Martin Lawrence didn't have malicious intent behind playful jokes aimed at Martin character Pam, who was played by Tichina Arnold.
The debate about whether the jokes were veiled colorism became widespread after R&B singer Ari Lennox posted on social media last year about how Lawrence, who played Martin Payne on the sitcom, aimed certain jokes at Pam. The character was a friend to Payne's romantic partner Gina, played by Tisha Campbell, who is lighter-skinned than Arnold.
Lawrence was asked about Lennox's comments on a recent episode of news program Fox 5 DC and denied that colorism was the intention behind his jokes towards Pam. "No, I never had that concern because I knew they were jokes," the actor and comedian told reporter Marissa Mitchell in the clip below. "That's the way Black people joke. We go hard. And me and Tichina were just having a lot of fun and we were keeping it real. And I was keeping it real."
Lawrence added that their comedic bits on Martin were why the 1990s sitcom "got a lot of laughs."
"She has a right to have her own opinion and everything, but there was no malice intent," Lawrence concluded.
Arnold shut down the assumption that Lawrence's humor about her character was in bad taste in a December episode of Deon Cole's podcast Funny Knowing You. The actress also revealed that the original version of Pam was intended to be a "heavyset" woman.
"Those jokes were never written from malice. It was written from who's got the best jokes. Never about colorism," Arnold said around the 51-minute mark. "Ari, we understand how you feel. But it wasn't meant [like] that. Maybe, Ari, you need to talk to your friends and the people you were around during that time who made you feel that way."
We'll see if the planned Martin spinoff revisits the character of Pam and if the humor isn't perceived as offensive.