As her fame continues to rise, Tiffany Haddish has remained a positive light for her fans with her infectious smile and relatable story. Since Girls Trip, fans have witnessed the comedian become a modern-day Cinderella due to the many opportunities that have come her way and the recognition she began to receive.
We watched her She Ready: From the Hood to Hollywood comedy special, read her book The Last Black Unicorn, anticipated her red carpet looks and interviews, and rooted for her relationship with Common. Through it all, Tiffany has given us a front-row seat into her life and the excitement just keeps building. The L.A. native interviewed with Byrdie for The Balance Issue and she opened up about an array of topics such as her trip to her grandfather’s homeland of Eritrea and getting the big chop. Here are some highlights:
Photographer: Jason Kim for Byrdie
Tiffany Haddish on Using Baths to Bring Positive Energy Into Her Life
“I imagine all that pain just going down the drain. Sometimes, there’s a little ring around the tub and I’m like, ‘ooh, look at all that negativity.’ I call it programming the water. I program the water to get me jobs. I program the water to bring me adventures. Whatever energy you put out, that’s what you get back.”
On Getting Into Agriculture
“I got some land in Eritrea. I’m about to be a full-blown farmer. About to open this grocery store in South Central [Los Angeles]. We’re going to have Black-owned products from Black farmers in there. That’s going to be dope.”
On How She Felt After Her Big Chop
“It’s really important to know who you are, to know every nook and cranny of your body, and that’s the one part of my body I didn’t know. Baby, best feeling I ever felt in my whole entire life. The most sensations I ever felt. The most alive I ever felt. And then I was jealous of every bald-headed man I’ve ever seen. When you touch the back of your head, you feel it in the back of your feet. Then you go outside, the sun is shining, and it feels like this warm hug around your head—just deliciousness.”
Photographer: Jason Kim for Byrdie
Tiffany Haddish on Advocating for Herself
“I tell people I want to be paid like I got a pink penis from Australia. I want to get paid because I know that if I’m getting paid a certain amount, that’s going to raise the price for everybody. And I want to be done by 50. Not done with life, but I want to relax. I want to enjoy all the fruits of my labor. I want to sit back and eat plums and pomegranates. So I got a lot of work to do.”
On Being Fake
“When I was trying to be something I wasn’t, my soul was screaming at me. ‘What are we doing? This is not who we are. Stop it! Stop pretending b–h. Be you. You might actually find somebody that really loves you."
To read the interview in full, check out Byrdie.
Featured image by Amy Sussman/WireImage