Tiffany Hadish and Aries Spears have been accused of sexually abusing two children.
In a lawsuit obtained by Entertainment Weekly, a 22-year-old woman known only by the pseudonym Jane Doe claimed that the two comedians forced her and her brother 'John Doe' to perform sexual acts on camera.
According to the lawsuit - which was filed at the Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday (August 30) - both siblings were underage at the time.
The suit accuses Haddish and Spears of multiple counts, including: "intentional infliction of emotional distress, gross negligence, sexual battery, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse of a minor."
Haddish also faces charges of "negligent supervision/failure to warn, breach of fiduciary duty, and constructive fraud."
According to the events detailed in the suit, when Jane was 14 and Joe was seven Haddish and Spears encouraged them to perform sexually suggestive acts as part of filmed comedy sketches.
The siblings had met Haddish prior to recording the sketches in 2013 and 2014 and reportedly called her "Aunty Tiff".
After showing Jane a video in which a man and a woman shared a sandwich in "a manner that simulated the act of fellatio", Haddish told the teenager "to mimic what she had seen on the screen, including the noises precisely like what she heard throughout the video."
"Haddish verbally explained what was expected of Plaintiff Jane Doe and then showed Plaintiff Jane Doe how to give fellatio, including movements, noises, moaning, and groaning," the suit read.
The second incident detailed by the lawsuit allegedly occurred around a year later, when the comedians recruited John for a sketch titled "Through a Pedophile’s Eyes."
According to the siblings, Spears played a pedophile in the scene, in which he massaged oil onto John's back. After shooting ended, the then-seven-year-old allegedly "called his mother crying, saying he did not want to film anymore."
Representatives for both Haddish and Spears have denied the allegations. Per The Independent, Haddish’s attorney Andrew Brettler accused the plaintiff's mother of asserting "these bogus claims against Haddish for several years."
"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 Haddish would not be shaken down. Now, [the plaintiff’s mother] has her adult daughter representing herself in this lawsuit. The two of them will together face the consequences of pursuing this frivolous action," Brettler said.
Meanwhile, Spears’ attorney Debra Opri said her client "isn’t going to fall for any shakedown."
