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The cast of Martin is coming together to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the debut of one of the most celebrated Black comedies premiered on FOX. Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Tichina Arnold and Carl Anthony Payne II will be getting together for a BET+ reunion special that will air later this year, Entertainment Weekly reported.
“To be able to sit here thirty years later with this amazing cast that has had such an impact on pop culture is truly a blessing,” Lawrence said in a statement. “I am always humbled that the fans still want more of the show and its characters. I am looking forward to the reunion special.”
Thomas Mikal Ford, who played Tommy, died in 2016 from a ruptured abdominal aneurysm.
Martin aired for five seasons and came to an end due to legal woes between Campbell-Martin and Lawrence. While filming the fifth season in 1996, Campbell refused to film any scenes with him due to accusations of sexual harassment and filed a lawsuit against him. The 1995 to 1997 period was quite turbulent for Lawrence. Besides Campbell-Martin’s accusations, his then wife Patricia Southall, accused him of being a violent drug abuser whom she didn’t trust to be around their infant daughter, People reported. Southhall was ultimately granted a restraining order against him. Lawrence had also been arrested around that time period for punching a nightclub goer and trying to board an airplane at Burbank Airport with a loaded weapon in 1996. That same year he was found in the middle of a busy Los Angeles intersection ranting and exhibiting bizarre behavior with a loaded handgun in his pocket, according to The Washington Post.
Campbell-Martin and Lawrence have since made amends after a conversation in 2020.
“I’m not going to go into details, because I want to respect his privacy and I want to respect mine. But I will say, by the end of it, it was nothing but laughter and healing,” she said during an appearance on The Talk. “And I got a chance to experience that. And I’m so glad that we’re in a good place right now.”
The reunion special will be filmed on Feb. 20.
