Tiffany Haddish stands backstage at the El Capitan Entertainment Centre in Los Angeles wearing a pair of camera glasses. “I did a campaign with Ray-Ban once, and they were supposed to give me a pair of these, but they never did,” the 45-year-old actress and comedian says, checking her reflection in a full-length mirror. “If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s when people don’t keep their promises.” Her voice cracks a little as she turns to me and whispers, “Foster-kid shit.”
It’s a sunny August afternoon and Jimmy Kimmel is on vacation, so Haddish is guest-hosting his late-night program. Her glasses are recording behind-the-scenes footage for Kimmel’s website mere weeks before ABC will abruptly suspend production under pressure from the Trump administration. For now, it’s the calm before the storm — Kimmel has yet to accuse MAGA loyalists of “trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,” and his show is an early stop on what appears to be a comeback tour for Haddish.
