Richards using N Word

[kramer]

You have to watch a 30 second comercial first
http://www.cnn.com/video/player/play...rson.nword.cnn

Season 7 will not sell well, and I wonder about the rest of the seasons.

[Brian Damage]

Michael Richards exploded in anger as he performed at a famous L.A. comedy club last Friday, hurling racial epithets that left the crowd gasping, and TMZ has obtained exclusive video of the ugly incident.

Richards, who played the wacky Cosmo Kramer on the hit TV show "Seinfeld," appeared onstage at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood. It appears two guys, both African-American, were in the cheap seats playfully heckling Richards when suddenly, the comedian lost it.

The camera started rolling just as Richards began his attack, screaming at one of the men, "Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f***ing fork up your ass."

Richards continued, "You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now motherf**ker. Throw his ass out. He's a ******! He's a ******! He's a ******! A ******, look, there's a ******!"

The crowd is visibly and audibly confused and upset. Richards responds by saying, "They're going to arrest me for calling a black man a ******."

One of the men who was the object of Richard's tirade was outraged, shouting back "That''s un-f***ing called for, ain't necessary."

After the three minute tirade, it appears the majority of the audience members got up and left in disgust.

Attempts to reach Richard's reps were unsuccessful

[everett552]

Just like I've said before "The more things change, the more they remain the same".

He might of apologized and made amends but the damage is done!

[gilligan fanatic]

I always thought he was the quiet and shy type in real life

[Mr. Monitor]

Hope he gets blacklisted. Absolutely no excuse for that whatsoever.

[kramer]

I am embarrassed to use his characters name now. The rage was caught on tape though not well. I had problems viewing it with firefox.

http://us.video.aol.com/video.index....pmmsid=1772645

[friendsfan77]

There is no excuse for this behavior coming from anyone. Period. I have 0 respect for this man now. I'm just in shock. I cant believe that he would use language like that. Ever.

[Japs]

I think it will slow sales to be honest. Out of order and not funny

[kramer]

Richards will be on David Letterman tonight via satellite to explain and say he is sorry. Jerry will be there too because he was already scheduled to be on Letterman.

[rusyd]

I haven't seen the video yet, but it has been all over the news about what he's done. I am shocked that he would do something so distasteful and disrespectful.

[TJL]

What a bizarre display. It looked like he just flipped out.

[Skywalker]

http://www.wkrn.com/nashville/news/a...lurs/60837.htm


"(AP) Richards Apologizes for Racial Slurs"

By LYNN ELBER
AP Television Writer
LOS ANGELES

Michael Richards said Monday he spewed racial epithets during a stand-up comedy routine because he lost his cool while being heckled and not because he's a bigot. "For me to be at a comedy club and flip out and say this crap, I'm deeply, deeply sorry," the former "Seinfeld" co-star said during a satellite appearance for David Letterman's "Late Show."

"I'm not a racist. That's what's so insane about this," Richards said, his tone becoming angry and frustrated as he defended himself. A...
...clip from the show played on CBS before "Late Show" aired Monday night.

Richards described himself as going into "a rage" over the two audience members who interrupted his act Friday at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood. Richards responded to the black hecklers with repeated use of the "n word" and profanities.

Jerry Seinfeld, who had issued a statement saying he was "sick over this horrible, horrible mistake" and calling it offensive, was scheduled as a Letterman guest Monday. He encouraged Richards to make a satellite appearance to talk about the incident, a CBS publicist said.

Richards, 57, who played Seinfeld's eccentric neighbor Kramer on the hit 1989-98 sitcom and whose major credit since was a failed 2000 comedy, hadn't spoken publicly about his remarks before "Late Show." Calls to his representatives were not returned Monday.

His on-stage remarks were condemned by industry colleagues.

Comedian Paul Rodriguez, who was at the Laugh Factory during Richards' performance, said he was shocked.

"Once the word comes out of your mouth and you don't happen to be African-American, then you have a whole lot of explaining," Rodriguez told CNN."Freedom of speech has its limitations and I think Michael Richards found those limitations."

His Laugh Factory tirade began after the two clubgoers shouted at him that he wasn't funny. A videotape of the incident was posted on TMZ.com.

Richards retorted: "Shut up! Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f------ fork up your a--."

He then paced across the stage taunting the men for interrupting his show, peppering his speech with racial slurs and profanities.

"You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now mother------. Throw his a-- out. He's a n-----!"Richards shouts before repeating the racial epithet over and over again.

Moderating his tone at one point, Richards tells the audience, "It shocks you, it shocks you" and refers to "what lays buried."

While there is some chuckling in the audience throughout the outburst, someone can be heard gasping "Oh my God" and people respond with "ooh" after Richards uses the n-word.

Eventually someone calls out: "It's not funny. That's why you're a reject, never had no shows, never had no movies. `Seinfeld,' that's it."

On Monday, about a half-dozen community activistsgathered at the club to denounce Richards' remarks and demand an apology.

"These kind of comments hurt all of us," said protester Lita Sister Herron of the Youth Advocacy Coalition. She called Richards' comments hate speech.

The protesters also demanded an apology from the Laugh Factory. At a news conference a short time later, club owner Jamie Masada expressed remorse and said Richards will not be back at the club until he says he's sorry.

"This is one thing we don't tolerate. ... I personally apologize. I apologize from my heart," Masada said Monday.

Richards didappear at the club Saturday, without incident, but that was because he had told the club he intended to apologize, according to a Laugh Factory statement Monday.

Rodriguez, also at the news conference, said: "I kept expecting a punch line. It didn't come."

Veteran publicist Michael Levine, whose clients have included comedians George Carlin, Sam Kinison and Rodney Dangerfield, called Richards' remarks inexcusable. Comics often face hecklers without losing their cool, he said.

"It's never seen anything like this is my life," Levine said Monday. "I think it's a career ruinerfor him. ... It's going to be a long road back for him, if at all."

Daryl Pitts, a Laugh Factory audience member interviewed by CNN, compared the incident to another recent celebrity controversy.

"You think about Mel Gibson and what he said, and put that in the context of this, it's very upsetting," Pitts said, referring to Gibson's anti-Semitic outburst during his arrest for drunken driving.

Scrutiny of Richards' remarks likely will continue but won't match the level prompted by Gibson's behavior because Richards is far less famous, Levine said.

Comedian GeorgeLopez told Los Angeles television station KTLA that he thought Richards' lack of stand-up experience may have been a factor.

"The question is you have an actor who is trying to be a comedian who doesn't know what to do when an audience is disruptive," Lopez said. "He's an actor whose show has been off the air, he shouldn't ever be on a stand-up gig."

[Ireneparalegal]

He will probably say he was drunk. Whatever, that was uncalled for. No excuse whatsoever for saying those words. I have been to that comedy club in Los Angeles. There were a few times that people in the audience are drunk and say stupid stuff, pure hecklers. But the comedians would know how to snap back with something funny. I never expected to see this from Richards. I won't see him the same way anymore.

[Brian Damage]

Originally Posted by TJL

What a bizarre display. It looked like he just flipped out.

Maybe he was snorting a little sumthin sumthin.

[rusyd]

I just saw his apology on Letterman and it seemed sincere. The guy lost it. Was it right what he said. Hell no, but, he came out and apologized in front of the nation, and that took guts.