Tiffany Haddish has a long history of courting controversy, from DUIs to serious legal troubles.
But in a recent live interview on the “Say What You Mean” podcast, the “Girls Trip” actress walked the line — yet again — between teasing and toxic when she recounted a story from her time in Africa.
Known for her candid comedy, viewers thought Haddish went too far, finding her comments about an African man’s smell flat-out rude. Haddish and her group had hired a local driver to chauffeur them around while taking in the sights, but she claimed his smell stunk up the car.
“So I’m in Africa, and I’m probably wrong for this I don’t care,” Haddish began on the Oct. 22 podcast. She then launched into a story about her “extremely humid” driver, making a dramatic face at host Aida Rodriquez. “Extremely, like seven, eight days humid. No soap, no water, just… strong. It was burning my nose,” she said.
“I called out the driver’s name, and I was like, ‘What have you been doing all week? cause I can smell it on you,’” to which the driver swore he had not been doing drugs, misunderstanding her meaning, the “Night School” star said.
“Whatever you been doing all week, I can tell … you ain’t hit the water, the water ain’t hit you. Maybe the water came out of your body. Maybe you took it in through your mouth,” Haddish recounted on the talk show, adding that she offered to take the man home with her and scrub him down in baking soda and peroxide.
“I said I’ll give you a peroxide and baking soda bath.”
“He laughed,” Haddish remembered. I was serious. I didn’t laugh not one time. I was dead serious. He was laughing, everybody in the car was laughing. I told him, don’t come back to work tomorrow where I can smell you…
“If I can smell you and it don’t smell like some cologne that you bought over the counter, and just the cologne, it’s going to be a problem. Make sure I can’t smell you tomorrow,” she added.
I try to give her grace but Tiffany is like that corny dude who tries too hard to fit in.
— StratRiley (@AlBgood2ya) October 25, 2024
According to Haddish, the driver eventually “got it together” the next day therefore she tipped him $50 to “encourage good behavior.” She also bought him various colognes that she likes to mask any hint of muskiness for the rest of her trip. “You sound like an Auntie,” host Rodriquez told the 44-year-old.
Haddish claimed she still keeps in touch with the driver on WhatsApp. “You know I might have me a husband by the time I get back. Sometimes you gotta clean that man up,” she joked. “Sometimes you gotta clean that man up.”
When a shortened clip from the show surfaced on Instagram, many viewers were not amused and began giving Haddish some of her own medicine in the comments.
“Why even say something? She’s so mean-spirited, ughhhhh,” wrote an exasperated Instagram user. “My God!! How rude. He’s working, hard, as he can. Tip him big, he’ll handle it,” one advised.
“She has never been funny,” chimed in another, followed by similar criticisms.
Some were perplexed that she chose to share such a random story, given that she’s the daughter of an Eritrean refugee and became a naturalized citizen of the East African country in 2019.
“Of all the stories to tell you decide to tell this one,” said a confused fan. Another chastised her for focusing on the negative, saying, “It’s crucial to double-check your words when talking about our African brothers and sisters because the media already has a negative perception of Africa. Why add more?”
Fellow drivers weighed in on the interview, too, reminding her that body odor has no borders. “I drive Uber everyday and I have had some heavily stinking Americans in my car, I mean stinking so bad I had to roll all four windows down,” wrote one.
“African here not triggered I just find her not funny, this and her other african supermarket joke from Zimbabwe, terrible,” said an international critic, referencing a TikTok video posted this summer in which Haddish marveled in disbelief while strolling the aisles of a supermarket in Zimbabwe’s capital of Harare.
“Tiffany, so you thought we eat rocks? Like?” was just one of more than 10,000 comments.
Seems like wherever the “Bad Boys” actress goes, controversy seems to follow. But for her fans, it’s nothing new.
“Not again Tiffany. They’re going to come for you,” wrote one person as another said, “She’s such an embarrassment.”
