If you’re even slightly familiar with Tiffany Haddish, then you’ll know that she’s a true rags to riches story. When she was around eight-years-old, her mother was involved in a tragic accident. Tiffany’s mom endured brain damage, and after the crash, the actress claimed that her mother was never the same. She’s spoken openly about the physical abuse that she endured at the hands of her mother, and in her early teens, Tiffany Haddish and her siblings were sent to foster care.  and it was a trying time for the now-Hollywood star, and in a recent interview, she tearfully recounted those days at home with a mother she didn’t recognize.

Neilson Barnard / Staff / Getty Images

“She knocked me out like, straight punched me. ‘Cause she couldn’t use her words,” Tiffany said. “Here you go from a woman who’s like, owns two properties, has her own business, also a manager at the U.S. post office, has an expensive vernacular. [Then] she has this car accident and she has to learn how to walk, talk, eat,. Everything she had taught me at that point, I’m teaching her.”

“The frustration of that. She would become so frustrated that she couldn’t think of the words so she would just hit,” Tiffany continued. “I guess maybe like, a football player . Like, you talkin’ to this n*gga and he’s like, ‘F*ck it!’ Pow! That was my mom.” In order to curb the abuse, Tiffany said she coped by telling jokes and doing things to make her mother laugh.

“If I say something funny or write a joke and say I did this special for her maybe today will be the day that she won’t bust my mouth,” Tiffany added as her voice cracked. Watch Tiffany Haddish speak about her home life as a child below.