Tiffany Haddish and fellow comedian Aries Spears are facing a lawsuit alleging sexual battery, sexual harassment and sexual abuse of a minor.

On Friday (Sept. 2), Haddish's lawyer Andrew Brettler shared a statement with USA Today. It reads:

Plaintiff's mother … has been trying to assert these bogus claims against Ms. 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 Ms. Haddish would not be shaken down.

Spears' attorney shared a similar sentiment in their own statement to the publication, saying Spears "isn't going to fall for any shakedown."

The lawsuit was filed Aug. 30 in the Los Angeles County Superior Court by a 22-year-old woman identified only as Jane Doe, on behalf of both her and her brother, listed as John Doe.

The suit claims Haddish — allegedly a friend of the then-minors' family at the time — and Spears sexually groomed and assaulted the plaintiffs when both were underage. The documents describe various instances of grooming, which allegedly took place on the set of a Funny or Die skit titled "Through a Pedophile's Eyes."

The suit alleges a "soft porn molestation video of Mr. Doe," for which Haddish allegedly  took John Doe to Spears' home and "stripped the child down to his underwear," was not removed from the company's platform until last year.

In a statement to Rolling Stone, Funny or Die shared:

'Funny Or Die' found this video absolutely disgusting and would never produce such content.

 

We were not involved with the conceptualization, development, funding, or production of this video. It was uploaded to the site as user-generated content and was removed in 2018 immediately after becoming aware of its existence.

The suit alleges Haddish brought Jane Doe to a "sexually suggestive" commercial shoot in the summer of 2013. It also alleges both Haddish and Spears coached Jane Doe on how to mimic the act of oral sex, and that Haddish offered to film clips of John Doe for a Nickelodeon audition.

The suit claims both Jane and John Doe have developed several medical and psychological conditions since the alleged incidents, including anxiety and depression.

The suit does not specify the amount of money the plaintiffs are seeking. However, it does claim Jane and Joe Doe's mother previously attempted to negotiate a $15,000 settlement with Spears.

The negotiation was allegedly unsuccessful due to the mother's "mental state" at the time, as well as some legal missteps that took place.

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