Langston Faizon Santisima (born June 14, 1968), better known by the stage name Faizon Andre Love, is a Cuban-American actor and comedian. He is best known for roles in the comedy films The Meteor Man (1993), Friday (1995), Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996), B.A.P.S. (1997), The Replacements (2000), Made, Mr Bones (both 2001), Blue Crush (2002), Elf (2003) and Couples Retreat (2009). As a voice actor, he portrayed Sean "Sweet" Johnson in the action-adventure game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) and on television played Wendell Wilcox on the sitcom The Parent 'Hood (1995–1999).
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Early life
Love says he was born in Santiago de Cuba on June 14, 1968. In a 2026 podcast appearance with Barry Katz, Love said he felt the need to be vague in discussions about how he and his family departed Cuba during his infancy, and declined to say if anyone defected but he implied money was paid to expedite the process.
He described himself as a military brat who was raised in Southeast San Diego, California and Newark, New Jersey because of his father's career in the United States Navy. He graduated from Morse High School in San Diego.
Career
Love got his start as a stand-up comedian at age 15, and made his acting debut in an off-Broadway play at the age of 19. His film debut was the animated comedy Bebe's Kids, for which he provided the voice of Robin Harris whose concept was used to create the film but who died before production began. Love offered a close vocal impression of Harris, and was credited under the Faizon Love name.
Love's live-action debut was a supporting role in The Meteor Man, starring Robert Townsend. Townsend then cast Love in a co-starring role on his sitcom The Parent 'Hood. Love's breakout performance was as drug supplier Big Worm in the 1995 film Friday.
Follow-up films have included 3 Strikes, Elf, Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, Money Talks, Wonderland, The Fighting Temptations, and Idlewild. In 2001, Love guest-starred in the Ludacris single "Freaky Thangs" from the album Word of Mouf. The same year, he made a cameo appearance as a bus driver, in the music video for Lil Jon & The East Side Boys' single "Put Yo Hood Up".
Love lent his voice to the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), portraying Sean "Sweet" Johnson, the leader of the Grove Street Families and the older brother of the game's protagonist. He co-starred in Couples Retreat (2009), a comedy film chronicling four couples who partake in therapy sessions at a tropical island resort.
In 2012, he played Stringer Bell in a satirical trailer for The Wire: The Musical. In June of that year, he started to appear in a series of commercials for Boost Mobile, promoting its new 4G phones.
Controversy, lawsuits, and arrests
In 2014, Love posted a series of controversial tweets in the wake of the sexual assault cases against Bill Cosby. Defending Cosby against the charges, he used profanity and racial slurs against Cosby's accusers as well as comedian Hannibal Buress, who had been credited with bringing wider attention to the allegations in a stand-up routine. In 2015, Love once again posted tweets in defense of Cosby, dismissing his fellow African-Americans who believed the allegations as "spineless monkeys".
On March 7, 2017, Love was arrested on a charge of misdemeanor assault in Columbus, Ohio. An altercation with a valet had occurred at John Glenn Columbus International Airport, with video evidence showing Love grabbing the valet behind the neck in the baggage claim area and throwing him onto the ground and into a desk. Love pleaded not guilty, but later pleaded no contest and received a $500 fine and a 180-day suspended jail sentence.
In 2017, Love terminated his contract with talent management firm The Gersh Agency. He subsequently did not pay agreed commissions to Gersh for their duties in negotating his appearances on Step Up: High Water, saying their oral agreement did not amount to a binding contract. This led to Gersh filing a complaint with the California Department of Industrial Relations. A 2021 ruling came down in Gersh's favor, saying Love was free to end his relationship with Gersh, but also noted emails Love exchanged with Gersh on the Step Up negotiations amounted to a binding contract which he was obligated to fulfill as originally agreed.
In 2018, a personal assistant to Love sued him for sexual harassment; the case was later settled.
In 2022, a personal assistant to Love, Hevekiah Walker, sued him and his company, Assembly Robot Inc., alleging that Love sexually harassed her during her five-month tenure as Love's personal assistant in Love's Gwinnett County home. Neither Love, nor his company, responded to the complaint leading to a default judgment against them in 2023, the court awarding Walker $500,000 plus approximately $43,000 in interest and costs. In June 2024, Walker filed a garnishment against NBCUniversal to recover any residual payments due Love that NBCUniversal held. NBCUniversal failed to respond to the garnishment and a $543,652 default judgment was rendered against it. Then NBCUniversal missed another deadline in failing to seek to modify the judgment within 90 more days. After finally attempting to void the default judgment, which attempt was unsuccessful, on August 26, 2025, NBCUniversal appealed the judgment to the Georgia Supreme Court claiming it was arbitrary to be responsible for the entire judgment as it claimed it had just $652 in residual payments due Love that could be originally garnished.
