Legendary comedian Martin Lawrence is responding to Ari Lennox after she slammed jokes made about Pam on the classic sitcom Martin. Lennox previously said she felt Tichina Arnold’s character received extreme ridicule tied to her darker complexion.
“The thing that pissed me off about Martin was how much he was goin’ in on Pam,” Lennox said. “There are some things where I draw the line.”
Lawrence addressed the comments during an interview with Fox 5 DC, pushing back on the idea that the humor was rooted in colorism.
“No, I never had that concern because I knew they were jokes,” he said. “That’s the way Black people joke. We go hard.” He added that his dynamic with Arnold was built on trust and mutual understanding. “Me and Tichina were just having a lot of fun and keeping it real. That’s why we got so many laughs,” Lawrence explained, stressing there was “no malicious intent.”
Arnold shared a similar view on Funny Knowing You.
“Those jokes were never written from malice,” she said. “It was written from who’s got the best jokes.” While acknowledging Lennox’s perspective, Arnold suggested the feelings may stem from personal experiences rather than the show itself.
Martin aired from 1992 to 1997, and was one of Fox’s biggest hits, regularly drawing an estimated 8 to 10 million viewers per episode at its peak. Nielsen ratings consistently placed it among the network’s top shows, with especially strong performance among Black audiences and adults 18 to 49. The 1997 series finale attracted nearly 9 million viewers, and the show has remained a ratings staple in syndication and streaming for decades.