Tiffany Haddish says she never got $1,200 as promised for 1st movie – only 10 DVDs to sell

Actress Tiffany Haddish has made a shocking revelation that despite the significant success of her debut film, she did not receive any compensation from it, even after her “Girl’s Trip” comedy continued to direct traffic to the movie through network television broadcasts and streaming platforms.

The actress witnessed her breakthrough in the 2017 comedy “Girl’s Trip” with her role alongside Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Her performance garnered widespread acclaim, leading to her winning the supporting actress award from the New York Film Critics circle. This recognition generated increased curiosity about her earlier work in the industry.

But, her earlier work had dark spots. She told the Associated Press that prior to her breakout role in “Girls Trip,” she starred in a non-union film and was promised $1,200 but she never received it. This was during one of the most challenging moments of her life because she was homeless while shooting the movie. Since the film was a non-union project, she had no recourse to claim her payment. Instead, she was given 10 DVDs of the film and told to sell them. Unfortunately, she never received any compensation and never even saw the movie herself, she said.

In 2020, she was given a paycheck of $80,000 for Girls Trip. The first decision she took after receiving that money was to pay off a house she had bought after the first season of “The Carmichael Show,” fearing the risk of homelessness and prioritizing financial security. Due to her background, Haddish was fixated on building generational wealth, emphasizing the importance of acquiring land as the quickest path to achieve this goal. She acted on this insight before the start of Season 2 of “The Carmichael Show” by purchasing a house, despite advice to wait.

“Between that show’s next season, the ‘Keanu’ movie, and making sure I can live comfortably off of $500 a month, I was able to pay off half the house. The ‘Girls Trip’ check was the final check. People told me to spend it in other ways, but I used it to pay off the house because I was always afraid of being homeless again. Now I have a surplus of money,” Haddish said.

However, her worst fear of being poor again still lingers on. But, in dealing with it, she sets aside some amount of money after every movie to purchase landed property as a safeguard for the worst day when it comes.

In 2017, Girl’s Trip made $140 million worldwide after spending $19 million on production. Director Malcolm Lee is considering a sequel sometime in the future but an official date is yet to be put out by Universal Pictures.