The gala, which hands out popcorn box-shaped prize statuettes in a free-wheeling televised gala, will take place on June 18 in Los Angeles.

The host role cements the growing stature of Haddish, who enjoyed a breakthrough last year with the success of "Girls Trip," a comedy in which she plays a loud-mouthed but endearing friend.

Later in 2017, she became the first African American female stand-up comedian to host "Saturday Night Live," the long-running sketch comedy series on NBC television.

The 38-year-old also wrote a best-selling memoir, "The Last Black Unicorn," about how she turned to comedy to cope with a youth full of hardship.

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The Los Angeles native revealed in the book how she was functionally illiterate until high school, how her mother suffered brain damage from a car accident and how the future star was abused by family members, foster parents and an ex-husband she married twice.

The MTV Movie and TV Awards, like the channel's signature MTV Video Music Awards, are decided by public voting and pride themselves on being less stuffy than the Oscars and Grammys.

With categories such as Best Kiss and Best Fight, the MTV Movie and TV Awards recognize memorable moments in pop culture.

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