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Martin Lawrence solidified his iconic status in the 90’s. From hosting Def Comedy Jam to the debut of his hit show Martin, he was on top of the world. But after his hit show’s tumultuous fifth season and abrupt end, many fans wondered what happened, and Martin is finally giving us the reason.
During an interview with GQ, Lawrence opened up about his mental state in 1996 and why TV’s favorite funny man decided to pull the plug on his iconic show that is still being quoted and watched more than 20 years later. While touching on his fond memories of the hit show, Martin Lawrence states that while the show was based off of his life and stand up, he’s nothing like the “Martin” character in real life.
“I’m so not that guy from the sitcom,” Martin said. “That guy from the sitcom is boisterous, and he’s got bravado and he’s big and no-nonsense. But even the Martin from the show is a loving Martin. The way he loves his lady, Gina [played by Tisha Campbell], and his friends. And the real Martin is like that.”
In regards to how the show came to an end, the legendary comedian states that the show wasn’t cancelled but instead states he chose to walk away due to all of the personal drama he was going through and the issue that arose with Tisha Campbell—which Martin adds was false.
“How can I say this? It just was time to end,” Martin said. Let’s just put it that way. It was just, at that time, there was some, um, there were some things that was being said that—was all a lot of bullsh*t.”
When asked if the two former costars ever addressed the elephant in the room, Martin maintains there was nothing to “clear” and that he has nothing but love for Campbell.
“We don’t need to talk about something that just didn’t happen,” Martin continued. “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. I love Tisha. I’ve seen her then and now, now and then, always with nothing but love. I have nothing but love for her, and I always have.“
In regards to the long awaited release of Bad Boys For Life, Martin attributed the decade delay to a bad script.
”The script wasn’t right,” Martin Lawrence said. “And Will, to his credit, refused to do the movie until the script was right. It wouldn’t have been a good movie. We didn’t want that. We wanted to do a sequel where people would go, “Oh, man, that’s what I’m talking about. It just gets better.”
Bad Boys For Life hits theaters on Jan. 17, check out the trailer below.
To read the interview in its entirety, click here.
