Ahead of the highly-anticipated “Martin” reunion, Tisha Campbell opens up about how she and Martin Lawrence were able to reconnect following that sexual harassment suit she filed against him. Find out what she said inside…
Three decades after the series debut, Martin Lawrence and the cast, including Tisha Campbell, Tichina Arnold and Carl Anthony Payne II, will be joining forces as part of a BET+ reunion special, hosted by Affion Crockett, which will premiere Thursday, June 16th on BET+.
As you know, Thomas Mikal Ford (“Tommy”) died in 2016 at the age of 52, so they’ll pay tribute to him in a special way.
Ahead of the reunion, Tisha Campbell is on the promo trail dishing on the sitcom’s legacy and how she was able to reconnect with her former co-star, Martin Lawrence, following sexual harassment allegations. The 53-year-old actress sat with “CBS Mornings” co-hosts Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil, and Nate Burleson to talk about how they were able to hash out their issues ahead of the series’ 30th anniversary.
“We worked really hard to reconnect, to forgive, and to really, this reunion is about a celebration of everything that we did, everything that we accomplished, and our growth as human beings,” she said. “And so, we concentrated mostly on that.”
”Martin” became a HIT series for FOX when it premiered in 1992. It aired for five seasons before wrapping up in 1997. Fans are curious if the cast will touch on the sexual harassment lawsuit Tisha, who played Gina Waters, filed against Martin in ’97.
”It was all a lot of bullsh*t,” Martin said about Tisha’s lawsuit in GQ magazine back in 2020. “Just whomever side it was, it was bullsh*t,” he continued.
The suit was settled out of court.
”We don’t need to talk about something that just didn’t happen. So I just decided to walk away from the show. I just decided to end it. People said that I got canceled, but that wasn’t the case. I decided to just leave the show,” he explained.
After the GQ interview came out, Tisha called Martin up because she was confused by what he said. He assured her that everything between them was good and to ignore the noise. After their private conversation, Martin announced he and Tisha were in a good place in January 2020:
The “Martin” series is a STAPLE in the Black community. Till this day, fans are watching episodes daily. Tisha shared with the morning hosts why she thinks the show had such an impact on the culture.
“I think people really resonated with the fact that we were two young people in love. Two, young Black couples, because all we really had was Claire and Cliff (“Cosby Show”). And so, to see two young people trying to figure it out with their friends, I think that’s what really made people really love the show and really embrace it.”
Going back to the set to film the reunion felt just like old times for the cast.
“It was incredible, it was like we were going to start work all over…right then,” Tisha said. “We were ready to start and everything was going to start working. It was amazing just being with everybody. We were finishing each other’s sentences. We were joking, we were laughing. It was like being on set again.”
Watch her interview below:
Elsewhere on the promo trail…
Tisha stopped by “The Wendy Williams Show” to chop it up with Sherri Shepherd (who is always friends with Tisha) about life after divorce, the upcoming reunion, how they’ll pay tribute to Thomas Mikal Ford (“Tommy”) during the reunion and more. Watch the interview above.
The 90-minute “Martin: The Reunion” special will begin streaming on June 16th via BET+.
Watch the trailer below:
BONUS:
The way LisaRaye is NEVER taking her foot off her former friend’s neck. I stan. The betrayal of it all. pic.twitter.com/GOptLUYbTi
— Jerome Trammel (@MrJeromeTrammel) June 14, 2022
While discussing Tisha & Martin’s reunion, “Cocktails with Queens” co-host LisaRaye McCoy popped off about Tisha’s ex-husband, Duane Martin.
You’ll recall, LisaRaye blames Duane for sabotaging her marriage with former Turks and Caicos Islands prime minister Michael Misick.
Photos: Kathy Hutchins/Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock
