The anonymous woman who accused Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears of sexually abusing her has withdrawn her lawsuit against the two.
The 22-year-old woman asked the judge overseeing the case to withdraw her lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled, according to court documents obtained by TMZ on Tuesday.
The former plaintiff, referred to only as Jane Doe, had originally sued the 42-year-old Girls Trip star and the 47-year-old former MADtv fixture for allegedly grooming her and her younger brother when they were 14 and seven, respectively.
DailyMail.com has reached out to a representative for Haddish for comment.
Moving on: A woman accusing Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears of sexually abusing her and her brother when they were 14 and seven, respectively, withdrew her lawsuit, according to documents obtained Tuesday by TMZ. She claimed they filmed sexually suggestive comedy sketches
After withdrawing her lawsuit, the woman issued a statement.
‘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,’ she wrote. ‘We wish Tiffany the best and are glad that we can all put this behind us.’
Notably, Spears was not mentioned at all in the statement, though both appear to be in the clear.
Previously, the accuser had called on the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to ‘immediately arrest and prosecute’ the celebrities.
The reason for her change of heart after making such disturbing claims were not immediately known.
Permanent: The woman asked a judge to withdraw her lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled in the future; Haddish seen in July in San Diego
In her lawsuit accusing the comics of abuse, the anonymous woman said that one of the sketches the group filmed was titled Through a Pedophile’s Eyes.
The woman and her brother — John Doe — said they were forced to participate in sexually suggested acts on camera, which left them with crippling emotional scars they are still dealing with today.
In addition to filing the lawsuit, Jane Doe sent a letter to the Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, accusing authorities of doing nothing about the case in the nearly two years since it was reported by their mother to the Las Vegas Police in January 2020, according to The Daily Beast.
In the letter, Jane Doe alleged Haddish and Spears were mentioned by name in the initial complaint, and that the LVPD transferred the case to the Los Angeles Police Department, but that the LAPD officer assigned to it ‘has done nothing with this complaint.’
Speaking out: ‘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,’ she wrote in a statement that didn’t mention Spears. ‘We wish Tiffany the best and are glad that we can all put this behind us’
‘This matter’s breadth and complexity require your jurisdictional powers and resources to tackle and end the stream depravity committed by Haddish and Spears,’ the letter continued, ‘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.’
Earlier in September, Haddish acknowledged her participation in the sketches, saying in a statement on her Instagram page from earlier this month that they were intended to be ‘comedic,’ but ‘it wasn’t funny at all.’
It was a change in tone after her attorney previously called the allegations ‘bogus claims.’
Attorneys for Spears, 47, told the Washington Post that he ‘Isn’t going to fall for any shakedown.’
Mum’s the word: Though Haddish acknowledged the videos and voiced regret about them, she said she could not provide details as the case was ongoing; seen August 2 in Hollywood
Claims: Haddish was alleged to have brought the boy to a home where she and Spears molested him while filming a Funny or Die video titled Through A Pedophiles Eyes; seen in May in Philadelphia
Jane and John Doe allege that their mother was friends with Haddish, who recruited them to participate in the videos.
Jane said in 2013 that she agreed to partake in a video in which Spears asked her to mimic a video of women eating a sub sandwich in a suggestive manner, noises and all. When Jane did not do as she was told, she said Haddish joined in and instructed her on ‘how to give fellatio, including movements, noises, moaning, and groaning,’ according to the complaint.
The complaint stated that the experience left her scarred and fearful and unable to trust anybody ever since.
‘Plaintiff Jane Doe is 22 years of age now and has never dated,’ the lawsuit read. ‘She is scared that she will be taken advantage of again and led down a path of false trust like the path that Haddish led her down.’
The complaint alleged that her brother participated in a sketch video a year later at Spears’ home. This was the video titled The Mind Of A Pedophile, and it depicted John Doe as a seven-year-old left alone with a pedophilic babysitter played by Spears.
According to The Daily Beast, John wore only his underwear throughout the video, and Spears rubbed baby oil on his body. By the end of the video, Spears was reportedly shirtless and received a massage from John.
John Doe now claims to be afraid of being watched or recorded, to the extent that he puts ‘band-aids over all the cameras on his electronics,’ and has lived an isolated life since the video.
‘I don’t got no friends, I don’t trust nobody, I’m scared of adults, I refuse to be recorded or take pictures because I am scared of weird-a** adults trying to do nasty stuff to me again,’ he wrote in the complaint. ‘I spend all of my time in my room and do not go anywhere because I don’t trust anybody.’
Missed the mark: In a statement posted to her Instagram earlier this month, Haddish said the skits were intended to be ‘comedic,’ but ‘it wasn’t funny at all.’
Doe filed the lawsuit pro se, meaning she will is representing herself in the case.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Haddish’ attorney Andrew Brettler said Doe’s accusations were ‘bogus’ and that a host of attorneys who had considered taking the case agreed.
‘Plaintiff’s mother, Trizah Morris, has been trying to assert these bogus claims against Ms. Haddish for several years,’ he said, ‘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. Morris has her adult daughter representing herself in this lawsuit. The two of them will together face the consequences of pursuing this frivolous action.’
On defense: In a statement to DailyMail.com, Haddish’ attorney Andrew Brettler said Doe’s accusations were ‘bogus’ and that a host of attorneys who had considered taking the case agreed; seen in April in Las Vegas
Fighting back: Attorneys for Spears, 47, told the Washington Post that he ‘Isn’t going to fall for any shakedown’; seen in 2020 in New Jersey
Though Haddish acknowledged the videos and voiced regret about them, she said she could not provide details, as the case was ongoing.
‘I know people have a bunch of questions. 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.’
The siblings also said that their mother previously tried to reach a $15,000 settlement with Spears over the alleged molestation video.
Their mother alleges in a statement to The Daily Beast that she met Haddish through comedy and the two developed a close bond as they were both going through divorces at the time.
According to the lawsuit, Haddish called the family for ‘every birthday and every Christmas.’
Funny or Die, a comedy website John’s video was filmed for, shared a statement with TMZ saying it had no involvement in creating the ‘absolutely disgusting’ sketch, and it claimed the video was uploaded as user-generated content and removed as soon as they learned of it.
Source: | Dailymail.co.uk