She won a Primetime Emmy Award for hosting a Saturday Night Live episode (2017) and published a memoir, The Last Black Unicorn (2017).

[citation needed] In 1988, while her family was living in Colton, California,[14] Haddish's mother Leola suffered severe brain damage in a car accident.

In 2018, Haddish stated that she had been raped at age 17 by a police cadet, which she says led to her aggressiveness in avoiding unwanted advances from men.

[14][23] She says that the mentorship from many notable comedians—including Richard Pryor, Dane Cook, Charles Fleischer and the Wayans brothers—helped her discover a passion for comedy that "literally saved her life.

[25] Prior to her onscreen success, she held a number of jobs, including customer service for Air New Zealand at Los Angeles International Airport and Alaska Airlines.

[28] She has appeared on such shows as Chelsea Lately, That's So Raven, My Name Is Earl, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Underground, Nick Cannon's Short Circuitz, @midnight, Just Jordan, In the Motherhood, Def Comedy Jam, Reality Bites Back and New Girl, and has starred in movies including Meet the Spartans and Janky Promoters.

[34] Haddish was acclaimed for her performance as the loud happy-go-lucky Dina, with several critics likening her breakthrough to that of Melissa McCarthy.

[4] The author of the list, Richard Brody, wrote that "...where most comedians, even improvising, appear to create a persona, Haddish imbues her work with the force of her own experience.

[39] Reviewing the special for Vox, Caroline Framke stated, "Haddish is just really damn funny, and deserves a recommendation wherever we can give it to her... [She] unleashes hilarious, filthy, and even moving anecdotes to tell the story of her life to this point, without anything holding her back, at long last.

[42] Her memoir, The Last Black Unicorn (written with Tucker Max[43]) was released in December 2017 by Simon & Schuster[44] and debuted at #15 on The New York Times best-seller list.

[47] In parallel, she starred in the Tyler Perry movie Nobody's Fool with Tika Sumpter, Omari Hardwick, Mehcad Brooks, Amber Riley and Whoopi Goldberg.

[54] The series included stand-up sets from Chaunté Wayans, April Macie, Tracey Ashley, Aida Rodriguez, Flame Monroe and Marlo Williams.

[54][55] In 2020, Haddish starred in Like a Boss, the first studio comedy film of the 2020s, for Paramount Pictures, co-starring with Rose Byrne and Salma Hayek.

[56] Haddish was asked to host the 2021 Grammy Awards pre-telecast premiere ceremony, but turned down the request after the Recording Academy said she had to pay her own way.

She explained that the academy would not cover her hair, makeup or wardrobe for the three-hour-long event, commenting: "All of that would have to come out of my pocket, [...] I don't know if this might mean I might not get nominated ever again, but I think it's disrespectful.

"[57] She won the 2021 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for Black Mitzvah, with the news being broken to her in the middle of a taping of Kids Say the Darndest Things.

[76] On January 14, 2022, Haddish was arrested in Peachtree City, Georgia, on a charge of DUI, as police suspected she was under the influence of marijuana.

Police located Haddish, driving the vehicle described to the 911 operator, as she was attempting to pull into the driveway of a residence in an Atlanta suburb.

[80] On August 30, 2022, Haddish and fellow comedian Aries Spears were sued for alleged grooming and sexual abuse of two minors.

According to the lawsuit, the children were recruited to film several comedy skits and were asked to perform sexually suggestive content.

[81][82][83] Haddish responded in an Instagram post stating that she deeply regretted agreeing to act in a skit that she said was meant to be comedic but was "not funny at all".