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Tiffany Haddish Morphed Into Black Panther, Cardi B 2.0 In Killer Opener

Photo: Chris Polk/VMN18/Getty Images.
Watching Tiffany Haddish host the MTV Movie & TV Awards is the equivalent of an intense ab workout because of the non-stop humor. While opening the award show — she's the first Black woman to host the program — Haddish delivered joke, after joke, after joke, each one funnier than the last. She's a superhuman force; a superhero in her own right, which means her opening sketch was Black Panther-inspired.
In a quasi origin story, we witness Haddish transformed into a fierce but horny T'Tiffany Haddish, inspired by Black Panther's M'Baku (played by Winston Duke), in the middle of a fight with with T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman).
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Surrounded by her Girl's Trip co-stars, Haddish is cheered on to defeat T'Challa, and then coaxed into drinking a mysterious purple liquid that she is warned "almost killed Lil Wayne." She downs the stuff, and is then told she's in charge of the MTV Awards, but not before tells T'Challa, "I'm T'Tiffany Haddish and I know who bit Beyoncé." She's the avenger we deserve.
Next, she's transformed into a new Tiffany — Tiffany B. Hostin'. This is when she performs, hands down, the best spoof of Cardi B's "Bodak Yellow" ever. She even wore an exact replica of Cardi's now-iconic white Saturday Night Live dress.
While Tiffany-as-Cardi impressively spits rhymes, she pauses to tell Michael B. Jackson to look her in the eyes and impregnate her – then revealing a fake baby bump. Jordan can't even hold back his laughter when he sees the gag. Haddish raps so hard as Cardi that she's out of breath by the end of the bit. (This makes the real, pregnant-for-real Cardi's twerk-heavy performances at Coachella and elsewhere even more impressive.)
After absolutely destroying the dance moves in her "rental" shoes that are too small (we can't all have bloody shoes, okay?), Haddish sets fire to the mic again with her opening monologue. She calls out the Kardashians and their bossy, Darth-Vader-like overlord (Kris Jenner), makes Lili Reinhart blush by suggesting Jughead is a nickname for you-know-who's penis, and likens the Stranger Things kids to a violent game. Each joke lands better than the last, and the crowd is howling. Our only wish is that Cardi B was there to witness it herself.
As the saying goes: It's Tiffany Haddish's opening dialogue, and we're all just living in it.

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