Tiffany Haddish and Stephen Colbert do Shakespeare, talk doing shrooms with Dave Chappelle

Apparently, Tiffany Haddish’s boyfriend (sorry, “her man,” as Haddish corrected Stephen Colbert) has beef with Haddish’s longtime Stephen Colbert heat. Haddish, on Thursday’s Late Show to promote the second season of her pay-it-forward stand-up series Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready, told former People Magazine sexiest man alive (runner-up, 2006) Colbert not to sweat it, though. “I was a girl then,” Haddish said of her pre-Common flirtiness with the happily married Colbert, with Colbert conceding defeat, saying, “You moved on to a man.” Still, Haddish, in reference to her now famous TikTok Silhouette Challenge video with her rapper-actor beau, said that she laid down the law when Common initially balked at the sexy-silly stunt.

“It was quite a negotiation,” said Haddish, but, acting out her finger-wagging ultimatum, it sounds like Common didn’t have much choice in the end. Plus, the Sexiest Man Alive (also runner-up, 2020) turned out to be a perfectionist once the couple got into the steamy shenanigans, calling for 18 takes. Haddish and Colbert still had plenty of fun as ever, with Colbert fishing into Haddish’s high school acting past to reveal her not-insignificant success in various Shakespeare competitions. (If anyone has that video of the teenaged Haddish playing both Romeo and Juliet, please do the world a favor and release it.) Haddish was, unsurprisingly, ready, whipping out an impromptu nose-wart when Colbert pitched the idea of the two acting out the first witches scene from Haddish favorite, Macbeth. (The wart fell off during Haddish’s performance, but she’ll have a dresser on the night.) Again, if anyone can dig up footage of Haddish’s award-winning high school Lady Macbeth, the world would thank you.

Moving onto Haddish’s non-Elizabethan performing prowess, Colbert asked after the comic’s recent (but thankfully not too recent) attendance at one of Dave Chappelle’s comedy nights at his Yellow Springs, Ohio home. (Haddish assured Colbert that all the illustrious performers were responsibly COVID tested and so forth (again, unlike at certain other events with sketchier people—come on, Dave), a caution which did not extend to Haddish’s in retrospect regrettable choice to partake of some suspect communal tea. Telling Colbert that she’s never going to drink the tea at Dave’s house again, Haddish explained that, after grudgingly joining in on the hallucinogenic experience, everybody around her started to look just like noted TV mom Phylicia Rashad. The comic and actress conceded to Colbert’s assertion that, as far as psychedelic spirit guides go, it could have been worse, although the no-doubt complicated feelings of seeing fellow guest Jon Hamm morph into the beloved actress left Haddish telling Colbert that that’s it for her and mushrooms. “I learned my lesson,” stressed Haddish concerning the all Claire Huxtable evening, “I don’t care how old you are. Peer pressure is real, and I will never succumb to it again.”