'Seinfeld's' Richards Spews Racial Slurs
Jerry Seinfeld Speaks Out On Former Co-Star's Derogatory Remarks At Comedy Club
95Nov. 20, 2006 | by Amy Bonawitz
E-Mail Story
Print Story
Sphere
Share
(CBS) "Seinfeld" alum Michael Richards spewed racial remarks at a heckler in the crowd during a set at The Laugh Factory last Friday in West Hollywood, TMZ reports.
A video on the site shows the actor, 57, who made a name for himself as Kramer, Jerry Seinfeld's neighbor on the sitcom "Seinfeld," repeatedly yelling racial remarks at a man who sat in the audience at the comedy club. It apparently happened after someone in the crowd said he wasn't funny.
"Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f------ fork up your ass," he says while on stage.
"You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now motherf------. Throw his ass out. He's a n-----! He's a n-----! He's a n-----! A n-----, look, there's a n-----!"
Gasps and boos from the crowd can be heard in the video. One of the men who Richards yelled at shouted back "That's un-f------ called for. Ain't necessary," TMZ reports.
A call from the The ShowBuzz to the actor's agent was not returned on Monday morning.
Click here to see photos of Michael Richards
Darryl Pitts is a black man who was in the audience that night. "He just took all of the air out of the room," Pitts told CNN. "He needs to make a public apology to everyone."
Jerry Seinfeld issued a statement to the Associate Press on Monday saying he was "sick over this."
"I'm sure Michael is also sick over this horrible, horrible mistake. It is so extremely offensive. I feel terrible for all the people who have been hurt," Seinfeld said.
Comedian Paul Rodriguez was at the club when it happened and told the AP he thought Richards' comments crossed the line.
"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," he said. "Freedom of speech has its limitations and I think Michael Richards found those limitations."
According to the AP, actor-comedian George Lopez told Los Angeles TV 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."
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Back To Top
RSS
Sarah Palin To Resign As Alaska GovernorAt Hastily Convened Press Conference Says She Will Not Run for 2nd Term, Mum On Future Plans
Gov. Sarah Palin Resigns
RSS
Day In Pictures
"Transformers" Triumph At The Box Office
Comments [ + Post Your Own ]
Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not CBS News stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.
ALL HISPANIC, ASIANS, MIDDLE EASTNERS, BLACKS, INDIANS, AFRICANS
RESPECT EACHOTHER, FOR THEM WE ARE ALL SAME. SO NO NEED TO QUARREL. STOP FIGHT EACHOTHER & MAKE CASH. CASH RULES THIS WORLD IF YOU HAVE IT YOU WILL BE ALLRIGHT. IT IS NOT RIGHT TO PUT THE TRUST IN MONEY BUT MONEY IS THE ONLY WAY FROM OUT OF THIS BONDAGE OF WHITE SUPREMACY. WE MUST BUILD A BETTER WORLD AND KEEP IT LOCKED FROM VAMPIRES.
SANDOKAN THE ASIAN LION
PEOPLE OF COLOUR COME TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE IT, THIS IS A END TIME BATTLE
PEOPLE OF COLOUR COME TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE IT, THIS IS A END TIME BATTLE
What bothers me is that when we ramp-up the the penalty for the use of the N-word -- public death -- we give it a power no word should have.
Also, we obliquely encourage even more use of it by the gangster rap element.
You think they over-use the word now? Wait until they hear the hysteria "Richard's" use of it caused.
I forgive Richards because not forgiving him gives him a power over me I refuse to let him (or anyone!) have.
What bothers me is that when we ramp-up the the penalty for the use of the N-word -- public death -- we give it a power no word should have.
Also, we obliquely encourage even more use of it by the gangster rap element.
You think they over-use the word now? Wait until they hear the hysteria "Richard's" use of it caused.
I forgive Richards because not forgiving him gives him a power over me I refuse to let him (or anyone!) have.
Step out of your delusion of grandeur, "The Gangs of New York" was a true story, telling the story how conditions were for Southern/Eastern European settlers.
Obviously you know very little American history, because if you did, you would reframe from the conjecture.
During the early 20th Century, huge concentrations of European imigrants resided in large urban cities, which resulted in overcrowded condidtions and high unemployment.
This period saw its premier criminal enterprises, with Italian, Irish, and Jewish mobs, terrorizing large metropolitan cities.
I guess you have know knowledge of Al Capone, Dutch Schultz, Bugsy Segal, Sam Giancanna, etc., these were a few of the criminal element during the early 20th Century, and they were not black.