ET chatted with GRAMMY winner Tiffany Haddish on the set of her music video ahead of the release of her single, 'Woman Up.'
Tiffany Haddish is well known for her comedic chops -- Will Smith previously described the comedian to ET as a "machine" who was always on and ready with another joke -- and now she's ready to show off another talent: her singing.
ET chatted with Haddish on the set of the music video for her recently released single, "Woman Up," which she described as an "empowerment song" for women.
"Really, it's an all-the-way-around song because everybody has their dual sides," Haddish clarifies. "I'm like an onion; sometimes you catch me out in public and put a camera in my face, I'm like, 'La da.' Sometimes you put a camera in my face and catch me outside [and] I'll be like, 'Listen, I'm not in the mood right now.' There's different levels to it."
The Night School star says that "Woman Up" is about "getting yourself up off the bed, get[ting] off your feet and mov[ing]."
The pop song was written by hit songwriter Diane Warren, who also spoke with ET on the music video's set. Warren explained that although she didn't write the song with Haddish in mind, it turned out to be "the perfect song for her."
"I'm friends with her managers and [when] I met her, she was talking about how she does music. When someone is an actress or comedian, usually you kind of go, 'Umm yeah.' But I heard her sing and she can really sing!" Warren shares.
The GRAMMY winner tells ET that her "sixth sense" for matching the right singers to her songs helped her make the connection between "Woman Up" and Haddish. "They call me the song whisperer all the time because somebody comes in there like, 'How did you know I was going through this?' I feel a vibe and when I met Tiffany, this was an easy call," Warren adds. "It's a fun song but you know it has something to say too."
While Warren says Haddish's voice will draw listeners, she boasts that the song's relatability will help it gain fans.
She explains, "I think people are really going to connect to it because it's a really relatable subject. It's woman up, it's don't feel sorry for yourself, what are you doing, you know? Get up and woman up and get on your feet. Don't lay in bed and be miserable, get up."
It's a message that Haddish relates to personally, especially after the publicized difficulties the Girls Trip star has been through recently.
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.
In November, she was cited for driving under the influence for the second time in two years. The incident marked Haddish's second DUI arrest, with the first occurring in January 2022. At that time, she was arrested in Atlanta after officers responded to a report of someone sleeping behind the wheel. Haddish faced charges of DUI and improper stopping on a roadway, eventually being released after posting a $1,666 bond.
Soon after her arrest, Haddish told ET she had spent a long Thanksgiving Day that started with feeding underprivileged people at The Laugh Factory. Haddish delivered a special holiday set at the venue's 43rd annual free feast for locals.
"I'm going to get some help so I can learn balance and boundaries," she noted.
Haddish also said that she was in good spirits following the arrest, and complimented the Beverly Hills Police Department for their professionalism and how they handled the situation.
Haddish ultimately pleaded no contest to a reduced charge, The Los Angeles Times reported. She was sentenced to a year of probation, ordered to complete a driver's education program, the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Victim Impact Program, L.A. County's Hospital and Morgue Program, and 40 hours of community service. She also had to pay fines and fees.
"I think [I've been] getting my a** back on track since I was 13. I feel like I make a mistake and say something crazy, do something wild probably every three months," Haddish quipped to ET, making her the perfect candidate to inspire those looking for motivation to overcome their obstacles.
"Diane and I had some extensive conversation -- she has gotten to know me and I think she wrote the perfect song for me to sing," she shared. "I would like to think of myself as the motivator, the inspirer, the deliverer of the positive energy, get you going to doing what you need to be doing and, hopefully, if you're doing what you need to be doing, that will help me in some kind of way to get done what I need to be doing."
And if anyone is concerned about Haddish's singing abilities, she would direct them to her previously released singles, which include, "Till the Club Close" featuring Lil John, "Baby Daddy (Remix)" featuring Trina and Jada Pinkett Smith, "Too Much" and "Do Your Own Thing."
"Yes, she can sing," Haddish declared, speaking of herself in the third person. "She been singing since she was three years old. We're not saying she’s good at it, we are just saying it's entertainment. I like to think of myself as the Bob Dylan of pop music."
And Haddish plans to continue making music, even sharing a list of hopeful collaborators for future singles.
"I would like to collab with Cardi B, I would love to get Megan Thee Stallion on something, I would love to do something with Taylor Swift, I would even work with Britney [Spears] too -- she's a Sagittarius [and] I'm a Sagittarius, I would love to do something with her," Haddish said. "Me and Barbra Streisand, that would be fire. Bette Midler and myself would be fire. Toni Braxton would be dope and she's my friend. Oh, me and Mariah [Carey], 'cause we go back like teenagers on fire escapes."
Watch the music video for "Woman Up" below.
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