“You can be out there with the haters that keep watching and spending money on my movies, and my books, and my TV shows, and my clothing line,” she says.
Love her or hate her, Tiffany Haddish is determined to keep shining. The comedian is expanding her reach in entertainment and today, Haddish shared her first children’s book: Layla, the Last Black Unicorn. The release is reportedly a part of a three-book deal that Haddish inked with Harper Collins, and this first installment was inspired by the struggles the actress endured in her youth.
Haddish hasn’t been shy about sharing her story, as she has previously detailed spending time in foster care away from her siblings. At nine, her mother was involved in a car wreck that caused brain damage and as a result, she reportedly became violent. Haddish would later say that her stepfather admitted to tampering with the brakes in hopes of killing his wife and all of her children, but the kids stayed home that day.
Roger Kisby / Stringer / Getty Images
Haddish would turn to comedy as a way to cope and now, Layla, the Last Black Unicorn, is a way for her to help other children who are experiencing hardships and insecurities. While chatting about her new book with E!’s Daily Pop, she also dropped off a message for her childhood bullies.
“You know, I get it. You didn’t like me growing up, but a lot of people like me now,” she said. “And you can be out there with the haters that keep watching and spending money on my movies, and my books, and my TV shows, and my clothing line that’s about to come out, and you can keep following and watching all the things that I’m doing and just know, I was right, you was wrong.”
Of her children’s book, Haddish added: “It’s inspired by my childhood and how different I was and how hard it was for me to fit in. Realizing that my differences can be my wins and it can help others, and so I wanted to share that with kids. Also, growing up, I didn’t see too many books by Black female authors, so I thought this was a good way to start kicking that door open—even though there are a lot of books out by Black, female authors now, because I was a kid a very long time ago—but I figured I’d join the club.”
The actress also added that she wishes her bully “all the joy and happiness she can handle” because “she was obviously an unhappy child.”
View this post on Instagram