Tisha Campbell Talks Martin Reunion & 1997 Sexual Battery Lawsuit

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Tisha Campbell recently revealed that she and Martin Lawrence “worked really hard to reconnect and forgive” after she filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him. Now things are much more copacetic between them ahead of a highly-anticipated reunion.

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Last week, BET+ finally dropped the long-awaited trailer for their upcoming Martin Reunion special. The entire cast was on hand and it’s a sight many thought we would never see.

The show ended after five seasons and it was very clear there was turmoil between the show’s favorite couple, Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell. In 1997, PEOPLE reported that Campbell filed a lawsuit accusing Martin of repeated and escalating sexual harassment, verbal abuse, sexual battery, and related threats. The suit was settled out of course.

Lawrence addressed the lawsuit in a 2020 interview with GQ and reiterated that he has nothing but love for his former on-screen girlfriend. He noted however that he was disappointed by the way things transpired because they ultimately caused him to walk away spurning the end of Martin.

“Did you guys ever talk about it?” asked writer Zack Baron for GQ.

“We don’t need to talk about something that just didn’t happen,” shared Lawrence. “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.”

“Do you understand Tisha’s perspective differently now than you did then?” asked Baron.

“I love Tisha. I’ve seen her then and now, now and then, always nothing but love,” replied Lawrence. “I have nothing but love for her, and I always have.”

Tisha Campbell Says She And Martin Lawrence Worked “Really Hard To Reconnect & Forgive”

With the Martin reunion on the way, Tisha Campbell is hitting the road promoting it and she too is opening up about what went down between her and her costar. Tisha stopped by CBS This Morning and Gayle King didn’t any waste time asking about the 1997 lawsuit. More importantly, Gayle asked how both actors were able to get back on track to even do the reunion.

“We worked really hard to reconnect, to forgive, and this reunion is about a celebration of everything that we did, everything that we accomplished, and our growth as human beings,” Campbell said on CBS This Morning. “And so we concentrated mostly on that.”

Additionally, Tisha dished on the show’s lasting legacy and impact.

“I think people really resonated with the fact that we were two young people in love,” Tisha told CBS This Morning. “Two, young Black couples, because all we really had was Claire and Cliff (The 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.”