Fortunately, I am not young and naive, otherwise I might be heartbroken to learn that one of my favorite actors is an out-and-out racist. Michael Richards, who played the beloved Kramer on Seinfeld, apparently lost it on stage.
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 nigger! He’s a nigger! He’s a nigger! A nigger, look, there’s a nigger!”
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 nigger.”
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.
There are various versions of the event and you can read a sad thread on it from USA Today. Apparently a large segment of society thinks it is okay to call black people ‘niggers’ because Chris Rock and other black comedians do it.
According to Entertainment Tonight, Richards is sorry and has made amends. I don’t think you can just ‘make amends’ for displaying racial hatred in the public square. It requires contrition, learning, and amends. It’s a terrible shame that Michael Richards has stained the Seinfeld legacy and everyone that was associated with it. Not the best way to start out Thanksgiving week.
