Tiffany Haddish will be reimbursed nearly $100,000 in legal fees after her former friend lost her defamation lawsuit against the comedian.
Recently obtained court documents reveal that Haddish was awarded $95,198 in legal fees after successfully shutting down Trizah Morris’s defamation claims, In Touch Weekly reported. The ruling comes more than a year after Morris filed a lawsuit against Haddish and fellow comedian Aries Spears, alleging they made false statements about her while defending themselves against a lawsuit brought by her two children.
Morris alleged that her children were the ones who sued Haddish and Spears, accusing them of sexualizing the kids in old comedy sketches filmed during their childhood. Haddish and Spears denied any wrongdoing, calling the lawsuit “nothing but a shakedown” attempt by Morris. This came a year after Morris’ daughter dismissed her initial lawsuit against Haddish.
In Morris’ lawsuit, she claimed Haddish’s legal team defamed her during her children’s case by making “defamatory, slanderous, and libel comments to the press.” Morris accused Haddish and Spears of trying to make it seem like she was trying to extort them by having her children, who were adults at the time, sue.
“The statements made against Trizah Morris are malicious, defamatory and slanderous representation of Trizah Morris.” Morris’s complaint added, “Aries Spears alleged that Trizah Morris was an extortionist and shakedown artist.”
“Trizah Morris never extorted or attempted to extort Tiffany Haddish and/or Aries Spears,” her suit read.
Morris claimed that the allegations about her ruined her reputation and caused her to suffer personally and professionally.
“Trizah Morris’ name and photograph appeared in blogs and media reports available all over the world as the cunning, conniving, deceitful ‘ex-friend’ of Tiffany Haddish,” her suit read.
In her defense, Haddish argued that Morris signed a settlement agreement in the lawsuit involving her children, which resolved all claims between the parties. Haddish asserted that Morris made a defamation claim before the contract was finalized.
After the children’s lawsuit was moved to arbitration, it was determined that Morris’s settlement agreement had released all claims against Haddish, preventing her from suing for defamation. As a result, Haddish was awarded $95,000 in legal fees, while Morris paid Spears $50,000.
It was also revealed that a friend, not Haddish or Spears, made the settlement payment. The friend, who ran a comedy camp that the adult children had attended and where Haddish had previously volunteered, agreed to pay $232,000.
Of this, $184,000 went to a charity selected by the Morris family, while $48,000 was placed in a trust account for Morris’ son, a minor at the time. Both parties agreed not to disparage each other, with a $100,000 penalty for any breach of this agreement.
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