American R&B singer and songwriter Ari Lennox recently shared her thoughts about Martin Lawrence’s show, Martin, in a viral audio clip. She specifically addressed how the character of Pamela “Pam” James was treated. The clip was shared on X by Rain Drops Media and on Instagram by Livebitez on July 29, 2025, and it quickly gained a lot of attention. In the sitcom, Lawrence’s titular character, Martin Payne, had a tumultuous friendship with Pam, played by Tichina Arnold. Pam was also the best friend of Regina “Gina” Waters-Payne, played by Tisha Campbell, who later became Martin’s wife. Payne often insulted Pam's hair, face, and personal style, while she teased his short stature. According to Ari Lennox, Martin often spoke negatively or made fun of Pam’s appearance, which she feels was "disrespectful" to women of color.“The only thing that p**sed me off about ‘Martin’ is that how much he would go on about Pam… This is coming from a girl who, like, I love me a good joking a** movie… But that was f**ked up… Like I am not too woke or something, is what I am trying to say,” Ari Lennox said.The Pho artist shared that she was open to jokes, but there were certain things where she drew the “line,” and it “bothered” her. She added that although the show was “incredible,” she felt “conflicted” about Pam’s portrayal, especially regarding how Martin treated her.“I’ll always feel a way about that. It’s disrespectful to dark-skinned women; she’s beautiful,” Ari Lennox stated.Ari Lennox’s recent comments have sparked online controversy. While some agree with her notion, others called her out.“She bout to ruin a classic show …” a netizen wrote.“Baby, the show is over 30 yrs old. Pam ain’t care, why do you?” another netizen asked.“Bro, can she please stfu they both got on each other’s a** like stop tryna make everything a problem nowadays sh*t corny,” a user wrote.Others continued to weigh in:“Hate masked as humor leaves scars. Respect is non-negotiable,” another user agreed with the singer.“She’s not wrong. Brother Osaze from Santa Monica College spoke about this in the 1990s #Martin,” wrote an individual.Martin ran on Fox for five seasons from August 1992 to May 1997. As of now, neither Martin Lawrence nor the network has responded to Ari Lennox’s latest remarks. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostExploring further Ari Lennox’s comments about the portrayal of Pam on ‘Martin’Ari Lennox recently commented that all the characters on Martin were “legendary” and the actors did “amazing” jobs.“I adore them all… And I adore Martin, like I adore him… It just p**sed me off, the joking on Pam. I just didn’t like that…” the ‘Shea Butter Baby’ singer noted.However, she added that Pam's "greatness" was often undermined by Martin's jokes about her.“Pam was so f**king beautiful and so fine. And I feel like growing up as a chocolate girl, I don’t even know whether I was able to understand the greatness of Pam, because of the light that I feel like I was being fed…” Lennox shared.Notably, Tichina Arnold, who portrayed Pam, addressed the issue during her June 2016 interview with Slate. When asked if Martin’s jokes about Pam had alleged racial undertones, Arnold said that she “never considered” that because “we as a culture go through that.”“I never was insulted by it because, first of all, it’s my job to be able to bring life to this role and how do I keep a certain… because there were things that were written towards Pam and Martin [Lawrence] would say, ‘Absolutely not. I am not saying that.’”Tichina added that there were arguments off-camera between Lawrence and the show's creators. However, she and her co-star never had any issues, as their equation was “really organic,” and they had a personal respect for each other.Martin broadcast 128 episodes for five years in the 1990s. Lawrence not only played the eponymous role but was also one of the executive producers.