Secret Life of Pets 2 co-stars Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish go way back. Before they were the voices behind furry cuties Snowball and Daisy in Universal’s latest animated comedy, the two were friends trying to make sure each other survived in Hollywood.
And for Haddish, who at one point was homeless and living out of her car, she relied on that friendship to make ends meet. Hart gave the then-struggling comedienne $300, and she’s trying desperately to pay him back to no avail.
Hart told ESSENCE there’s a hilarious (and petty) reason why he refuses to take Haddish’s money—even if she is trying to make good on her debt.
“No! Because then what would I have to hang over head? Absolutely nothing,” he quipped. “I need something that I can bring up from time to time. So, no!”
Laughing, Hart added, “I’m not going to take the money so every chance that I get I can go, ‘Hey! You know what’s crazy? You still owe me that $300…I don’t want the money back.”
Recalling the now infamous story for late night host Jimmy Kimmel, Hart said he had no idea Haddish was living out of her car at the time, but gave her money anyway.
“I had $300 and I was like, ‘Here. I don’t know what your situation is, but hopefully this can do something for you in this time because I feel like you’re not telling me something,'” he explained.
Last year, Haddish tried to pay back Hart’s loan while the two were promoting their film, Night School. The comedienne “ambushed” him onset, he wrote in an Instagram caption. Hart would later return the funds, hilariously hiding them in her wig cap.
Watch the video above for more reasons why Hart refuses to take Haddish’s money. Then run to the theater to see the two in The Secret Life of Pets 2, in theaters Friday.