathtub and pours water on his feet.

By the time the video ends, the child is peering at his babysitter through a newspaper and rubbing baby oil on his shirtless shoulder. The final line of on-screen text reads: “WATCH WHO YOU LEAVE YOUR KIDS WITH!”

Once filming ended, the lawsuit states, “Mr. Doe called his mother crying, saying he did not want to film anymore.”

When her brother came downstairs, Jane recalled, he was “red in the face, crying his eyes out, just bawling out in tears. And I’m immediately scared, because I don’t know what happened to him.”

“When that happened, the only thing I could feel was how I felt in my video with Tiffany,” Jane added later. “I didn’t know at the time if anything happened with him like happened to me, but I just felt like something wasn’t right with that moment.”

The siblings’ mother was immediately alarmed when she received a phone call from her crying son—and the answers she allegedly received from Haddish did little to reassure her. “She said something to the effect of, ‘I don’t think acting is for him,’” the mother recalled. “And I’m like... What the F you mean, acting isn’t for him? My son is crying. Like, what is going on?”

The siblings’ mother allegedly spent the next week contacting Spears and asking to see the footage of her son. Spears allegedly kept repeating that it had not yet been edited. Eventually, the lawsuit states that Spears claimed John had been so uncooperative that his footage had been deemed unusable and subsequently deleted.

Four years later, however, the gossip website Bossip published an article about Spears that described the sketch. It was then, for the first time, that John’s mother said she became aware of what had actually been filmed.

“All the trauma, all the memories, all the anxiety and depression and guilt and shame and fear—I feel like all of those emotions were triggered when this video situation came to a head,” she said. “To find out that she had violated such a sacred trust—I trusted her with my children—that is what pushed me over the edge.”

To find out that she had violated such a sacred trust—I trusted her with my children—that is what pushed me over the edge.
Both Jane and John continue to live with the trauma of what they endured, the lawsuit states. Jane allegedly struggles to trust people and has developed a social disorder that prevents socializing; she “feels constant remorse knowing that she was only a few feet away when Spears was molesting her 7-year-old little brother in the other room,” according to the lawsuit.

As Jane put it, “I don’t date guys. I don’t have sex. I’m not your regular 22-year-old who is partying, having fun and hooking up and stuff.” Her little brother, meanwhile, allegedly places Band-Aids over the cameras on all of his electronics due to an ongoing fear of being watched and recorded.

The lawsuit lists eight causes of action. Spears and Haddish are both accused of intentional infliction of emotional distress, gross negligence, sexual battery, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse of a minor. Haddish is further accused of negligent supervision/failure to warn, breach of fiduciary duty, and constructive fraud. The lawsuit seeks general and special damages, as well as “any appropriate statutory damages.”

Jane took over as John’s guardian around the end of 2019 or start of 2020 due to a cascading series of traumatic personal issues that impacted their mother’s mental and physical health. She has also enrolled both herself and her brother in therapy, according to the lawsuit. Included in the complaint is a statement John wrote during his treatment, saying that the “Pedophile” sketch “fucked me up bad.”

“I don’t got no friends,” the now-teenager wrote. “I don’t trust nobody, I’m scared of adults, I refuse to be recorded or take pictures because I am scared of weird-ass adults trying to do nasty stuff to me again. I spend all of my time in my room and do not go anywhere because I don’t trust anybody.”

John adds later: “I had to kick and scream and cry, and Tiffany came and told me to let him touch me. When I kept crying, Tiffany got mad at me, told me to get dressed, and took me home. I remember her yelling at me in the car, telling me that I would never get on tv acting like that.”

“I know now that they are fucked up for what they did to me,” the 14-year-old’s statement concludes, “and none of this is my fault.”

The siblings’ mother negotiated a settlement in 2019, the lawsuit states, but that agreement allegedly does not bind Haddish—who the complaint alleges “insinuated she wanted no part of the Spears settlement agreement via text” —or the siblings, who had no guardian ad litem present to represent their interests as minors.

In the settlement document, which The Daily Beast has reviewed, Spears “denies the validity of the Claims” regarding the video’s production and distribution but agrees “to stop the distribution, exhibition and further use of the Video.” The document names Spears, the siblings’ mother, and John; Jane does not appear. The siblings’ mother also filed a police report against Spears and Haddish in January of 2020 but nothing apparently came of it. The Daily Beast has reviewed a copy of the report.

“For months, I used to sit in my closet and cry until I fell asleep,” the mother said. “I would literally wake up on the floor in my closet because I didn’t want the kids to hear me crying.”

She almost attempted suicide at one point, she said, but was interrupted when her son asked her for help making breakfast. “I wanted to see the error of her ways, and I wanted her to do the right thing as far as helping with the therapy, and with the kids and stuff. But the way she just got real Hollywood on us,” the mother said. “This was not the same friend that had been a friend to me.”

In that moment, Jane said, it became clear to the family that “all we’ve really got is each other. And the common goal is to make sure that OK.” The family has since made it their mission to heal together, in part through family therapy sessions “addressing everything, unpacking everything, forgiving each other.”

For years, Jane has lived with the regret of not being able to protect her younger brother—however unfair to her younger self that feeling might be. “I felt like God knows what happened to him and I wasn’t there to protect him,” she said.

Now, however, things are different.

“As an adult, I have the power to protect my little brother now and have the power to do something about what happened to him,” Jane said. “And that’s what my goal is to get done. Just to show my little brother that, hey, I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to protect you and be there for you then. But this is how I’m showing up for you now.”

While Haddish did not respond to requests for comment for days prior to this story running, following the publication of this story, Andrew Brettler, an attorney representing Haddish, issued a statement on her behalf saying that the plaintiff’s mother “has been trying to assert these bogus claims against Ms. Haddish for several years... Now, has her adult daughter representing herself in this lawsuit. The two of them will together face the consequences of pursuing this frivolous action.”

https://twitter.com/MarcusLDoss/status/1565558891714338817

Not suggesting it was malicious and planned but more of a “this is why you need writers and producers” type of thing where it sounds funny and edgy when filming but to a kid its weird af and the parent should be on set to decide if its too much.

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

.

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i will not let finite disappointment undermine infinite hope
- Cory Booker

Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end the Germans always win
- Gary Lineker

in the hopes of them becoming a child star

My fried is a music producer and a woman said “my kid is a star, I just want to gove her to you so you can make her a star”

he was like “whoa.. whoa.. whoa..”

and then she caught herself because we started joking her because she was didn’t hear how fucked up she sounded.

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

this was after the allegations first started coming out. that told me what he was important to him.

Y'all buy those labels, I was born supreme

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Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

especially given her own history of abuse

can't say I expected this brand of depravity from her, but her moral compass being fucked up is nothing new.

___________________

Mar-A-Lago delenda est

IF you go tea, spill it.

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

https://omnatigray.org/where-are-the-bodies-the-discursive-violence-of-tiffany-haddish/

I was a fan of Tiffany Haddish — perhaps oddly — not because of her stand-up or her movies but because of an interview she had with Stephen Colbert. Her journey, as she touched on in that interview, and her resilience left an impression on me. Later when I read of her trip to her ancestral Eritrea and saw images of her in traditional Eritrean clothes on the red carpet, I found her to be even more relatable. It was easy for me to identify with what I perceived to be her quest for roots, belonging, and a fuller understanding of an identity that was rightly hers, but one she was periphery to by circumstance.

This was my impression of Tiffany until I re-encountered her recently in decidedly different circumstances. Seven months into a brutal conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia that is quickly becoming one of the worst humanitarian crisis with all indicators pointing to deliberate genocide orchestrated by the Eritrean and Ethiopian governments – I, to my dismay, came across an audio clip from a Club House discussion in which Tiffany quite inexplicably asks “Where are the bodies?”

This was quite rightly met with a significant amount of disbelief, shock, and anger amongst Tigrayans. Such callousness seemed almost incomprehensible to those of us battered by collective trauma as a result of consuming an unending catalogue of horror on a daily basis for the last 219 days and counting. To the many processing the loss of family and friends as well as the unrelenting anxiety of not knowing about the welfare of loved ones, such a statement could only be considered downright abusive.

Having made this statement, Tiffany not only doubled down and defended her unforgivable statement, but she went on to taunt Tigrayans on social media by amplifying the worst examples of atrocity denial and those voices promoting state-sanctioned violence, including the weaponization of rape on a scale rarely, if ever, seen.

More particularly Tiffany shared an easily debunked propaganda piece by the Eritrean government and an article written by Jeff Pearce, a Canadian who for reasons known only to himself, has made a career of denying and justifying the atrocities being committed by the Ethiopian and Eritrean regimes. In behavior that can only be described as toxic, Tiffany also continues to attack those who engage her to provide explanations with bizarre accusations that barely make sense.

And yet, not only have there been little to no consequences for a Hollywood celebrity who is taking advantage of her privileged perch to mock, ridicule, and deny horrific brutality, there is little expectation that she will suffer any backlash. This, it seems to me, speaks volumes about the value of Black Africans’ lives, particularly those from the continent. It would seem that the world has become so inured to the mass deaths and almost perennial misery of Africans that someone who ululates at our deaths and who declares our suffering an act barely raises eyebrows.

Even worse, some have justified Tiffany’s statement in saying that the situation is a ‘polarizing’ one and characteristic of complex African realities. When it comes down to it, such justifications are nothing but variations of statements like “there are good people on both sides” or “we don’t know the whole story” used to excuse systemic abuse the world over. The African American and the Jewish communities, which Tiffany claims to belong to, have firsthand experience of how these euphemisms are deployed to excuse state-sanctioned violence against minorities whose deaths and suffering are relativized, politicized, and even glorified for the better good.

What is happening in Tigray is not complex. We have seen it before only too many times — most recently in Darfur and Rwanda. It is the systematic elimination of an ethnic minority. As the world watches seemingly helplessly, women and girls are being gang-raped with, what perpetrators acknowledge, to be genocidal intent. Young men and boys are massacred lest they resist. Priests are being murdered. Cultural and religious heritage is being destroyed to irrevocably erase a culture and identity. Today, more than 5 million people are being driven inexorably to starvation.

In light of all of this, that Tiffany asked to see broken and bloodied bodies transcends the terrible to the nightmarish and the ghoulish. That she will probably be allowed to go on with her career regardless — even portraying such a global Black icon as Florence Griffith Joyner — is only a testament that African lives, bodies, and stories, especially those of African minorities, are barely a part of our global consciousness.

I can only hope that one day continental Africans and the descendants of Africans across the world will learn to value each other, our deaths, our bodies, and our stories enough to not let such disregard and abuse pass unchecked — even from one of our own. I hope too that we will no longer allow any arguments that try to justify or relativize violence against us under the patronizing guise of African problems being complex when what is really meant is that there are instances when it is alright to look past African deaths and certain conditions under which African Lives do not matter.

Meron T Gebreananaye – Omna Tigray External Contributor, June 2021

___________________

Mar-A-Lago delenda est

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/vanessatsehaye/tiffany-haddish-eritrea-isaias-afwerki

Tiffany Haddish Praised Eritrea's Dictator. Then She Doubled Down In DMs With Young Eritrean Americans.

"American history is happening in Eritrea but not as bad or maybe worse," the Girls Trip actor wrote in a previously unseen Twitter group chat.

Vanessa Tsehaye
BuzzFeed Contributor


Reporting From London
Posted on March 4, 2020 at 5:32 pm
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Getty Images
Left: Tiffany Haddish at the NAACP awards. Right: Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki.

LONDON — Standing side by side in front of rows of cultivated plants, a man and a woman beam at the camera, in a photo that could come straight from a family holiday album. The woman on the left is instantly recognizable to millions of people: the actor, comedian, and author Tiffany Haddish. The man on the right is less familiar, but behind the warm smile and the friendly arm across Haddish’s shoulder is one of the world’s longest-ruling dictators, Eritrea’s Isaias Afwerki. Since coming to power 27 years ago he has been accused of ruling in a ruthless and brutal manner, as Eritrea earned the nickname the North Korea of Africa in the process.

What was Haddish, whose career is founded on making people laugh, doing embracing a man like Isaias?


The picture was taken in January 2018 when Haddish visited Eritrea, the country of her father’s birth, for the first time.

In May 2019, she returned to become a naturalized citizen, and left behind a copy of her acclaimed autobiography, The Last Black Unicorn, for Isaias. It was signed with the message, “my brother, my president, thank you for doing what you do.” Her visit coincided with Eritrean Independence Day.


For many Eritreans in the ever-growing diaspora, the handwritten message confirmed their worst fears — that Haddish was inadvertently laundering the Eritrean regime’s reputation in the West by appearing to endorse its hardline leader.

In tweets and Instagram comments, Eritreans living outside of the country wrote to Haddish about the thousands of people, including children, imprisoned without trial, the underground prisons, the indefinite national service program likened to slavery by the UN where people are raped and tortured, the 5,000 people who flee the country every month. They begged her to speak out against the regime, not appear to endorse it.

Days after she gained Eritrean citizenship, Haddish responded: She agreed to talk about the situation in Eritrea with a group of young Eritreans mainly from the US in a Twitter DM conversation.

This is where I come into the story: I'm a Swedish Eritrean activist and freelance journalist based mainly in London. At the time the group chat was being set up, I was an undergrad student also working as a journalist alongside my studies. The young Eritreans setting up the group chat knew me from my Eritrean activism, so they asked me to join because they thought I could help convince Haddish to stop appearing to endorse Isaias and the regime.

Prior to the conversation, the young Eritreans shared Haddish on a Google Doc with all the main points they wanted to tell her about the nightmare inside Eritrea for normal people, including news articles and reports by the UN and Human Rights Watch. The young Eritreans looked forward to hearing how Haddish would respond. But what she said left them utterly crestfallen.

“Good morning y’all,” Haddish wrote. “I tried my best to keep my eyes open to chat with y'all but there was so much to read, I fell asleep on y'all sorry about that.”

Haddish doubled down on thanking Isaias: He was, in her view, a veteran soldier, and people should be grateful for veterans. He was building dams to bring electricity to Eritrea. And he had given her honey from his farm, which had made her grandma feel better. The young Eritreans were stunned.


Obtained by BuzzFeed News
“I hated her response,” said Lidiya, a young Eritrean Canadian in the DM chat who asked that her surname not be used because, like many in the Eritrean diaspora, she fears reprisals against family in Eritrea by the regime as a price for speaking out.

“Shouldn't we honor the veterans he has killed and imprisoned as well? And what about the national service conscripts who are actually building the dams without any choice or adequate pay? I don’t even know what to say about the honey comment. That part left me speechless.”

BuzzFeed News contacted Haddish’s managers and publicist via email prior to publication of this article but received no response to a request for comment and a series of questions. A woman at her managers' office in Los Angeles, when asked for a comment for a BuzzFeed News story, said “no, thank you,” and hung up. Additional emails to Haddish’s publicist went unanswered.


Eric Lafforgue / Getty Images
An Eritrean boy in the military tank graveyard in Asmara, Eritrea, Aug. 22, 2019.

Eritrea, home to about 5.7 million people, is one of the world’s newest countries. After a 30-year war with Ethiopia, Eritrea achieved independence in 1991; as many as 100,000 people died in the conflict. Then, between 1998 and 2000, Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a particularly bloody war, but a peace agreement was not signed until 2018, as relations between the neighbors finally showed signs of thawing. Last year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for working to end the two-decade-old conflict.

Isaias, a former military commander, has been Eritrea’s president since its independence. Eritrea is a totalitarian one-party state, with no independent judiciary or media. Isaias has never stood for election and has refused to implement the 1997 constitution and hold elections. Human Rights Watch says Eritrea has one of the world’s worst records on human rights. For eight years running, Eritrea was ranked at the bottom of the Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index. A 2013 report from Amnesty International said there were at least 10,000 political prisoners in Eritrea, many of whom were Isiais' former comrades. National service is compulsory from the age of 18 and mainly involves working for next to nothing on public services, such as intensive construction projects. This national service is indefinite and is one of the main reasons thousands of people try to flee the country every year — some estimates say up to 12% of the country’s population has fled. During the European migrant crisis, Eritreans were the second-largest group of people seeking refuge, behind only Syrians. For years, Isaias, 74, used the constant threat of war with Ethiopia as an excuse for the harsh conditions within Eritrea, but since the 2018 peace deal was agreed, there have been no signs of things improving. At other times, the Eritrean government has dismissed the authors of critical reports by the UN and NGOs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as wanting to achieve regime change in the country. Internet access is extremely limited in Eritrea, with only 2% of people able to get online, and criticism of the regime from within Eritrea is all but nonexistent — a 2019 report from the Committee to Protect Journalists called Eritrea the most censored country in the world.

All of the above makes Haddish defending Isaias and the Eritrean regime unbelievably surreal. Her late father was an Eritrean refugee from an Eritrean Jewish family, but he was largely absent from her childhood. Because she was not brought up with the knowledge of Eritrean history or traditions, many Eritreans living outside of the country initially gave Haddish the benefit of the doubt that she was not aware of the country’s abysmal human rights record.


Dan Macmedan / WireImage
Tiffany Haddish attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards, March 4, 2018.

After all, Haddish embracing Eritrean culture was something to be celebrated by the Eritrean community: They cheered when she wore a traditional Eritrean dress on the red carpet at the 2018 Oscars, when Haddish said she was “honoring her fellow Eritreans.”

Many Eritreans living outside of Eritrea were also understanding of how important discovering your roots could be for an individual’s identity, and aware of how this could potentially hinder someone from looking at a situation critically. When Haddish made her first trip to the country in 2018, she did so to bury her father and connect with her extended family, whom she had never met before.

Haddish told the state-run Eri-TV, the only TV station in the country, “I was trying to figure out, Who am I? And now I have a way better understanding of who I am and why I am on this Earth.”

But it was Haddish thanking Isaias on her visit in 2019 that made Eritreans decide to take more proactive action to speak to her about the realities of the regime. Many of the tweets criticizing Haddish used the #IsSheReady4Eritrea hashtag, referencing her signature #SheReady hashtag and She Ready! From the Hood to Hollywood comedy special and tour.

“I remember thinking, Thank you for what? Thank you for running all our youths out of the country? Thank you for locking up our brightest minds? Thank you for destroying our country?” said Lidiya, the young Eritrean Canadian.


In the group chat with the young Eritreans, Haddish deflected criticizing Isaias by constantly comparing the situation in Eritrea to the US.

“Ok I see what y’all talking about so basically what y’all saying is Eritrea is right now what America was in the beginning. except they are enslaving there own people instead of people from another land. Oh wait America did enslave The natives. And these people are just held some where being sexually abused and made to work for free. With no health care and Necessities. Sounds like the US prison system or the Internment camps they have for illegal immigrants here in America where they are separating children from there parents,” she wrote.

“I mean shit it just sounds like history repeating itself. American history is happening in Eritrea but not as bad or maybe worse. 😐IDk. What can we do to fix this?"


Obtained by BuzzFeed News
Her reasoning confounded people in the group chat: If Haddish could see parallels between the two countries, why was she protesting the situation in the US but making allowances for Eritrea?

At another point in the conversation, the bulk of which took place over one day, Haddish suggested flying in other celebrities to visit Eritrea to “show how beautiful the land is how beautiful the people are and how hard the struggle is.”

But this was the original problem, as the activists on the DM chat saw it.


“We don’t need celebrity visits that will only be good PR for the dictator, we have solutions and have told her about them for months,” said Yodit Araya, an Eritrean American organizer in the Yiakl movement, which means “‘Enough”’ in Tigrinya, one of the national languages of Eritrea.

The group chat was set up on the premise that Haddish was willing to learn about the situation in Eritrea, and during the exchanges she repeatedly asked what could be done to help. “what can we really do as a Group to make things better?” she wrote. “Come on y’all what can we do? I am only one person.”


Obtained by BuzzFeed News
But the young Eritreans were left frustrated by what they perceived to be her refusal to engage with their ideas and suggested solutions.

“Just remember I am only a human and comedian. I can only do so much for Everybody else Everything starts with self,” Haddish wrote. “Believe me when I say! I will make more change in the world by following my Inner guidance system and playing well with others.”

Someone in the Twitter DM chat shared the story of Ciham Ali, an Eritrean American born in Los Angeles — like Haddish — whose father was a former government minister who left the regime. Seven years ago Ciham was caught at the Sudanese border at age 15 when she tried to flee the country, and has not had any access to the outside world since then. She has never been charged with a crime or faced trial.

But Haddish brought the discussion back to the US. “I feel bad for Ciham,” she wrote. “I Also feel bad for my cousin Deeanna That did 8yrs and was only sentenced to 5 at the age of 18. When we can figure out what we can do about this we will get closer to free others that deserve to be free. Let’s put our minds together and think.” It was her final message in the group chat, which ended without resolution.


Obtained by BuzzFeed News
Months later, there was more disappointment for the young Eritreans when Haddish questioned how she could “tell someone what to do in their house. when at my house (America) we got Facilities with Fathers, mothers and children locked up. And more slaves than ever in the history of America. I don’t know everything going on over there.”


Then in an interview with the Hollywood Unlocked show last December, Haddish criticized Eritreans for attacking her without taking any action themselves.

“Y’all can keep telling me all this stuff, but what’s the action? How do you fix it? Don’t come at me with all the shenanigans, rararara, but no damn action,” Haddish said. “Get out of here.”

She went on to defend Isaias and the Eritrean authorities once more.

“I get what that president, I get…look...everybody that’s in office over there, that’s into politics, when you do your research, all of them fought in a war, OK, all of them have fought, they are all freedom fighters, they all fought for their freedom. They have watched their friends die in front of them. So I don’t know about you, but if I’m in a war and I feel like, Oh, if I let this happen or let that happen we’ll be back at war, you’re going to do whatever it takes to defend and protect your land,” Haddish said.

“They were trying to rape that land,” she continued, referring to Ethiopia’s actions in the war. “And they messed it up, they raped the people, they killed a lot of people. So of course he’s going to be a little, maybe overly doing things... I don’t agree with everything that they do, I don’t agree with everything that’s done here in America.”

But Araya, the Eritrean American activist, said that to Isaias and his regime, the war with Ethiopia was "just an excuse, and besides, a peace deal was made more than a year ago, so why has he not changed anything?”

She described Haddish’s comments in the Hollywood Unlocked interview as “extremely disrespectful to the backbreaking work of our activists who have been fighting this regime for decades, most of whom still are imprisoned because of their work.”

“As an immigrant, I really looked up to her and admired how she, despite all the hardship she had gone through, managed to succeed. But I was hoping she would use her success to go back and help the underdog. I wouldn't think she would turn her back on the underdog.”

Araya said Haddish had failed to grasp the impact someone with such a big profile could have, especially at a time when Eritrea is trying to present a new face to the world and avoid internal reforms.

“She is really famous in the US, she has huge influence. Eritrea is the most censored country in the world — the regime owns the narrative and has made the crisis unknown. Her support is not just symbolic. It’s more than just a picture or innocent visits. She is legitimizing him, whitewashing him,” Araya said.

“We are against her, as a superstar with the platform she has, normalizing our dictator.”●

___________________

Mar-A-Lago delenda est

<--- Big Baller World Order

sounds like Aries was Epstein and Tiffany was Ghislaine

not going to read this long ass article, but is that a fair characterization of the roles?

but it doesn’t sound like it was done for their personal pleasure. Just a terrible idea for a skit.

The description of Haddish switching up tho… that shit sounds exactly like
a groomer.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

>but it doesn’t sound like it was done for their personal
>pleasure. Just a terrible idea for a skit.

I mean.. it could be both.

Also, even if it wasn't for personal pleasure, massaging a 7 year old boy and having him massage him in that manner.. when the kid is clearly upset. That's not okay at all.

>sounds like Aries was Epstein and Tiffany was Ghislaine
>
>not going to read this long ass article, but is that a fair
>characterization of the roles?
>
>

yes.

and you're right. it's very specific.

The video of Aries and boy is out there somewhere.. Many
people online have seen it in the past and still remember it
and remember thinking how unfunny and disgusting it was.

I have no desire to view it. Just reading the details makes me
sick to my stomach.

it's wild, b/c any time i see kids acting in adult (not that kinda adult) situations, like scary movies, stuff with violence, or, when cast as victims of inappropriate shit, i am always wondering about the child actors. like, the grownups in your life was cool w/ this? and hoping the experience of just acting in the scene doesn't mess with them in some way. (and i know it has for many child actors).


but in this case, the absolute minimum 'best case' for tiffany and aries is that they were unbelievably stupid and thought the clout / notoriety of the product was worth doing something so risky and that could potentially go wrong--


nah. fuck that. ain't no way you can be that stupid. and the fact that there were two separate episodes means it wasn't some spur of the moment bad idea shit. the much more plausible part is that one or both of them concocted this as cover for messing w/ kids. on some, 'this just for research purposes' shit.

ain't no damn way.

and tiff, years later, was hosting 'kids say the darnedest things'

you know that had to fuck the mother up, and the kids.

and who else did that show? cos.


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

I definitely think this was more of a “how can I push as many buttons as possible for a laugh?”

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

(allegedly) was around other people in a regular filming situation.

2nd was in dude's crib. w/ the child upstairs w/ him. NOBODY else present? that's hella sus. having *that* much naivete don't seem probable.

no script? no asking anyone for consent / permission?


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

>(allegedly) was around other people in a regular filming
>situation.
>
>2nd was in dude's crib. w/ the child upstairs w/ him. NOBODY
>else present? that's hella sus. having *that* much naivete
>don't seem probable.
>
>no script? no asking anyone for consent / permission?

Can't claim ignorance.

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

Not defending them but if dude was on MadTV getting airtime doing this:


https://youtu.be/s-ATYC7KCpU

which is why I’m not surprised at all he would think something like that sketch would be “funny/edgy”

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

https://twitter.com/kattenbarge/status/1565466739458166788

And he proceeded to begin his smear campaign and name dropped the mother of Jane Doe and John Doe.

---------------------------------------

"The world is before you and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in." - James Baldwin

I kinda expect this bs from Spears, but I am SO disappointed in her.

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

instead she needs to make a public apology ASAP or she's gonna see hollywood turn its back on her with the quickness... cuz aint nobody, especially sponsors, trying to be associated with someone involved with this kind of content... especially in the era we're living in

*******************************************************
i will not let finite disappointment undermine infinite hope
- Cory Booker

Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end the Germans always win
- Gary Lineker

ionno, I want to believe you but I also feel like Hollywood don’t really give a fuck about kids and this will all blow over in a few.

Maybe I’m completely wrong, lol..

but Hollywood execs prolly like “you gotta be smarter tiff, we do this shit all the time but you dont actually record the videos..”

a quick rehab and she will be good…

hopefully

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

.

*******************************************************
i will not let finite disappointment undermine infinite hope
- Cory Booker

Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end the Germans always win
- Gary Lineker

----------------------------------------

"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

cause they was wrong af for even letting that get past the silly idea stage

<--- Big Baller World Order

No normal human being, even for the sake of comedy, would ever think anything like that was a good and non problematic idea. I hope they both disappear from the public forever.

---------------------------------------

"The world is before you and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in." - James Baldwin

when Chappelle did the Piss on you video, he hired grown ass women to play the "Young girls" that shit wouldn't have been funny at all with actual children

R.I.P. Loud But Wrong Guy
Dec 29th 2009 - Dec 17th 2017

https://youtu.be/Funy-fB5PwY

def went too far adding kids to their skits.

I don’t think it was to get off for their own pleasure, just trying way too hard to be edgy.

Also wasn’t Arie Spears on Mad TV? They had R Kelly skits with kids that aired on TV back then.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

the lack of a laugh track/low production value (And the fact that dude just LOOKS creepy) just makes it so unsettling

R.I.P. Loud But Wrong Guy
Dec 29th 2009 - Dec 17th 2017

so this is a civil suit?

what are the civil charges?

it sounds like a very bad choice made by Spears and Haddish (assuming the allegations are true) in order to make some edgy comedy. is that a civil crime though (i'm actually asking).

smells like a wait and see.

especially if what Haddish's lawyer says it true about the mom already trying this in civil court.

im not talking about psychological issues resulting just from the events directly associated with the actual skit.

but imagine this footage floating around and being seen by other kids at your school(s), future co-workers, etc.

you in skimpy briefs and oiling up nasty ass aries spears?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CiIKTS2Pdcx/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=3e1f2a16-9614-41d5-9a6b-e2ae8f7a1fff

*******************************************************
i will not let finite disappointment undermine infinite hope
- Cory Booker

Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end the Germans always win
- Gary Lineker

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

They are invested in Tiff and she got thrown in traffic cause of this Lizzo shit

<--- Big Baller World Order

She hires the lawyer famous for defending sickos and throws Spiers under the bus as if she had nothing to do with the skit besides reading lines. I hope they destroy each other.

---------------------------------------

"The world is before you and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in." - James Baldwin

even if Spears was in the drivers seat she knows damn well she was more than hired help.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

SMH

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

My first reaction is this sounds like a money grab and the video can't be that bad. The video is worst than I thought. Stopped it when they did close-up of the boys crotch. Real gross unfunny shit no parent would do.

I don't think they were trying to be pedos but I do think they were dumb as sh*t to think this would be funny and, from a legal perspective, they were nuts not to pay 15k (the number I saw somewhere) to settle any and all claims the parents might have had.



**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

That should have been the fastest check cutting/NDA signing in history

R.I.P. Loud But Wrong Guy
Dec 29th 2009 - Dec 17th 2017

and for a "joke" with a premise that should stop you before you start



www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

That shit reads like straight career suicide.

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

saying I don't want to go to jail

and they're like...prince andrew didn't go to jail, right?

mfs don't care how it looks. they want to be free

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

not freedom

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

"Get ready....for your blessing....."
"Bury me by my Grand-Grand and when you can come follow me"

as awful as it all is.

I still don't understand though why you hire a criminal lawyer as opposed to just settle and make it go away.

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

of other kids in skits that went further I think this is a civil case.

not sure what they are asking for but she should’ve paid more than $100.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

God I hope not.

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

Felt like that killed the show
side eye off of that alone

But she has time to film pedo sketches with Arie irrelevant for a decade + Spears?

I'm good not F'n with her completely now!

---------------------------------------------------------------

If you can't understand it without an explanation

you can't understand it with an explanation

but shit like that definitely hurts a show.

She just up and left the white dude with these kids? So irresponsible, lol

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

you can check out Van Lathan's comment on his Higher Learning podcast.

he knows/is friends with Haddish and has knowledge about the situation, most of which he smartly is keeping to the vest, but he did say some things.

based on what HE said? it sounds like they (the mother of these kids specifically) are trying to extort Haddish and Spears. but, you can listen and decide for yourself.

that doesn't excuse that these skits (or was it just one?) were terrible idea(s) and just should have been deaded as soon as they were thought of.

Regardless of the mother's intent. This was terrible and bordering on criminal.

I don't really have a lot of sympathy. Shit's reprehensible.

********************************

Get Out The Room!
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
@fakewilliamkatt

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do!" - Olin Miller

Not that it’s necessarily going to sway me.
But curious to see how anyone can spin this with a straight face.



"Get ready....for your blessing....."
"Bury me by my Grand-Grand and when you can come follow me"

Van just stated some behind the scenes stuff.

he also condemned the skits as bad ideas that should have been trashed from jump, as many here have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cEa6hg91dY

whole segment starts at 58:50. Van's "knowledge" starts at 1:10:15

Also agree she is handling it poorly now. Just come out and say I made a mistake. I would have even got the police involved if it was truly extortion.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Did he interview the Mom and/or kids?
If not, it's spin
and irresponsible journalism
This dude from TMZ right?
I watched a couple of minutes but really didn't hear any details other than something Tiff may have told him
and it really wasn't anymore detailed than what was offered in the OP
Mom was using the incident to leverage gigs, etc...
He really didn't expound on the extortion angle
I found it interesting to contrast with the Letterman example he offered
This happened almost a decade ago...?
Tiff could have used any number of platforms to get out in front of this
...and if she was truly being extorted...
Yeah, there's ways to handle that

But in the end, it feels like spin to victim blaming
Both things can be true
Tiff did wrong
Mom did wrong

Doesn't change what was done to those kids

---------------------------------------------------------------

If you can't understand it without an explanation

you can't understand it with an explanation

"Both things can be true
Tiff did wrong
Mom did wrong

Doesn't change what was done to those kids"


So I don't see how he is victim blaming.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

he literally said what was done to those kids was wrong AND that the sketch was wrong.

multiple times.

i mean, sounds like the kind of friend i wanna have. the good kind who call bullshit when it's bullshit.

what i still want to know is if what happened even rises to the level of a civil offense? i don't understand civil law that well. like, can the civil accusation just be like "they harmed me" and if you go to a court and the court agrees you get something from the defendant(s)? or are there more stringent rules like in criminal law where if it's x, y, z happened, then it's a crime?

---------------------------------------------------------------

If you can't understand it without an explanation

you can't understand it with an explanation

i don't.

it's a relevant fact to the situation assuming what he said is truth. it sounds like they already resolved the situation behind the scenes, and the mom is trying to take advantage of it again.

that's just me looking at from the outside.

that doesn't excuse that the shit should have never happened.

Reporting something that the defendant told you... without any information from the plaintiffs side

That's something the lawyer or publicist would do

What's the point of TMZ dude doing it?

Like I said, he didn't really offer any more details or insight than what's been posted

Focusing on the mom feels like a deflection and defending Tiff = spin

Why is the Mom the focus?

---------------------------------------------------------------

If you can't understand it without an explanation

you can't understand it with an explanation

brings them emotional harm which impacts their ability to function..

I think its the same as any other civil case. Have to prove you were harmed and lost money due to it.

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

that's a low bar.

Like you have to show actual damages. Lost of work or medical bills.

Normally, in a production you would have all talent sign a waiver so claims like this can't be brought. As dumb ass as TH and AS appear, I almost have to believe that they did this.

In which case, and regardless, I really doubt they have a strong legal case BUT the optics are soooooo bad it would be smart to settle it.

The best set of Facts for Haddish would be they signed a waiver, they still gave money to go away and settle AND they still came back for more money.

That would help to make it look like more like extortion.

Something I find extremely telling is that they are representing themselves pro se. Which means that they couldn't find any lawyer willing to take it. With a tape that bad, and a star as big as Haddish, the fact no lawyer was willing to take it makes me think there is some huge piece of information missing.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

cuz most "money grubbing lawyers" would jump at this chance if they thought there was a good chance at getting a settlement or court decision out of this.

thanks for the insight. i didn't even think about the waivers you normally have to sign.

but usually its done as a money grab OR because there isn’t enough evidence to convict in court so civil is the best way to make a person “pay” for their wrongdoing


and if you are famous or rich, the court of public opinion can really fuck up your
money or lake you feel like you are on house arrest.

Who wants to go outside and have reporters hounding them about this type of shit?

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

in the room?


after that, there's nothing here to defend.

I don't need to argue about the specifics of what they did or didn't do, they have lawyers for that

but did they do some fucked up shit?

I don't need van lathan to tell me the answer to that

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

i mean, that's literally why we're here. the skit exists.

and the van lathan shit isn't adding anything
as long as we're on the same page

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

so, no, we don't agree.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-09-06/tiffany-haddish-aries-spears-child-sexual-abuse-lawsuit


The woman who recently sued Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears for alleged child sexual abuse submitted a letter Monday to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office calling for the comedians’ immediate arrest and prosecution.

The unidentified plaintiff’s request comes about a week after she filed a lawsuit accusing the comics of grooming and molesting her (Jane Doe) and her brother (John Doe) when they were 14 and 7, respectively.

In her letter to L.A. Dist. Atty. George Gascón, Jane Doe explains that her mother filed a police report regarding Haddish and Spears’ alleged crimes in Las Vegas in January 2020. She claims Las Vegas authorities passed the case along to the LAPD, which “has done nothing with this complaint.”

The letter alleges that the LAPD officer assigned to the case, referred to as Detective Eastborn, told Jane Doe’s mother that “there are children being molested present day” and that their complaint was “not a priority.”




“This matter’s breadth and complexity require your jurisdictional powers and resources to tackle and end the ... depravity committed by Haddish and Spears,” reads the letter, which was provided to The Times.

“My brother and I are prepared to speak with investigators and prosecutors from your office and provide you with irrefutable evidence that substantiates our allegations.”

Representatives for Haddish and Spears did not immediately respond Tuesday to The Times’ request for comment.

On Monday, Haddish released a statement that said she “deeply” regretted her participation in a sketch that “was intended to be comedic” but ultimately “wasn’t funny at all.”

Jane Doe‘s lawsuit outlines two comedy sketches, one for which Haddish allegedly encouraged a 14-year-old Jane Doe to mimic the motions of fellatio, and another that featured Spears “lusting over” John Doe while the 7-year-old was in his underwear and Haddish was offscreen.



Reps for Tiffany Haddish, Aries Spears call child sexual abuse lawsuit a ‘shakedown’
Sept. 1, 2022

“I know people have a bunch of questions,” Haddish wrote on Instagram.

“I get it. I’m right there with you. Unfortunately, because there is an ongoing legal case, there’s very little that I can say right now. ... I really look forward to being able to share a lot more about this situation as soon as I can.”

In a statement provided Tuesday to The Times, Jane Doe called Haddish’s Instagram post a “meager attempt at shifting responsibility solely onto” Spears. Jane Doe also urged the public to sign a Change.org petition supporting “the immediate arrest and prosecution of” Haddish and Spears.

“Tiffany did not acknowledge the fact that she intentionally lied to our mother by telling her that my brother would be filming a Nickelodeon sizzle reel, when in fact her real intention was to isolate him and molest him with Aries Spears,” Jane Doe continued. “We are not going to stop until we receive justice.”





In their lawsuit, Jane Doe and John Doe accuse Haddish and Spears of negligence, sexual battery, sexual harassment and sexual abuse of a minor. The siblings are seeking an unspecified monetary reward for “past, present, and future general damages.”

Last week, attorneys for Haddish and Spears dismissed Jane Doe’s complaint as an attempted “shakedown.”

“ plaintiff’s mother ... has been trying to assert these bogus claims against Ms. Haddish for several years,” Haddish‘s attorney Andrew Brettler said in a statement to The Times. “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.

In a separate statement to The Times, Spears attorney Debra Opri said her client “isn’t going to fall for any shakedown.”

---------------------------
Signature

If there's a police report... there's goes the extortion angle

---------------------------------------------------------------

If you can't understand it without an explanation

you can't understand it with an explanation

i'm genuinely asking. extortion can't be possible if a police report is filed?

police take reports on all kinds of things that aren't criminal from what i understand. a lot of times police tell people they can file a report if they want just to appease them about something that has no actual merit.

unless i'm just totally misunderstanding the police reporting process.

Going public
Criminal charges
= No Leverage

It's up to the LAPD/DA whether or not criminal charges will be filed

The story is obviously in the public domain now

What leverage is there to use for extortion now?

---------------------------------------------------------------

If you can't understand it without an explanation

you can't understand it with an explanation

as Legs already stated, celebs DO NOT want shit like this in the public.

they pay to make it go away so that they don't lose current or future work. that's the whole extortion play here.

You totally misunderstand

Going public is the leverage to extort compensation
FOR NOT GOING PUBLIC!