Martin Lawrence responded to Ari Lennox’s remarks about his character on Martin making jokes that she said were rooted in colorism toward Tichina Arnold’s character, Pam.
Details on Lennox’s comments and Lawrence’s response to them
Blavity reported that Lennox took to social media back in July and shared her feelings about how the Martin jokes made her feel as a brown-skinned woman.
“The thing that pissed me off about Martin was how much he was goin’ in on Pam,” Lennox, 34, said in the viral video, noting how Pam was “so f**king beautiful and so fine,” but the jokes made it challenging to appreciate her.
During an interview with Fox 5 DC’s Marissa Mitchell, the comedian set the record straight about the colorism remarks and how his and Arnold’s constant jabs at each other are what made the show funny.
“I never had that concern because I knew they were jokes,” Lawrence told Mitchell in response to a question about colorism concerns. “You know, Black people, that’s the way we joke. We go hard. Me and Tichina, were just having a lot of fun, and we were just keeping it real. And I was just keeping it real. That’s why we got a lot of laughs out of it.”
“So, she has the right to have her own opinion and everything, but there was no malicious intent,” he continued.
What did Arnold say about Lennox’s colorism claims?
Lawrence’s response comes shortly after Arnold addressed Lennox’s comments during an interview on Deon Cole’s Funny Knowing You podcast, Blavity reported.
“She felt like Martin was bagging on me because I was brown-skinned, because she was a brown-skin girl. I understand completely what she said, and I get it,” Arnold told Cole regarding Lennox’s remarks. “It had nothing to do with color. Those jokes were never written from [a place of] malice. It was written [based on] who’s got the best joke.”
Arnold continued, sharing a message to Lennox about her feelings of colorism toward brown-skinned women, and suggested that those closest to the singer might have made her feel that way.
“Ari, we understand how you feel. It wasn’t meant that. And so, maybe, Ari, you need to talk to your friends and the people that you were around during that time who made you feel that way. Somebody, maybe in your family or friends, somebody may have done or said something to you, which allowed you to look at things a little differently and not receive them in the spirit that they were given,” she said.
Arnold issued an apology over ‘reverse racism’ comments
Arnold recently apologized for her “reverse racism” comments involving her friend and co-star Tisha Campbell, who is light-skinned. Arnold had alleged Campbell experienced mistreatment by brown-skinned women in the studio audience during the show’s tapings, per Blavity.
“Even with Tisha, people don’t realize that reverse colorism happens as well,” Arnold told Cole during the interview. “I remember Tisha, she would cry sometimes. It would be so bad because we had the live studio audience and the girls, the Black girls would come in, and they were there for Martin. That was Martin [during] Def Comedy Jam and stuff. So, it was that kind of crowd that would come to our shows, and they would laugh so hard they would bang on the floor.”
Arnold was inspired by her television sons from The Neighborhood, Marcel Spears and Sheaun McKinney, to take to Instagram on Thursday to address what she said.
“Listen, we all have opinions. We all have our rights to opinions, but we also have responsibility. So when I misspeak, I like to apologize for that because you’re never too old to learn,” Arnold said in an Instagram video. “So I made a statement on Deon Cole about reverse colorism. I was speaking too fast, just speaking from experience, but I never want to insult anyone for no reason. I misspoke, I spoke too soon.”