Tiffany Haddish's book, The Last Black Unicorn, earned the entertainer a career highlight while also opening up the door to litigation. Her ex-husband, William Stuart, filed a defamation lawsuit against the comedian, along with her co-author, Tucker Max, and publisher, for printing and disseminating lies about him.
Last month, Stuart won the first part of their court battle. The defendants tried to block his legal proceedings, stating that the lawsuit should be thrown out for his failure to properly inform them of the issue before filing his plaint. The judge ruled in Stuart's favor, allowing him to pursue punitive damages against the defendants. He is seeking $1 million in compensation.
His legal team has clarified their point of focus, placing the blame on the publisher and co-author/ghostwriter, the infamous Tucker Max.
“I know that everyone is focused on defendant Haddish, but she didn’t do this alone. The publisher, Simon & Schuster has a questionable history – they, among other things, enabled Milos Yiannopoulos after he was banned from twitter for racist hate speech against comedian Leslie Jones. Simon & Schuster’s parent company is CBS who continues to settle lawsuits for a pattern of bad behavior by executives.
“Haddish’s ghostwriter is Tucker Max and his entire writing career was built on disgusting attempts to exploit, belittle and objectify women without regard. This is not just about Haddish. The defendants have disregarded principle, decency, or accuracy when there is an opportunity to profit. William Stewart is just their latest victim. And they never expected him to have the courage to take on such powerful interests.”
