Source: Gabe Ginsberg / Getty
Aries Spears is finally speaking out about the grooming and molestation lawsuit involving him and famous comedienne Tiffany Haddish. Earlier this month, an anonymous female plaintiff alleged that the two stars sexually abused her and her younger brother during an inappropriate comedy skit.
Over the weekend, Spears finally broke his silence about the eyebrow-raising accusations on his Spears & Steinberg podcast. Although he didn’t go into full detail about the pending lawsuit, Spears called the heated legal dispute “an extortion case” and “a shakedown.”
The 47-year-old comedian and Haddish were sued by a pair of siblings who claimed they were “groomed” and coerced into taking part in an explicit skit called “Through a Pedophiles Eyes.” The inappropriate skit, which was uploaded to Funny or Die, captured Spears lusting over a young boy. Haddish played the child’s mother in the sexually suggestive video. According to the suit, the unidentified plaintiffs claimed they were 14 and 7 when they filmed the racy skit.
At one point during the podcast, Spears became emotional as he told listeners that the lawsuit could end his career.
“I already felt like my career was over. Before all this. I thought I was blackballed and my shit was over, but I always said, I felt like I was one thing away from the turnaround, but now with this, I’m almost certain that Tombstone is written,” the Chase star said. Spears went on to thank his mother for her love and support throughout the ongoing dispute.
“Maybe this is me being naive. Maybe this is me being corny, but from the day my mother had my back and groomed me into this thing called showbiz, I believed everything she said, I believed every word. She’s the reason why I’m here..” Spears added while holding back tears.
Social media shows no sympathy for Aries Spears
Social media users flocked to the internet to speak out about Spears’ emotional statement, but unfortunately, many users lacked sympathy for the comedian due to the mean body-shaming comments he recently made about Lizzo.
“This is a lesson. Be careful about the energy you put out. It doesn’t die. Just reverses,” wrote one Instagram user in the comment section of The Neighborhood Talk’s repost of the podcast clip. Another person commented, “You had the nerve to try and tear down a successful black woman tho? No sympathy.”
Tiffany Haddish breaks silence about the lawsuit
Last week, Tiffany Haddish released a statement about the pending lawsuit on Instagram apologizing for her involvement in the inappropriate skit. As previously reported, the Girls Trip star wrote that while the “sketch was intended to be comedic, it wasn’t funny at all.” The actress added, “I deeply regret having agreed to act in it. I really look forward to being able to share a lot more about this situation as soon as I can.”
The star’s lawyer also released a statement to CNN, telling the outlet that the plaintiff’s mother had been pushing the bogus claims against Haddish for “several years.”
