Tiffany Haddish infuriated viewers when she poked fun at her recent DUI arrest while appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
The comedian initially received an outpouring of support and prayers when the incident made headlines. Fans pointed out Haddish was recovering from a public break up with rapper Common as well as grieving the loss of her long-time dog, her grandmother who raised her and two friends - one of whom was Bob Saget.
However, many were upset by the way the Grammy winner used her trademark humour to make light of the situation while speaking with Fallon.
"I can say this, Jimmy I've been praying to God to send me a new man. A good man. And God went ahead and sent me four - in uniform. Was not expecting it at all," she said.
"And now I got a really great lawyer, and we're going to work it out. I've got to get my asking of things to God a little better!"
Online commentators said they were "disgusted" by Haddish's treatment of the issue, with one Twitter user asking: "Would y'all still be laughing if she had killed someone?"
Non-profit organisation Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) tweeted: "Drunk driving is no joke. We are grateful no one was injured or killed, and we hope going forward she will use her humour and celebrity to save lives and prevent injuries by communicating that drunk and drugged driving are 100% preventable, 100% of the time."
"Why does she need to bring her God crap and her lawyers into what was her reckless endangerment of her fellow man?" another person asked.
"Why doesn't she just own it and apologise? Imagine driving so drunk that she had to pull over to sleep. She clearly doesn't GAF about other drivers and pedestrians."
Meanwhile, some praised Haddish for being open about her mistake and speaking vulnerably about dealing with grief.
"I love that Tiffany Haddish is owning this. No excuses, complete accountability. That is huge, something you don't see too often anymore, and deserves recognition," one tweet read.
"Love her, thank God she's OK and no one got hurt."
Elsewhere in the interview Haddish spoke to Fallon about those she had recently lost, saying Saget was a "mentor, big brother and father figure to her".
"He was the first white man to say to me, 'just be yourself'.That was huge for me," she said.
"My grandma passed away and she saved my life," she added. "That's my heart. She was like my soulmate. So it's been really hard to process all this grief."
Haddish said she intended to make her next comedy special about grief as a way of processing her feelings.
