Comedian Tiffany Haddish Throws Lavish ‘Black Mitzvah’ Party on Her 40th Birthday
by Shiryn Ghermezian
A poster for Tiffany Haddish’s Netflix special ‘Black Mitzvah.’ Photo: Screenshot.
Comedian and actress Tiffany Haddish celebrated her 40th birthday on Tuesday with a massive, star-studded “Black Mitzvah” party in Beverly Hills, California, the same day as the release of her new Netflix comedy special.
Haddish — who discovered her Jewish heritage at the age of 27 when she met her father, an Eritrean Jew — celebrated at the SLS Hotel with a slew of celebrity friends, including Jimmy Kimmel and fellow comedians Billy Crystal, Chelsea Handler, Sarah Silverman, Kevin Nealon and Wanda Sykes. Singer Barbara Streisand was unable to attend the event, but gifted Haddish with a gold Star of David necklace, Variety reported.
The “Girls Trip” star made a grand entrance to the party to her rendition of “Hava Nagila” and danced the hora with guests. She also had a message board for guests to write well-wishes, handed out satin yarmulkes that had “Black Mitzvah” labeling inside, and had a candle-lighting ceremony to honor close friends and family.
Silverman’s sister Susan, a Reform rabbi, oversaw a religious service before the party where Haddish read from the Torah, with help from Crystal.
Nealon, who has known Haddish since she started doing stand-up at the Laugh Factory, called the ceremony “very moving” and “grounded.”
“It was unlike anything I’ve seen before,” he said. “I’ve been at bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs, [but] I saw in her face so much love coming from her and so much gratefulness for everything that she’s gotten in her life now.”
Haddish shared a video of the party on Instagram and said the celebration was “one of the best days of my life.”
Haddish’s comedy special “Black Mitzvah” is now streaming on Netflix.
