5 Black Comedians That Have Made A Successful Comeback After Being Canceled

Earlier this month comedian Tiffany Haddish and her former associate Aries Spears were accused of child sexual abuse claims in a lawsuit.

In the now dropped case filed by a brother and sister, who meet Haddish through their mother and were described as being a longtime family friend. The claims of abuse from them both explained that at the age of seven and fourteen years old, the two comedians had them “filming sexually explicit child pornography skits.” These skits occurred according to plaintiffs while Haddish was supposed to be helping them get into the entertainment industry.

The comedian has since apologized for her role in this matter. Saying in deleted Instagram posts: “Clearly, while the sketch was intended to be comedic, it wasn’t funny at all — and I deeply regret having agreed to act in it,” she added. “I really look forward to being able to share a lot more about this situation as soon as I can.

Though the case has been dropped by the plaintiffs in court, Haddish has faced multiple repercussions. While spotted outside LAX airport she told TMZ, “I lost everything. All my gigs are gone.”

Haddish isn’t the first comedian to face scrutiny or cancellation for having a controversial past. Ahead are five Black comedians that have faced backlash and have cameback on top.

Kevin Hart

Hart has faced many controversies throughout his career.  Though one of his biggest scandals was in 2018 went past homophonic tweets were uncovered as he was set to host the 2019 Oscars. After the backlash, he resigned from his role as host and said he would not apologized for his past tweets.  Though he changed his tune in 2020 when he spoke about the issue in Men’s Health.

“With the whole Oscars thing, there was a big gap between what I thought the problem was versus what the problem really was,” he said in his interview with  Men’s Health. “I got 10 years where I made sure not to joke or play in the way that I did back then because it was a problem. I don’t care if you’re gay or not gay. I’m a people person. I’m going to love you regardless.”

Hart has went on to appear in numerous other projects and recently one the NAACP award for his work in “True Story”.

Whoopi Goldberg

Goldberg was in hot water earlier this year when she made insensitive comments about the Holocaust while on the View.  “It’s not about race, in reference to the Holocaust.  “It’s about man’s inhumanity to man. That’s what it’s about,” she adds.

For her comments, she ended up receiving a two-week suspension from the View.  In an apology that was released shortly after the episode aired, she expressed her regret for her misinformed viewpoint.

“On today’s show, I said the Holocaust ‘is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man.’ I should have said it is about both. As Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defamation League shared, ‘The Holocaust was about the Nazi’s systematic annihilation of the Jewish people — who they deemed to be an inferior race.’ I stand corrected” she says.

“The Jewish people around the world have always had my support and that will never waiver. I’m sorry for the hurt I have caused. Written with my sincerest apologies, Whoopi Goldberg,” she adds.

Goldberg has since returned to the View and appeared in New York Times article discussing her life, career and why she will never stop speaking her mind.

Eddie Murphy

Legendary comedian Eddie Murphy started out his career doing stand-up. But much of his material during his time doing stand-up involved making homophobic and ignorant jokes about the LGBTQ community and the AIDs epidemic.

Despite having a controversial past the comedian has solidified himself as an actor and has received several Golden Global nominations for his work.

Back in 1996, he made an official apology for his homophobic jokes.

“I deeply regret any pain all this has caused,” he says in the apology. “I know how serious an issue AIDS is the world over. I know that AIDS isn’t funny. It’s 1996 and I’m a lot smarter about AIDS now.”

In an interview for the New York Times, in 2019 he said he ‘cringes’ when viewing his old stand-up work. The actor and comedian revealed he was set to make his comeback to stand-up but the pandemic made him change plans.

Mo’Nique

After starring in the critically acclaimed film “Precious”, little was heard from Mo’Nique. Earlier this year the comedian let us know that she was blackballed by Hollywood directors Lee Daniels and Tyler Perry.  In an interview on Turnt Out with TS Madison, she said she had audio of Tyler Perry apologizing.

Mo’Nique had a falling out with Lee Daniel and Tyler Perry after she refused to do promotion for the Precious film for free. This was because she was already severely underpaid for the role. She explains in the Turnt Out With TS Madison interview that she had heard from another director that Daniels and Perry had reportedly been calling her “difficult to work with”. Causing her for years to lose out on projects and opportunities.

Director Daniels would later apologize for his part in hurting her career.

“I am so sorry for hurting you in any way that I did”,  says Daniels at a comedy show she had at the St. George Theatre.

The two have since worked together to create “Deliverance”, a Netflix comedy special.

Nick Cannon

In July of 2020, Cannon found himself in a controversy after anti-Semitic comments he made on his podcast  Cannon’s Class.  On the podcast, he said that Black people are the “true Hebrews”, among other conspiracy theories.

Due to this VicomCBS decided to part ways with him and cancel his award-winning  “Wild ‘N Out” show.  In an apology, Cannon would express his wish to move forward and learn from his mistake.

“I want to assure my Jewish friends, new and old, that this is only the beginning of my education—I am committed to deeper connections, more profound learning and strengthening the bond between our two cultures today and every day going forward,” he said in a statement.

ViacomCBS later brought “Wild ‘N Out” back to their roster and Cannon would go on to have his own talk show, The Nick Cannon Show (a reboot of the show he had a teen).