Tiffany Haddish

Tiffany Haddish Bio

Tiffany Sara Cornilia Haddish is an American stand-up comedian, actress, producer, and author. Her breakthrough came with a leading role in the 2017 comedy Girls Trip, which earned widespread critical praise and placement on The New Yorker list of the best film performances of the 21st century. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018, and The Hollywood Reporter listed her among the 100 most powerful people in entertainment in 2018 and 2019. She has since established herself as a versatile entertainer across film, television, and comedy specials.

Haddish won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2017 for hosting Saturday Night Live, becoming the first African-American woman stand-up comedian to host the show. She released her memoir The Last Black Unicorn in 2017, which debuted at number 15 on The New York Times best-seller list. In 2021, she won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for Black Mitzvah, becoming only the second African-American woman to win this prize after Whoopi Goldberg in 1986.

Early Life and Background

Tiffany Sara Cornilia Haddish was born on December 3, 1979, in Los Angeles, California, and raised in South Central Los Angeles. Her father, Tsihaye Reda Haddish, was an Eritrean Jew who came to the United States as a refugee. Her mother, Leola, was an African-American small business owner from a Jehovah’s Witness family. Haddish’s father left when she was three years old, and her mother remarried, adding two half-sisters and two half-brothers to the family.

In 1988, while the family was living in Colton, California, Haddish’s mother suffered severe brain damage in a car accident. The injury led to Leola developing schizophrenia, and Haddish, then nine years old and the oldest of five siblings, became the family’s primary caregiver. Haddish has said that her mother became quick-tempered, abusive, and violent following the accident. According to Haddish, her stepfather later revealed he had tampered with the brakes on her mother’s car intending the wreck to kill the family for insurance money, but the children stayed home that day.

At age 13, Haddish and her siblings were placed into foster care and temporarily separated from one another. During this time, she used comedy to cope with unfamiliar situations. At 15, the siblings were reunited under their grandmother’s care. She attended George Ellery Hale Middle School and graduated from El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, where she participated in award-winning drama competitions despite struggling with reading until high school. A teacher provided tutoring that helped her improve significantly. After graduating from high school, she experienced homelessness and lived in her car for a period.

Path to Acting

In 1997, when Haddish was 17 years old, a social worker gave her an ultimatum to attend either psychiatric therapy or the Laugh Factory Comedy Camp. She chose comedy as an outlet for her pain. The mentorship from notable comedians including Richard Pryor, Dane Cook, Charles Fleischer, and the Wayans brothers helped her discover a passion for comedy that she says literally saved her life. She incorporates her life experiences into her comedy sets, finding that it functions as a safe space for her.

Haddish was accepted to New York University but could not afford the tuition and did not want to go into debt. She later attended Santa Monica College instead. Prior to her onscreen success, she held various jobs, including customer service positions for Air New Zealand and Alaska Airlines at Los Angeles International Airport. She continued living in her car during her twenties while building her comedy career.

Tiffany Haddish Career

Early Career (2000s)

Haddish’s first break in entertainment came with a spot on the comedy competition Bill Bellamy’s Who’s Got Jokes? She subsequently appeared on numerous television shows, including Chelsea Lately, That’s So Raven, My Name Is Earl, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and New Girl. She also appeared in films such as Meet the Spartans and Janky Promoters.

In 2013, Haddish secured a recurring role on the BET series Real Husbands of Hollywood. In 2014, she was cast in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series If Loving You Is Wrong before leaving after one season for a regular role on the NBC sitcom The Carmichael Show. She played Nekeisha, the semi-estranged wife of Bobby Carmichael, for three seasons. In 2016, she co-starred opposite Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key in the comedy film Keanu, playing the character Hi C.

Breakthrough (2017)

Haddish’s breakthrough arrived in 2017 with her starring role in the comedy film Girls Trip alongside Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Queen Latifah. The film received widely positive reviews from critics, attaining a 91 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and earned Haddish critical acclaim for her performance as Dina. Several critics likened her breakthrough to that of Melissa McCarthy. The film grossed over $140 million worldwide against its $20 million budget, making it the highest-grossing comedy film of 2017.

In August 2017, Haddish’s stand-up comedy special Tiffany Haddish: She Ready! From the Hood to Hollywood premiered on Showtime. That same year, she co-hosted the BET game show Face Value with Deon Cole. In November 2017, she hosted Saturday Night Live, making her the first African-American woman stand-up comedian to host the show. Her hosting earned her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. Her memoir The Last Black Unicorn was released in December 2017 and debuted at number 15 on The New York Times best-seller list.

Notable Works and Milestones

Following her breakthrough, Haddish continued building her career with starring roles in films including Night School (2018), Uncle Drew (2018), and Nobody’s Fool (2018). Beginning in 2018, she starred opposite Tracy Morgan in the TBS sitcom The Last O.G., her first lead role in a television series. She voiced Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) and Tuca in the Netflix animated series Tuca and Bertie (2019), which she also executive produced.

In 2019, she launched the Netflix series Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready, showcasing her favorite stand-up comedians. She also became the host and producer of the ABC revival of Kids Say the Darndest Things. In 2020, she starred in Like a Boss for Paramount Pictures alongside Rose Byrne and Salma Hayek. She continued with guest appearances and voice work through the early 2020s.

Tiffany Haddish Award Nominations

Haddish has received multiple award nominations throughout her career recognizing her achievements in comedy and entertainment. Her nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award in 2017 for her Saturday Night Live hosting performance marked a significant milestone as the first recognition of this kind for an African-American woman stand-up comedian hosting the iconic sketch show.

Tiffany Haddish Awards Won

Haddish has won major awards across television, literature, and music. Her Saturday Night Live hosting performance in November 2017 earned her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. In 2021, she won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for Black Mitzvah, becoming only the second African-American woman to win this award since Whoopi Goldberg in 1986.

Tiffany Haddish Family

Haddish’s father, Tsihaye Reda Haddish, was an Eritrean Jew who came to the United States as a refugee. Her mother, Leola, was an African-American small business owner from a Jehovah’s Witness family. Haddish was raised with two half-sisters and two half-brothers. Her father walked her down the aisle at her wedding, a moment she described as one of the happiest days of her life. He passed away in 2018, and she traveled to Eritrea to bury him and connect with her relatives. She became a naturalized Eritrean citizen on May 22, 2019.

Personal Life

Haddish married William Stewart in 2008. He helped her locate her once-estranged father before the wedding. She filed for divorce in Los Angeles County in 2011, and it was finalized in 2013. She was in a relationship with rapper Common from mid-2020 to November 2021. Haddish has been open about her experiences in foster care, having grown up without knowledge of her Jewish heritage. After learning of her father’s Judaism, she converted to the Jewish faith and had her bat mitzvah ceremony in December 2019 at age 40, conducted by Reform rabbi Susan Silverman.