TMC
05-22-2024, 06:14 PM
https://people.com/why-michael-richards-left-hollywood-after-racist-rant-upended-his-career-8651019
On April 30, Seinfeld fans were surprised to see Michael Richards, the actor who played Cosmo Kramer on the sitcom between 1989-1998, at the premiere of Jerry Seinfeld’s new movie, Unfrosted.
Because for the past 18 years, Richards has largely stayed out of the public eye — ever since he was caught on camera in 2006 hurling racial insults, including the N-word to a group of hecklers during a stand-up set.
Now he's making a tentative return to the public eye with the release of his memoir Entrances and Exits (out June 3 from Permuted Press), in which he writes about his childhood, his rise to fame on Seinfeld, and yes, that night at the Laugh Factory that upended his career.
Related: Seinfeld’s Michael Richards to Release New Memoir in 2024 (Exclusive)
"I was immediately sorry the moment I said it onstage," Richards, 74, tells PEOPLE. But he knows he doesn't expect the world to forgive and forget. "I'm not looking for a comeback."
"My anger was all over the place and it came through hard and fast," he continues. "Anger is quite a force. But it happened. Rather than run from it, I dove into the deep end and tried to learn from it. It hasn’t been easy." He adds, "Crisis managers wanted me to do damage control. But as far as I was concerned, the damage was inside of me."
Richards says he's spent the past 17 years in "deep analysis." "It was time to figure out where all the anger was coming from," he says. Part of it came down to his own insecurities, and a feeling of not being wanted. (He was raised by a single mom who had initially wanted an abortion, but they were illegal and dangerous at the time.)
“Somehow I couldn’t connect to the joy of being an artist," he says, of becoming famous as Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld. "I was a good character actor, but I was comfortable being the character, not in being me.”
On April 30, Seinfeld fans were surprised to see Michael Richards, the actor who played Cosmo Kramer on the sitcom between 1989-1998, at the premiere of Jerry Seinfeld’s new movie, Unfrosted.
Because for the past 18 years, Richards has largely stayed out of the public eye — ever since he was caught on camera in 2006 hurling racial insults, including the N-word to a group of hecklers during a stand-up set.
Now he's making a tentative return to the public eye with the release of his memoir Entrances and Exits (out June 3 from Permuted Press), in which he writes about his childhood, his rise to fame on Seinfeld, and yes, that night at the Laugh Factory that upended his career.
Related: Seinfeld’s Michael Richards to Release New Memoir in 2024 (Exclusive)
"I was immediately sorry the moment I said it onstage," Richards, 74, tells PEOPLE. But he knows he doesn't expect the world to forgive and forget. "I'm not looking for a comeback."
"My anger was all over the place and it came through hard and fast," he continues. "Anger is quite a force. But it happened. Rather than run from it, I dove into the deep end and tried to learn from it. It hasn’t been easy." He adds, "Crisis managers wanted me to do damage control. But as far as I was concerned, the damage was inside of me."
Richards says he's spent the past 17 years in "deep analysis." "It was time to figure out where all the anger was coming from," he says. Part of it came down to his own insecurities, and a feeling of not being wanted. (He was raised by a single mom who had initially wanted an abortion, but they were illegal and dangerous at the time.)
“Somehow I couldn’t connect to the joy of being an artist," he says, of becoming famous as Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld. "I was a good character actor, but I was comfortable being the character, not in being me.”