Key Takeaways
- Scruncho said Tiffany Haddish was “crying every day” and losing work after backlash over her controversial sketch with Aries Spears.
- He suggested Haddish trusted Spears’ talent and may not have understood how the final “Through a Pedophile’s Eyes” video would come together.
- Haddish apologized and said the fallout cost her every gig, though the siblings’ 2022 lawsuit against her and Spears was later dismissed with prejudice.
Scruncho says Tiffany Haddish was “crying every day” after her controversial comedy sketch with Aries Spears cost her work and left her watching people she trusted turn their backs on her.
The California comedian opened up about Haddish during his heated conversation with MRECK TV, revealing that he spoke with her daily at the height of the 2022 controversy surrounding the resurfaced “Through a Pedophile’s Eyes” sketch and subsequent lawsuit.
“I talked to her every day during that time,” Scruncho said. “That was a hard time, man. She was crying every day. You know, people turned their backs on her. They shut her down.”
The revelation came after Scruncho had already spent much of the MRECK TV interview unloading on Spears over his recent criticism of Bernie Mac and Martin. Spears had said he “just doesn’t get” Mac’s comedy, explaining that Mac’s distinctive voice and delivery distracted him from the material. He also said Martin could become so over-the-top that it “bordered buffoonery.”
“I never disrespected Bernie in my assessment of his comedy,” Spears said, later calling Mac a “genius” whose particular style simply wasn’t for him. He also praised Martin Lawrence’s movie career, calling his work in films “chef’s kiss.”
Scruncho wasn’t buying Spears’ broader argument.
While calling Spears “one of the most talented impersonators out there,” Scruncho questioned whether Spears’ own comedy catalog could withstand the kind of scrutiny he was applying to Mac and Lawrence.
He even praised Spears’ Bernie Mac impression as “hilarious” before drawing a line between being talented and being naturally funny.
“Nobody remember Aries Spears’ joke,” Scruncho said. “They only remember great impersonations.”
Scruncho also blasted what he sees as a double standard in Spears’ approach to criticism.
“He do need his a** whooped,” Scruncho said. “It’s funny how he say what he want to say and it’s objective opinion,” only to react differently, Scruncho argued, when criticism is directed back at him.
That discussion eventually brought MRECK TV to Haddish and the controversy she and Spears faced together.
In August 2022, two siblings filed a lawsuit against Haddish and Spears over comedy material filmed when they were minors. The most widely scrutinized project was the 2014 “Through a Pedophile’s Eyes” sketch, in which Haddish played the mother of a 7-year-old boy who leaves him with Spears’ character. The video depicted Spears behaving in sexually suggestive ways around the child.
Haddish publicly apologized after the sketch resurfaced.
“While this sketch was intended to be comedic, it wasn’t funny at all,” she said at the time, adding that she “deeply” regretted participating.
She also said the professional consequences were immediate. When TMZ asked how the controversy had affected her career, Haddish responded, “I lost everything. All my gigs gone.”
Scruncho now says there was another element at play: Haddish’s admiration for Spears.
“She had genuine love for Aries Spears’ talent,” he said.
Scruncho suggested that Haddish may not have known exactly how the finished video would come together when she agreed to participate, comparing it to being approached by a comedian he personally admired.
“That’s like Eddie Murphy, one of my favorite comedians, ‘Hey man, I need you to do this, Scruncho,’ and I’m hopping right on it,” he explained.
“You don’t know what it’s going to turn out to be,” Scruncho continued. “You don’t know what it’s going to be until you see the final cut. You know, a little bit here, a little bit there. Man, you don’t know what you’re going to get into.”
The lawsuit against Haddish and Spears was dismissed with prejudice weeks after it was filed, meaning it could not be refiled. But Haddish had already publicly said the controversy had wiped out her upcoming work.
For Scruncho, who said he watched Haddish endure that period up close, the experience also changed the people she believed she could rely on.
“Sometimes God kind of break you to rebuild you,” he said.
