Shortly after Aries Spears came under fire for insulting Lizzo, he's back in the headlines once more alongside fellow comedian Tiffany Haddish for a new lawsuit that alleges the pair sexually abused an anonymous woman and her younger brother when they were 14 and 7 respectively.
In an exclusive report by The Daily Beast, Jane Doe, now 22, and her brother John, 15, filed a lawsuit that names Spears and Haddish as defendants. The complaint centers on two alleged incidents in which the defendants asked the siblings to engage in sexually suggestive acts on camera. Prior to the incidents, the plaintiffs' mother befriended Haddish.
In one incident, Haddish reportedly showed Jane a video of a group of coeds eating a sandwich that progressively got more explicit as it went on. Haddish then coached Jane on how to give fellatio. The then-14-year-old mimicked what was asked. “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 then paid her $100 and sent her home.
A year later, Haddish approached the children's mother and pitched for the 7-year-old John to film an audition reel for Nickelodeon. Instead, John wound up starring in a Funny or Die video, titled "Through a Pedophile's Eyes." A representative for the site said they did not produce it and it was submitted as user-generated content, eventually being taken down in 2018 when they became aware of its existence.
The shoot, which took place in Spears' home, was attended by both siblings. Haddish instructed Jane to stay on the couch while they filmed with John. Haddish played his mother who left him unattended with Spears. John, who spends most of the skit in his underwear, is stared at by Spears. The comedian also massaged him with oil, encouraged him to play with a train in a manner that simulated masturbation and watched him in a bathtub. By the end of the video, the child mimics the predatory behavior Spears displayed, with the warning “WATCH WHO YOU LEAVE YOUR KIDS WITH!”
The siblings' mother attempted to get access to the footage after hearing John's distressed cries for help, but Spears claimed that it was scrapped. Four years later, their mother came across a Bossiparticle that described the sketch, alerting her to its existence.
The Daily Beast reports: "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.'"
Both victims allege longstanding mental health issues as a result of the trauma they faced. The two comedians have denied the allegations.
"Plaintiff's mother, [redacted], has been trying to assert these bogus claims against Ms. Haddish for several years," her attorney Andrew Brettler said in a statement to The Los Angeles 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. Now, Ms. [redacted] has her adult daughter representing herself in this lawsuit. The two of them will together face the consequences of pursuing this frivolous action.”
Spears' attorney, Debra Opri, said "He isn't going to fall for any shakedown" in a statement to The Times.
Haddish's lawyer is known for representing controversial clients such as Chris Noth, Armie Hammer and Prince Andrew, all of whom have been accused of sexual assault and misconduct.