Actresses Tichina Arnold and Tisha Campbell told journalist Tamron Hall that the Martin reboot is not happening anytime soon, if ever.
The ladies were guests on the Tamron Hall Show on April 23, and Hall noted how successful the sitcom Martin was. When asked about the status of the show, Arnold said the Martin reboot was not likely.
“It’s something that we wanted to happen. It’s something we tried very hard for it to have happen. But, the way it looks to me, realistically, it’s not gonna happen. Not unless it’s an animation,” said Arnold.
Arnold went on to say that she didn’t think a reboot could be done without the original cast, and actor Thomas Mikal Ford, who played Tommy on Martin, passed away in 2016.
Martin aired for five seasons in the 1990s and featured an all-Black cast. The show ended after Campbell abruptly quit the show in 1996 and filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Martin Lawrence, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Campbell alleged in the lawsuit that Lawrence became increasingly manic in his behavior towards her. Lawrence was accused of and would “force his tongue into her [Campbell’s] mouth and simulate intercourse with her on the set in front of the cast and crew.”
She left the show after Lawrence physically confronted another castmate during a “hysterical outburst,” and lashed out at Campbell. Lawrence claimed that the lawsuit was just a tactic employed during a contract dispute. He told GQ, “It was all a lot of bulls**t.”
The lawsuit was settled privately, and Campbell and Lawrence have since made up.
Hall also spilled the beans on Campbell’s past relationship with musician Lenny Kravitz. It turns out that the couple dated for a year after once making out on the floor after a party. When Hall asked Arnold if she knew about Campbell’s make-out with Kravitz, she was tight-lipped.
“Listen, I am pleading the fifth,” she said.
Arnold and Campbell, who are both in their 50’s, have been friends since meeting at an audition as twelve-year-olds. Both ladies are still acting. Campbell is working on an ABC pilot produced by Viola Davis called Black Don’t Crack, and Arnold stars with Cedric the Entertainer on the CBS sitcom The Neighborhood.
Arnold did give hope when she said that Martin could have a rebirth rather than a reboot. Until then, I guess we will all have to wait for a Martin reboot like…
