Tichina Arnold is taking accountability for a recent podcast appearance.
After appearing on Deon Cole’s “Funny Knowing You“ show in late 2025 to address the colorism comments made by Ari Lennox about the hit TV show “Martin,” Arnold took to Instagram on Thursday (Jan. 8) and clarified that she misspoke, particularly about the idea of “reverse colorism.”
“Listen, we all have opinions. We all have our rights to opinions, but we also have responsibility. So when I misspeak, I like to apologize for that because you’re never too old to learn,” Arnold began. “So I made a statement on Deon Cole about reverse colorism. I was speaking too fast, just speaking from experience, but I never want to insult anyone for no reason. I misspoke, I spoke too soon.”
Arnold says she spoke to her TV sons from “The Neighborhood,” Marcel Spears and Sheaun McKinney, and the two of them corrected her, prompting Arnold’s apology.
“You were speaking to your experience of witnessing prejudice against a lighter-skinned person,” Spears said. “Which is a result of colorism. Reverse colorism ain’t a thing, colorism is the system that benefits lighter-skinned people because it’s closer to white supremacy. Reverse colorism ain’t a thing.”
The comments that landed Arnold in hot water stemmed from her personal experience on “Martin,” particularly during the show’s first season, where the in-studio audience did not want to see Martin Lawrence with a girlfriend, and the crowd took out their feelings on Arnold’s longtime friend and co-star, Tisha Campbell.
“Even with Tisha, people don’t realize that reverse colorism happens as well,” Arnold told Cole. “I remember Tisha, she would cry sometimes. It would be so bad because we had the live studio audience and the girls, the black girls would come in, and they were there for Martin. That was Martin [during] “Def Comedy Jam” and stuff. So, it was that kind of crowd that would come to our shows and they would laugh so hard they would bang on the floor.”
She added, “The whole first season, every time Tisha would walk out, you would hear groans. They wouldn’t laugh; they treated her horribly.”
Spears and McKinney understood where Arnold’s intent was, but quickly pointed out that at the end of the day, Arnold witnessed colorism in full effect, something all three of them have dealt with. Almost instantly, the first person who had Arnold’s back? Campbell herself, who commented under the post, offering positive vibes for the woman she has been tied to since “Little Shop of Horrors.”
“I love you Tichina!❤️ keep shining Tee,” Campbell began. “I will always have your back. Your heart is pure and your intentions were too.”
