Jennifer Palmer, who filed the suit February 25, 2004 in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks at least $25,000 in damages from Lawrence for assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Lawrence, who made headlines last week for signing up to voice the part of a domesticated grizzly bear in Sony Pictures' upcoming kid-friendly CG-flick, Open Season, has denied the allegations. His attorneys say the lawsuit is financially motivated.

The acusing woman, a fashion model and lingerie retailer, allegedly approached Martin at a January 2004 party in the Hollywood Hills and asked him if he'd like to go somewhere private and have a little fun.

That's when Martin became angry, cussed her out, and told her to get lost.

He was yelling at me, she said in an interview with Reporters.

Evidently, Martin replied to her invite by waving his hands about, slurring in a manner suggesting he was intoxicated, and using foul language.

Martin, apparently, then overheard her talking about him to her friends nearby, which caused him to approach in an angry manner, call her a liar, and tell her to shut up.

I finally just pushed him off of me, she says. That's when he slapped me in the face.

The suit states that Lawrence used the full force of the palm of his hand to slap her.

The woman told Reporters that although there were several witnesses, no one intervened or came to her aid.

A publicist for Lawrence released a statement calling the woman's allegations financially motivated and completely false, and disputed her version of events, saying Lawrence acted in self-defense.

An intoxicated and disorderly individual verbally insulted and physically attacked Martin without provocation, at which time Lawrence understandably moved to defend himself.

Actor Martin Lawrence Critical In LA Hospital

Wednesday August 25, 1999

Actor Martin Lawrence collapsed from heat stroke while jogging near his home and was in very critical condition after emerging from a coma, a hospital spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Lawrence, 34, star of the TV comedy series Martin and the recent film Life with Eddie Murphy, was rushed to Los Robles Medical Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks in a coma and with a temperature of 107 Sunday, said hospital spokeswoman Kris Carraway. He was treated for acute hyperthermia, which is also known as heat stroke or heat exhaustion, Carraway said. "He currently has improved some, but he still remains very critical, although his vital signs are stable," she added.

Carraway said Lawrence has become "increasingly responsive" to outside stimuli such as a doctor squeezing his hand, but has not fully regained consciousness. He's not able to respond to you if you ask him a question. He's basically sleeping.

Carraway said Lawrence, who jogs for at least an hour every day, had stepped up his exercise regime to lose weight for an movie role. "He was doing what he saw fighters do. He put on several layers of heavy clothing and was jogging in the intense heat we had here Sunday, and collapsed in front of his home," she said. Carraway said Lawrence was found by his girlfriend, who left the house looking for him.

Martin Lawrence quitting "Martin"

NEW YORK (AP) -- "Martin" is quitting. He's going to the movies.

After a troubled year, star Martin Lawrence said he's ending his Fox comedy with a one-hour special May 1.

"After five years with the series, I feel it's time to move on," said Lawrence, who starred in the movies "You So Crazy," and "Bad Boys."

Lawrence was arrested in March after allegedly punching a man in a Los Angeles restaurant and was arrested last summer after a loaded gun was found in his suitcase.

In December, former co-star Tisha Campbell sued Lawrence, claiming he sexually harassed and sexually battered her.

Wednesday, January 8, 1997

Lawrence Denies Sexual Harassment Charge

The comedian "regrets that he is being used as a pawn in a contract dispute" between Campbell and HBO Independent Productions, which produces the sitcom for Fox, according to a statement from his publicist Tuesday.

"Martin has long been Tisha's champion and protector, and is thus deeply hurt by these allegations. There is no merit to the lawsuit and it will vigorously be defended," the statement said.

Campbell, who played Martin's wife Gina on the show, last appeared on the set on November 22. Her lawsuit, filed last month in federal court, claims that Lawrence sexually harassed and sexually battered her, making conditions on the set "intolerable."

HBO Independent Productions declined to comment.

September 19, 1996

Martin Lawrence splitting with wife

Lawrence, star of the Fox comedy "Martin," filed for divorce Tuesday, citing irreconcilable differences" with Patricia Martin.

 Lawrence wants custody of the couple's daughter, according to the petition. It also demands that their premarital agreement "be affirmed and enforced."

July 10, 1996

Martin denies choking incident

 In response to a $2 million lawsuit, the comedian said Fentreal Ferebee was injured by his own negligence. Lawrence, however, offered no alternative version of the events on January 7, 1995.

 "Martin Lawrence never touched the guy," lawyer Edward J. Powers said.

 No charges were filed against Lawrence; Ferebee, a disc jockey, sued him in April. Lawrence last week filed court papers in response to the suit.

 Ferebee, who claims Lawrence attacked him as he made a toast at the bachelor party, said he required stitches on his head.

 Lawrence married former Miss Virginia USA Patricia Southall hours after the party.

Tuesday, May 7, 1996

Doctor: Martin had seizure in busy intersection

 Lawrence, the star of the new movie "A Thin Line Between Love & Hate" and the TV show "Martin," was detained by officers at 12:30 p.m., said police spokesman Eduardo Funes.

 He was admitted to Sherman Oaks Hospital and released to the custody of his physician, who said Lawrence failed to take prescribed medication and had suffered a seizure, police said in a news release.

 His doctor, William I. Young of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said Lawrence was suffering from "complete exhaustion and dehydration," according to a publicist's statement.

 Witness Aaron Berg said Lawrence was shouting obscenities and yelling "'Fight, 'don't give up, fight the power,' something like that."

 "The police were really forcefully putting their arms around him and trying to hold him down because he was fighting so much. He was just like a madman," Berg said.

 Officers found a handgun in his pants pocket when he was subdued by officers in the Sherman Oaks district, about 20 miles northwest of downtown. Detectives planned to ask prosecutors to charge Lawrence with possession of a concealed handgun.

 New Line Cinema, the distributors of Lawrence's new film, "A Thin Line Between Love & Hate," declined comment. A telephone message left with the actor's publicist was not returned immediately.

 "A Thin Line Between Love & Hate," co-starring Lynn Whitfield and Bobby Brown, is currently 14th on the box-office charts, having grossed more than $30 million in domestic theaters.

 Lawrence starred in the TV series "Martin" on the Fox network and the 1994 movie "You So Crazy." Disney's Miramax movie unit dropped plans to distribute the raunchy stand-up comedy film after it received the adults-only NC-17 rating. The film was subsequently distributed by the Samuel Goldwyn Co.

 Lawrence also was criticized for departing from a "Saturday Night Live" script to make jokes about John Bobbitt, oral sex and feminine hygiene.

Sunday March 31, 1996

Crossing The Line

 BEVERLY HILLS -- You take a dash of Sunset Boulevard, a dollop of Fatal Attraction, stir it all up with a heapin' helpin' of the 'hood, and whaddaya get?

 A movie called A Thin Line Between Love And Hate -- which just may be the movie that carries Martin Lawrence over the thin line between TV stardom and movie stardom.

 Best known for his starring role in the Fox sitcom Martin, Lawrence is no stranger to movies, having debuted in Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing, with subsequent turns in House Party and House Party 2, Bad Boys and others.

 But A Thin Line ... marks his first time on celluloid in the directors chair. In addition to starring in the movie, Lawrence is also credited as its executive producer, screenwriter and director.

 "It is very hard and you're only human," Lawrence reflects, looking back on his days of movie-making madness as he prepares for an April 3 opening. "No one person can do it alone. If you're not in synch with what you're doing and who you're doing it with, it's not going to work."

 Ah, but would he do it again?

 "I did find it hard," he concedes with a wide smile. "If I did do it again, I wouldn't be in 90 percent of the scenes -- and it wouldn't be no time soon."

 Still, he admits he enjoyed the experience of stretching his wings, taking a break from the rigors and grind of creating a weekly TV show.

 "It's been five years into four years," he says wearily. "We do 27 shows a year (compared to an industry average somewhere around 22)."

 And Fox has made it tough for this popular show to build the audience it deserves, moving the show from timeslot to timeslot to see how it plays.

 "To move around to see what can make a whole network work -- it's hard on a person," Lawrence says a little bitterly.

 "It's like a child," he continues. "If you send a child from home to home, that child doesn't know where its home is."

 Not surprisingly, Lawrence's ongoing relationship with the network is not something anyone should take for granted.

 "It could be to my advantage to do other things," he says with an enigmatic smile. "It could be to my advantage to walk the dog."

 Or, it could be to his advantage to make movies. After all, he's come a long way since he was cast as a wino-hassling home boy in Do The Right Thing.

 "I was just happy to have that part," he recalls. "All I was tryin' to do was be a character who would be remembered."

 Obviously, it worked, but in the intervening years, Lawrence has found that being remembered has its price.

 "If you're out of the house, trying to live a normal life, you might not always have a smile," he says, admitting that it's tough to find shade when you're in the limelight.

 But he's not complaining.

 "In a society that don't let everybody in, very few are picked," he reflects. "Every day, I humble myself to my God and my family and friends."

 One of those friends would be the controversial Bobby Brown, cast in A Thin Line ... in the non-singing role of Lawrence's best friend.

 "I've known him from meetings and we became friends from our meetings," Lawrence explains, adding that his reason for casting Brown was simple.

 "Respect, just respect," he says. "I gotta lotta love for Bobby Brown and I think he's misunderstood sometimes. Bobby Brown, to me, he's got presence. I knew I could learn something from him. Like when it comes to dancing, he's the one."

 Similarly, casting the role of the psychotic Brandi -- the jilted woman who goes beyond the bounds of rage to turn her one-time suitor's (played by Lawrence) life into a terror -- proved just about as easy.

 Lynn Whitfield, who earned an Emmy in 1992 for her performance in The Josephine Baker Story, walked in to audition for Lawrence and walked out with the job.

 "Soon as I seen her," Lawrence reports. "She walked in and I didn't have to look no more.

 "It was just like Della Reese," he adds in reference to the legendary songstress who plays his mother in A Thin Line ... and utters the words, "There's a thin line between love and hate."

 To young men inclined to trade the phrase 'I love you' for instant sexual gratification, A Thin Line ... represents a cautionary tale -- don't say it unless you mean it.

 "That's the bet of youth," Lawrence reflects. "That's how they do, but as you make that bet, you don't know the consequences you have to deal with."

 And no, the story wasn't drawn from his personal experiences.

 "I was never a dog," Lawrence insists, punctuating his denial with a laughing bark. "But I been cussed out: 'You ain't s---! You ain't never gonna be shit!' Stuff like that."

 He didn't get cussed out for it, at least not publicly, but he admits that his appearance on Saturday Night Live -- peppered with remarks about women's genitalia -- got him a good scolding.

 "The media came hard," he recalls, defending his stand-up schtick. "If you're paying for a ticket to come see me, don't be surprised."

 At 30, he's on a roll, he figures -- and that's fine by him.

 "I don't mind the growin' up," he reflects. "I'm looking to get better. I don't regret anything -- but I've always looked to getting better."

Wednesday, April 24, 1996

Martin named in law suit

 Fentreal Ferebee is seeking $2 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages in the lawsuit filed in Circuit Court here. Lawrence's publicist wouldn't comment Tuesday.

 Ferebee contends he required stitches in his head after he was hit with the bottle at Lawrence's 1995 bachelor party. Police said they did not believe Lawrence was involved, and no one was charged.

 Lawrence, the star of the television show "Martin," married Patricia Southall, a former Miss Virginia-USA from Chesapeake, at a Norfolk hotel on Jan. 7, 1995.