On Saturday, comedian and actress Tiffany Haddish turned a trip to the grocery store into an act of large-scale generosity, covering the cost of groceries for hundreds of people in Altadena. The giveaway was aimed at victims of the Eaton Fire as well as anyone in need, and it quickly became one of the community’s most talked-about moments of the weekend.
From noon to 4 p.m., the Girls Trip star paid the grocery bills for shoppers at Super King Market, a bustling neighborhood store that serves a wide swath of Los Angeles County. Word spread quickly after Haddish posted the announcement to her more than seven million Instagram followers. By 11 a.m., two hours before the event officially began, about 500 people were already in line. One shopper arrived as early as 8 a.m. to secure a spot.
“I called every rich friend to help me,” Haddish told KTLA 5. Among those who answered was businessman Stephen Cloobeck, founder and former chief executive of Diamond Resorts, who is currently running for California governor as a Democrat. Cloobeck said the gesture was not just about fire relief but about drawing attention to what he called the state’s broader affordability crisis.
“It’s real,” Cloobeck said. “California is not affordable, livable, or workable, and we’ve got to fix what’s broken here.”
For Haddish, the motivation was deeply personal. “I know how hard it is to feed a family, the stress of it, and the cost for food today is ridiculous,” she said. “It makes me so mad.”
Despite her celebrity status, Haddish insisted she still shops for her own groceries — and is happy to cover someone else’s cart, too. “I’m a human being, and I need to eat too. I like to buy my own food, and I’ll pay for everybody in line behind me.” She even joked about waiting on one of her famous friends to pitch in. “Kevin Hart said he gonna send some money, but he ain’t saying nothing yet,” she quipped.
Each shopper received up to $150 in free groceries, with some restrictions: no alcohol, tobacco, or large-quantity purchases for resale, and a limit of five meat items per customer. Volunteers handed out yellow tickets outlining the guidelines.
By the end of the afternoon, hundreds of families had left the store with bags full of food — and without the weight of a grocery bill. Haddish said she hoped others would be inspired to give back, pointing those interested toward donations at Diaspora Groceries, the organization helping facilitate the effort.
