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Tiffany Haddish might be an open book, but she’s far from predictable. She’s a Grammy-winning comedian, a celebrated author and a Hollywood actress who still owes us Girls Trip 2. But she’s also the woman who grew up visiting the rodeo in Brawley, California with her family. She even took a trip to Nashville’s Music City Rodeo and hung out backstage with Tim McGraw.
There are layers to Haddish’s famously unfiltered persona. Ahead of her Encore Theater debut on June 27, she got real with the Weekly about friendship, bucket lists and more.
I love that Instagram video you filmed with Tim McGraw, where you raved about his cologne. He seemed pleased with that.
He did smell good, and he looks great for his age. But I was like, dang, my brother is lighter than you. Are you sure you’re not Black? He was telling me about being on the ranch and all of that, being a cowboy. He used to ride bulls and do rodeos when he was a teenager.
We’ll have to have you out for our National Finals Rodeo in December.
If y’all invite me out, I’m there. He didn’t even invite me. I was just in Nashville, and I did [The Today Show] with Jenna Bush Hager. Then somebody was like, “There’s a rodeo in town.” I haven’t been to a rodeo in years.
Something tells me you aren’t the mechanical bull-rider type.
Oh, but I am a mechanical bull-rider type at a bar. Then I give a little extra something to the operator, so they’re not tossing me around like a crazy person. If you ever see me in a competition for bull-riding, double check to make sure I didn’t cheat.
Do you prepare for performing in Vegas any differently than you would for other cities?
I definitely keep it kind of general. But then there’s certain things about Vegas that, even if you just got there, you’re going to realize, so those things I talk about—the commonality of Vegas and why we all come here. It’s fun land, and if you don’t behave yourself appropriately, you could turn into a donkey, just like in that movie Pinocchio. It’s about having boundaries and whatnot. But I plan on talking about a lot of things.
Has your approach to comedy changed as your platform has grown?
I feel like the pressure is the same, but I have more to talk about, more of an experience that I feel sometimes my audience cannot relate to, but then I hit them with something they can relate to.
You have an unscripted show in the works with Peacock called Tiffany Haddish Goes Off. How will that differ from other projects?
So it’s me and my real friends, friends of mine since I was like, 13 … and we are going to Africa. When I was a kid, I used to always tell them, “I’m gonna take you to Africa.” I’m very big on if I say it, that’s what it’s gonna be. And it might take me 30 years, but we’re gonna do it. So we did it. It was a spiritual experience for us, a journey that I think every girlfriend group should take.
Now, I’m not gonna lie to you, I thought I was gonna be on some hoe s**t. I thought I was gonna be hooking up with some African king. But then I realized that I’m not the hoe that I thought I was. (Laughs.) I’m not the freak-a-leek I thought I could be. I do have a very strong moral compass. And it really showed me that who I associate with really does affect how I move.
I realized what great friends I have, and how I’ve kept these women close to me all these years, and it’s probably saved me so much misery. Even though I’ve experienced a healthy amount of misery. When I was sitting back looking at it, I probably experienced all that bad stuff because I did not include my friends in the equation.
I think as you get older, the quality of your friendships becomes apparent. Sometimes your circle changes based on how people decide to move. That seemed to be the case in the defamation lawsuit you dealt with in 2022 with your former friend.
I feel like I have a big circle, but the people who are closest to me in the circle are of the highest quality. I would say since 2020, the pandemic helped a lot of people fall off, and then with those accusations that I received, that now that lady has to pay me for ... after that, I really got to see who, on my business team and my friendship team, and even in my family, who really is for me.
I know for sure my family’s got my back, no matter what … They call me Hollywood Haddish. But when that news hit, my family—the main ones that I think are the most jealous and meanest—they were the ones who were like, “You need us to handle this girl? We know you. You ain’t that type of person.”
The negative always loses. The positive will prevail. The truth will come out. This was somebody who was my real friend, I thought. She’s on the credits for my very first comedy special. She helped me write the song. She gets checks for that music. I put her on.
People are greedy. They will say anything and do anything to get what you got, if they’re greedy and ratchet like that.
So is Girls Trip 2 really happening? Is the Flossy Posse getting back together?
Yes, the Flossy Posse is coming back together! That is happening, that script is … they said they’ve got it where they wanted. Now they’re just trying to figure out scheduling, shooting and all that stuff.
You also have a cop thriller coming out soon, The Deputy. Outside of The Kitchen, you haven’t done a ton of crime dramas. What attracted you to this role?
I really wanted to work with the director. Also, the cast is super dope. I’ve always wanted to work with Jack Nicholson, but even better to work with his grandson, the younger version. And he’s so talented. And I don’t mind being the police. I’ve done it quite a few times, mostly in the comedy realm. But to play it in a more serious, dramatic way, was so dope and fun. Normally I try to not jump into drama so much, because I feel like it’s kind of boring. But man, this was an amazing experience.
I’m [also] working on this movie right now called Toad. James Franco’s in it, Katt Williams. The two leads in this movie, when you look at them, it feels like you’re looking at Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. One of them is Bill Paxton’s son. They’ve been coming to my comedy shows. And yesterday, on set, the guys were like, “Tiffany, I’ve seen you six times now, and for me, not one show is the same. I feel like I’m having a spiritual experience. I’m about to cry and then you make me laugh so hard, the last time I peed.” I was like, you’re 22 to 25 years old. What are you talking about, you peed?
Is there anything left that you want to check off your professional bucket list?
I want to be in the WWE one time. I want to wrestle. I want to do quite a few biopics. I don’t know why it’s so hard to get funding to tell our stories, but ... It’s not hard to get funding to tell a Black man’s story, but to tell a Black woman’s story, that’s super difficult. I don’t understand why. Maybe I’m just asking the wrong people. … Oh, and I want to be in the Olympics, in any capacity. I don’t care.
Good goals. Anything else you’d like to add?
I love staying at the Encore. I have not performed in that theater in particular, but I have been there many times, done quite a few things there. So I’m excited to be able to bless that stage with my comedy.
After we finish filming Girls Trip, I want a residency in Vegas. I’ll be singing and dancing and telling jokes with celebrity guests. Could you imagine me and Toni Braxton singing a song together?
TIFFANY HADDISH June 27, 8 p.m., $61-$213. Encore Theater, ticketmaster.com.
English (US) ·