Tiffany Haddish Reveals She’s Been Sober and Celibate for 6 Months: ‘I Was Waking up Next to Ugly Men’ (Exclusive)

The star, whose new memoir 'I Curse You With Joy' comes out May 7, opens up about her DUI arrests and the changes she’s made in her life.

The past couple of years haven’t been easy for hit comedian and actress Tiffany Haddish. 

In fact, “f— fame,” she tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue, opening up about her rough go of it recently. In the star’s new memoir I Curse You With Joy, out May 7, she reflects on her difficult past and funny missteps in the pursuit of comedy stardom and personal peace. She also delves into the resilience it’s taken to survive it all. 

“I wanted this book to be about something,” Haddish, 44, says of her delayed follow-up to her 2017 New York Times bestseller The Last Black Unicorn. “I felt like I needed to live a little more life and get a better understanding of where I am now.”

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Much has happened in the star’s wild world since she burst onto the scene—and it hasn’t all been sunshine and roses. On one hand, the breakout star of 2017's Girls Trip enjoyed two celebrated Netflix specials, sold-out standup shows and roles in movies like 2023's Haunted Mansion. 

Related: Tiffany Haddish Defends Her X-Rated Comedy in New Memoir: ‘I’m Not Clair Huxtable’ (Exclusive)

On the other, she’s also had to navigate a slew of major controversies. The first came in the form of a resurfaced 2014 Funny or Die skit, which featured Haddish and comedian Aries Spears and involved minors and jokes about sexual innuendo. Though one of the actors filed a suit alleging child sexual abuse in 2022, Haddish says she wasn’t involved in the creative process or the scenes in question, and the suit was dropped.

“I hated that I had to go through that, but I had to so I could create better, know better and do better,” she says now.

Offscreen, when sparks flew between her and rapper Common in 2020, fans were hopeful she’d met her match, but the pair split in 2021. Months later her grandmother, who’d helped raise her, died, and in short order, Haddish was arrested in Georgia on suspicion of DUI. 

Last November brought another DUI arrest in Los Angeles when cops found her asleep in her car in the middle of an intersection in Beverly Hills. 

Looking back, she says, “My world fell apart.” But given her past, she knows what to do when that happens, and she’s hoping to pass lessons in resilience on to others. “I’ve learned to take tomatoes being thrown at me and turn them into tomato sauce,” she says. “And I’m going to make some spaghetti.”

A key ingredient to her present-day happiness: She’s cut out alcohol. “I’m very sober,” she says. “I haven’t had a drink since [the incident]. When I sit back and look at my life, everything that’s crazy that’s happened is because somebody or myself had alcohol in their system.”

It’s a lifestyle she’s encouraging others to try for themselves, as well. “This is my challenge to people. Stop drinking for six months and just see how your life changes,” she says. “You’re going to have your snatched body back, you’re going to see your relationships will be better and you’ll stop dealing with people you don’t need to be dealing with. My issue was, I was waking up next to ugly men.” 

The star shares that she’s now celibate, as well. "They went together," she says of cutting out alcohol and sex around the same time. "With alcohol [my mind] would just be like ‘You’re horny, let's just do it.’" Now, she says, "I be like 'nah, nope.'"

Still, she’s quick to say her abstinence isn't set in stone. “I’ve been dating multiple guys," she adds. "They all know about each other.” 

So far these changes, along with “eliminating a lot of people” from her life, have given her clarity and joy. “I’m happy," she says. "I’m genuinely happy.”

I Curse You With Joy, out May 7, is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.

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