Tiffany Haddish says cruel online comments still hurt her. The actor and comedian spoke about it in a September 22 episode of Dinners With DeMar, the interview series hosted by basketball player DeMar DeRozan. Their conversation covers her childhood, comedy and what happens when strangers write about her online.
What did Haddish say about the comments?
About 28 minutes into the episode, Haddish says people she has never met try to attack her character. She knows the commenters do not know her, but she still sees what they write. Then she says something that catches DeRozan off guard:
“And some days I wish I didn’t know how to read.”
She explains that she does not want to lose the ability to read. She wishes she could avoid seeing the hurtful messages. “It does hit,” she says after describing how it feels to read them. She adds that the comments are not as harsh as things her mother said when she was younger, but that does not mean the online insults are harmless.
Why does the conversation turn to her childhood?
DeRozan asks Haddish about the experiences that shaped her. She describes a difficult relationship with her mother and says she grew up feeling as if people were coming at her all the time. She also talks about how making people laugh helped her feel safer. Haddish became famous for being funny, but she says that habit started long before she had an audience.
The episode is part of DeRozan’s series about mental health. He mostly lets Haddish tell her own story. They talk for roughly 46 minutes, so the online-comments moment is one part of a much longer discussion, not a quick sound bite filmed for social media.
Where can you watch the full interview?
The full September 22 episode is playable above. Haddish’s comments about the internet begin around the 28-minute mark. Viewers who know her from Girls Trip or her new crime film The Deputy can hear her speak at length here, with DeRozan giving her room to explain how she feels.
In The Deputy, which opened in U.S. theaters on September 25, Haddish plays Deputy Amanda Jackson. She is still working in film while performing stand-up. In this conversation, she talks about how she started making jokes and why strangers’ words can still hurt her.
