Tiffany Haddish recently shared a surprising story about her early struggles in Hollywood during an appearance on the “We Playin’ Spades” podcast with Nick Cannon and Courtney Bee.
The 44-year-old actress revealed that in a period of financial difficulty before she made it big, she sold used underwear on Craigslist — and claimed they belonged to actress Halle Berry.
“I would say my name was Rosalinda and I was a housekeeper for Halle Berry and I [had] some of her dirty panties if anybody wanna buy some,” she recalled.
She then admitted that the underwear she sold was actually her own, not Berry’s.
“I would make $300. It was literally on Craigslist — selling panties on Craigslist,” the “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” actress added.
Haddish is known for her candidness in interviews. In June, she discussed her arrest in November 2023 for driving under the influence on an episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Haddish was arrested in Los Angeles after allegedly falling asleep behind the wheel. The actress faced two misdemeanors but accepted a plea deal in February, resulting in the charges being dropped.
Haddish pleaded no contest to a “wet reckless” charge.
“I be tired, Jimmy, because I do a lot,” Haddish told host Jimmy Kimmel.
The incident occurred the day after Thanksgiving, following a full day of volunteering and a family dinner. During her interview, Haddish recounted that she woke up at 5 a.m., worked out, cooked collard greens, showered and then “served food to the homeless — almost 3,000 people — all day long” at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles.
She noted that after delivering food to her aunt’s house, she received a phone call from a “rich friend” who asked her if she had any leftover food because they had nothing to eat, leading her to deliver even more food.
4th Annual Hollywood Unlocked Impact Awards. Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
“Now I’ve learned a valuable lesson — I should’ve sent it in an Uber or sent someone else to take it there,” Haddish said. “But I wanted to take it myself because I felt like there was [an] opportunity to talk business, so I went. And I did have a drink and I was very sleepy.”
“I have a Tesla. … The way that a Tesla is set up, if you get drowsy, or your eyes are closed too long, or your head [is] bobbing … it will pull over and park the car in such a way that gets you help,” she added. “It saved my life.”
In another recent headline, Haddish faced criticism after posting a TikTok video of her visit to a grocery store in Zimbabwe.
In the video, she expressed amazement at the store’s size and selection, saying, “They got a grocery store! It’s beautiful… Look at this grocery store, it’s huge! It’s absolutely humongous. In Africa, baby. Believe it.”
“It don’t smell bad. They got the sodas. They got a whole wall of alcohol. They got a frozen section. Unlike the grocery stores at home, they actually sell dishes,” she added.
The video was swiftly met with criticism from social media users, who called Haddish’s reaction to the store “ignorant,” and labeled the video as “misguided.”
Critics accused the comedian of ignorance and insensitivity, suggesting her reaction was misguided.
One X (formerly Twitter) user reshared a snippet of the video with the caption “Tiffany Haddish is surprised that there’s grocery stores in Africa..? What’s wrong with these people?” and Haddish quickly responded in defense of her actions.
“I am an American a Black one at that and Told for years that people are starving in Africa, showed pictures of babies with flies on them,” she wrote on X. “Told crazy stories of how they kill each other and there is war everyday there.”
She also explained that her visit to Zimbabwe was to challenge misconceptions and highlight the reality of life there.
“I asked my Black friends to go with me and they were scared. We got here and I have been eyes full of tears finding out the truth. The media be lying. I thought I would share cause I know people in the USA that believe Africans don’t have anything.”
“If they would have showed you the whole video you would have seen me say I am demystifying some bulls— that we have been told and showed in America,” she wrote.