Actor and comedian Tiffany Haddish pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor alcohol-related driving charge stemming from her 2022 arrest in Georgia, avoiding additional jail time.
The Fayette County State Court accepted Haddish’s guilty plea during a video hearing. She was sentenced to 12 months of probation, ordered to complete a substance abuse evaluation, and instructed to abstain from drugs and alcohol. Haddish received credit for the brief period she spent in jail following her arrest.
The original charges included a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence and a misdemeanor count of driving with a suspended license. Both were dropped as part of the plea agreement. Haddish’s legal team had previously sought to dismiss the case, arguing that delays of more than four years had violated her right to a speedy trial and caused professional and personal hardships. Fayette County State Court Judge Jason Thompson rejected those arguments, noting that Haddish and her attorneys had contributed to some of the delays, including requests to attend a fashion show in Morocco and to leave a hearing early to catch a flight.
Incident Details
At approximately 2:30 a.m. on January 14, 2022, a 911 caller reported seeing a person appearing to be asleep in the driver’s seat of a white Ford Explorer with their foot on the brake at a traffic light in Peachtree City, Georgia. An officer located Haddish’s vehicle as she pulled into a neighborhood and conducted a traffic stop. According to court filings, Haddish was subsequently arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Haddish is known for her roles in films such as “Girls Trip,” “Night School,” “Like a Boss,” and “The Kitchen.” She is also the author of the New York Times bestseller “The Last Black Unicorn,” which received a Grammy nomination for the audiobook version. Haddish won an Emmy in 2018 for her appearance on Saturday Night Live and a Grammy in 2021 for her comedy special Black Mitzvah.