Photo by Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty Images
Martin Lawrence Discusses Dave Chappelle's 'Inside The Actors Studio' Comments, 'Bad Boys For Life' & More
Photo by Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty Images
The comedian also spoke on the return of the Bad Boys franchise.
With Bad Boys for Life scheduled to be released this month, Martin Lawrence offered a new interview with GQ where he talked about the film's delay, Tisha Campbell's 1997 lawsuit against him and more.
READ: Bad Boys 3 Is Back On As Sony Gives The Film A Confirmed Release Date
As for why it took Bad Boys for Life so long to be completed, Lawrence said that the script wasn't right and Will Smith wasn't interested in doing the film until the script was improved.
"It wouldn't have been a good movie. We didn't want that," Lawrence said. We wanted to do a sequel where people would go, 'Oh, man, that's what I'm talking about. It just gets better.'"
Elsewhere in the interview, the actor and comedian also spoke on Dave Chappelle's Inside the Actors Studio appearance in 2006. Chappelle had spoken on how destructive Hollywood culture could be, and used Lawrence's 1996 incident where he ran into the streets of LA with a loaded gun. Upon being apprehended, it was declared that Lawrence was suffering from exhaustion and dehydration.
"Let me ask you this, what is happening in Hollywood that a guy that tough would be on the street waving a gun, screaming, 'They’re trying to kill me.' What's going on?" Chappelle asked during the appearance.
Upon being asked by the GQ interviewer what was going on at the time of the incident, Lawrence said: "Well, there’s no need to relive the past, but I was young and I made, uh, some irresponsible choices and, you know, carrying a gun when I shouldn't have been carrying a gun. And just getting into things that I shouldn't have gotten in."
From there, another quote that Chappelle offered while on Inside the Actors Studio is brought up: "These people are not crazy, they're strong people. Maybe the environment is a little sick." Chappelle had made the comment in regards to Lawrence and other celebrities, and how people may be quick to dismiss them as "crazy."
When asked if he agreed with the statement, Lawrence said: "No. Whatever it is, if I was involved in it, or it didn't put a good look on me—if it was my fault or somebody else's fault—it's just not a good look. And I own up to that. When I was younger, I owned up to it, and I own up to it now. I'm a better person as a result of things I gotten into when I was young, ’cause I knew not to do them again. [Laughs] I know not to repeat that kind of behavior."
Lawrence also talked about the 1997 lawsuit Tisha Campbell filed against him. The suit, which ended up being settled, had alleged sexual harassment and verbal abuse.
The actor said that none of the lawsuit was true and referred to it as "a lot of bulls**t."
"We don't need to talk about something that just didn't happen. So I just decided to walk away from the show. I just decided to end it," Lawrence said. "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," he added.
The rest of the interview can be read here.
Source: GQ