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Tiffany Haddish Recalls Losing a "Bit of My Soul" After Police Cadet Assaulted Her at 17

Tiffany Haddish discusses how being sexually assaulted by a police cadet at the age of 17 impacted her view of men and sex

By Cydney Contreras Jun 25, 2020 2:46 AMTags
Tiffany HaddishRoy Rochlin/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

Tiffany Haddish opened up about her past interactions with police and how they continue to affect her to this day. 

On the podcast, Hustling With Vivica A. Fox, the comedian recalled being raped by a police cadet when she was 17-years-old. Haddish didn't share the details of her assault, nor has she ever publicly identified the individual by name. 

However, she said that after her assault she dated men in law enforcement in the hopes of getting "revenge." The Girls Trip star explained, "I dated a police officer, a judge, a lawyer. I dated several different kinds of dudes, thinking, ‘Oh if I date them, they'll love me and they'l try to help me with my crusade of getting justice for my family and myself.' But they was like, ‘nah.'"

Haddish said that after it happened "nobody really helped" her get the justice she wanted. Instead, she was left feeling like she "lost this little bit of [her] soul."

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"I had to learn revenge is not really where it's at. Really the true revenge is in your success," she shared. "I don't know why I thought these police would do something to this other police officer because he took advantage of me—like I wasn't even take advantage of, that motherf--ker just took me." Haddish described her assault as a "traumatizing" experience that "messed" up her perception of sex and relationships.

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In addition, the 40-year-old described an encounter with the police, in which she claimed the officers pulled their guns on her when they found her smoking weed in her car. Haddish, who was living in her car at the time, recalled, "I didn't make no fuss about it or anything. I just was letting them know I was scared, that I'm not doing anything wrong. The more that I talked to them, I was trying to crack jokes to try and lighten the mood even though I was super afraid for my life."

Haddish said they gave her a ticket for possession, but it was later downgraded to a ticket for disturbing the peace. She accepted their offer to avoid felony charges, but she expressed frustration because she didn't think she was doing anything wrong. 

She also quipped that if officers caught her doing the same thing now it would be "no big thang" since recreational use of marijuana is legal in California. 

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And though the actress only shared two of her experiences with police with Fox, she's discussed other times that she was potentially racially profiled. On June 12, the star told CNN that she still gets pulled over in Los Angeles, despite driving a Tesla and being a famous figure. Haddish shared, "Every time I get pulled over, I think to myself like, 'Damn you know, I work all hard to be recognized.' I shouldn't be afraid when I see those lights come on behind me, right? I shouldn't feel like, 'Is this gonna be the last day that I'm on earth? I shouldn't feel like it's dangerous to be born the way I was born.'" 

To hear her full interview with Vivica A. Fox listen to Hustling With Vivica A. Fox on Thursday, June 25. 

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