The 'Girls Trip' star shares her reaction to Mo'Nique's 'Club Shay Shay' interview with ET's Nischelle Turner.
Tiffany Haddish is taking recent comments from fellow comedian Mo'Nique with grace. ET's Nischelle Turner chatted with the Girls Trip star at the Fanatics Super Bowl LVIII party on Saturday night -- attended by stars such as one of the world's most eligible bachelors, Tom Brady, who also spoke with ET's special correspondent Kylie Rubin, the 17-year-old daughter of Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin.
Haddish, 44, told ET that she's been "doing comedy shows, resting and catching up with friends," and embarking on a new angle with her comedy recently.
"I'm on my straight up tell you the truth stuff now," she shared, adding that she has "no idea" what is going on in the comedy space, but jabs directed at her aren't phasing her. "I am grateful and thankful that I am on the minds of people that I look up to."
The jabs in question stem from Mo'Nique's recent appearance on Shannon Sharpe's Club Shay Shay YouTube show and podcast. Her interview premiered on Wednesday, and throughout the nearly three-hour video -- which beat Katt Williams' viral interview for the longest episode in Club Shay Shay history -- the 56-year-old comedian and actress laid out her grievances against several of her peers, including Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry and D.L. Hughley.
At one point in the conversation, Mo'Nique called out Haddish for a 2018 remark that the Haunted Mansion star made about her husband Sidney Hicks, who is also her manager.
In conversation with GQ, Haddish addressed Mo'Nique's 2018 call for a boycott of Netflix after discussions with the streamer to film a special back in 2017 fell through because they made an offer that she found "biased, discriminatory." It was reportedly an opening offer of $500,000 for a one-hour show that Netflix would have complete control over, including owning the copyright and retaining all audio-only rights to the special.
Mo'Nique subsequently filed a lawsuit in November 2019, claiming racial and gender discrimination.
"Netflix reportedly offered or paid Rock, Chappelle, DeGeneres and Gervais 40 times more per show than it offered Mo'Nique, and it offered Schumer 26 times more per show than Mo'Nique," the lawsuit alleged, according to CBS News. "In short, Netflix's offer to Mo'Nique perpetuates the drastic wage gap forced upon Black women in the American workforce."
"Despite Mo'Nique’s extensive résumé and documented history of comedic success, when Netflix presented her with an offer of employment for an exclusive stand-up comedy special, Netflix made a low-ball offer that was only a fraction of what Netflix paid other (non-Black female) comedians,” the lawsuit continued. "When the talent was not a Black woman, Netflix offered to pay, and did pay, astronomically more than it pays to Black women like it offered to Mo'Nique."
The suit also noted an alleged general pattern of gender and racial discrimination at the streamer, highlighting such instances as when Claire Foy was paid significantly less than Matt Smith for The Crown. It also referenced a $20 million deal for Ellen DeGeneres and a $40 million deal for Ricky Gervais.
Three years later, the comedian and Netflix agreed to dismiss the lawsuit, "including without limitation all claims alleged therein, with prejudice, with each party to bear her or its own costs, expenses, and attorneys' fees." No further details were disclosed.
At the time, Haddish discussed Mo'Nique's call for a boycott by saying, "My business run different than her business. I don't live her life. I don't have that husband of hers. I'm looking at how [Netflix has] opened up so many opportunities for black females and comedy."
"When my people are dying, that's when you gonna catch me protesting. I'm not gonna protest because somebody got offered not the amount of money they wanted to get offered," she added to GQ. "If you don't like what they're offering you, just no longer do business with them. If I protest Netflix--what about all the black shows that are on there? What about all the other actors that are working on there? All the Indians, the Hispanics, the Asians. My show, The Carmichael Show, airs on there right now. It ain't on NBC."
On Club Shay Shay, Mo'Nique shot back at the comments by taking jabs at Haddish's arrest record. "When I saw that, it's like, Tiffany, if you had a husband like mine, you may not have two DUIs," she said while speaking with Sharpe. "If you had a husband like mine, you may not be caught up in what looks like you could have been grooming a child."
In 2022, Haddish and comedian Aries Spears were named defendants in a lawsuit brought forward by an anonymous female plaintiff, Jane Doe, who claimed the comedians groomed her and her brother, an anonymous male plaintiff John Doe, to perform sexually suggestive acts for comedy videos when they were children. The female plaintiff, 22, alleged that she and the male plaintiff, 15, were 14 and 7, respectively, at the time of the alleged sexual abuse.
The case was abruptly dropped not long after it was reported on.
"And I say that with no judgment," Mo'Nique continued. "But when you speak about having a husband like mine, you open up the door. And I'm saying to you, if you had one like mine, you may not sit in these positions that you can't explain the next day."
"She doesn't even have a husband, let alone like yours," Sharpe said.
"Well there now, you said it," Mo'Nique said, taking a sip of her drink. "I sipped on that, Shannon. That was a sip. That required a sip."
Noting that she used to look up to Mo'Nique, Haddish told ET that she wasn't disappointed by the comedian's comments because she viewed it as "an auntie talking."
"You know how we do... I was like, 'Oh dang, I've been on your mind and I didn't even know I was on your mind!' So, I'm grateful," she said of the situation. Haddish also noted that she and Mo'Nique have no personal relationship, so she never expected a sense of "mutual love and respect" between them.
"She's not my friend, so I get it, you know. I'm not close to her, we never had a conversation about that, so at the end of the day, I understand and I respect her," she added. "I do have respect for her and that's it."
The Night School star added that she would not jab back at her peer, since her personal philosophy is one of handling conversations face-to-face.
"I'd rather not do anything behind anybody's back; I'd rather do it to your face. I come from the 1900s, we talk to your face," she quipped. "If I got a problem with you, I tell you to your face. I'm 100 with it. Everybody that I have a problem with, they know I have a problem with [them] and not the whole world. It ain't the whole world's business. I got a problem with you, Imma tell you. Imma call you. Imma show up to your spot. You gonna know. I don't need to tell the whole wide world."
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