http://www.tmz.com/2006/11/20/kramers-r ... t-on-tape/

It was painful to watch that and the apology Michael Richards gave tonight on Letterman, especially since I'm a huge Seinfeld fan. He's known for being very extreme in his comedy, but this was either a bit gone awry or a lunatic rant. Either way it wasn't good. Or maybe its a screwed up promotion for the DVD of Seinfeld season 7, which comes out tomorrow

Likewise. I find it harder now to give up on shows I use to like when I later realize that some of it's crew members are wackos that are either supporters of the war-in-Iraq right wing extremist(ala Kelsey Grammer from Frasier) to those that are just down right openly racist (Richard Kind from Spin City).

Richard Kind is a racist?

you know...I was actually giving him the benefit of the doubt. but he apologized? what good does that do? it just confirms his feelings.

I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, there was going to be a punchline, but he got distracted.

I don't think he is as hate filled as the people that posted replies (to the link above) think he is. Some people lash out in the wrong ways, either way, disturbing indeed.

I was wondering if it was a bit, but even if it is, its just not funny. Michael Richards is no Andy Kaufman.

I remember watching an episode of a Late Night Show that doesn't come anymore(and for the life of me, I can't even remember the Host name)couple years back with Richard Kind as a guest, and he sarcastically said some stuff about his recent trip to India at that time and how he hated everything there, including the movies, the people and openly recommended on television for people not to visit India.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDXaXffoQyc

Above is a clip of Micheal Richards full appearance on the Letterman show to apologize for his nasty comments. I don't know why, but I find myself to believe his story on letterman. After having seen him work with a few African-American co-stars in Seinfeld, I find it hard to believe that deep down he's a racist. No doubt, his comments at the comedy club are fully unacceptable, perhaps it was a slip-of-the-tongue moment?

when you are trying to hurt someone, you hit them at their weakest spot...where they are the most sensitive. beating on old wounds. nothing more to it.

the black community, the majority of them, will never see it that way. that goes for non-black communities as well. there is actually an issue in LA re: racism & sexism in the fire department. the blacks and women feel discriminated against. how about affirmative action for discrimination? How many times can you pull out the race card and get away with it? it's sad what happened in the past, but we are not living in the past. current generations of people have nothing to do with the past. Live for today and a better tomorrow!

I mean, what is a racist anyway? does he have a HISTORY against blacks? it's a one-time lash. People should forget about it, and buy the new season set

also, yeah...India can be a stinky place if you are not from there. if you've been pampered all your life, India is not the place to visit. It's great if you are from there

I can't say if he's a racist, but he had to be on something. Maybe coke?

The past has much to do with the present. Not to excuse or endorse anything, but the past makes the present, and when the former was a system of discrimination and bigotry, the "present" isn't suddenly, amazingly washed free of any trace of that system. People continue to be born into, and reared in, climates that were effected by the events and views of what happened "yesterday"; it's not, by any means, a "level playing field." Issues such as affirmative action try to address the injustices of yesterday, attempting to put people with a disadvantaged background on a level from which they can better — arguably, more "fairly" — compete with those who have had thee privelege of not coming from historically wronged backgrounds. "Current generations" of people most certainly have "something to do with the past," and what programs such as "affirmative action" do, is strive to deal, in some rational fashion, with that past.

A "racist" is someone who holds powerful convictions about other people based on said people's phenotypes. A racist is someone who irrationally, impersonally, attributes certain various characteristics to others based largely on those "others'" racial background, those "others'" physical appearance and family history. I feel that boundaries of "race" are not nearly so "well-defined" as many seem to feel them to be, but, realistically, I think they still act in some tangible, important way. Again, I'm not trying to endorse or oppose this reality here: Fighting the "trend" may be cavalier, or it may be fool-hardy. All I'm trying to say at this moment is that racism and bigotry are actual, apparent social phenomena, and that it would be applying a blindfold to pretent that they simply do not exist.

As for Michael Richards, I don't know what "happened" to him on stage, and wouldn't care to venture a guess as to how he feels based on the tirade he launched in that video. He might be a racist, he might not be; he might be a "part-time," or perhaps "latent" bigot. Maybe he suffered from a momentary bit of rage, or maybe something from eariler during his day/week/month/whatever just exploded in that one instance. Looking at it isolated, I'd say that what he did and said is unconscionable; trying to look at other factors, well, I'm not equipped to do that based on one video clip.

This article is a pretty good analysis of the incident, IMO.

That was a good read DragunR2, thanks for posting it.

Below is an update on the situation, I got it from the homepage at IMDb.com


Richards Apologizes to Civil Rights Leaders


Disgraced comedian Michael Richards is reaching out to America's civil rights leaders to help him move on from a racist rant scandal following a moment of madness in a Los Angeles club. The former Seinfeld star has hired top publicist Howard Rubinstein to help him approach cultural leaders and personally apologize for his angry remarks during an attack on two African-American hecklers at the Laugh Factory last week. Rubinstein, who was hired yesterday according to website Tmz.com, reveals his new client has already spoken to black leaders Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton in an effort to make amends for his scandalous remarks. Rubinstein says, "He's appalled at what he did and wants to start the healing process. Whether it be an attack on any racial group... he acknowledges it's horrible and wrong and he will never do that again." Rubinstein says the calls were received "positively" but Sharpton has already rebuked the comedian publicly, stating he could not accept Richards' apology on The Late Show With David Letterman.

I just saw both the "outburst" and the "apology" on YouTube.com — and, while I think the former was, indeed, uncalled for, and likely said in a moment of "rage" (i.e., said in an emotional, unthinking state) — the latter seemed to me like a bullshit, "performed" set of words, spoken by an actor not quite sure how to make his acting come off as "genuine." Even the apology seemed more "emotional" than rational, and I don't think it reflects anything more than a pitiable attempt not to lose all work coming his (Richards's) way. Unfortunately, I didn't see the "heckling" that triggered Michael's reaction — and, thus, can't say anything about it — I somehow doubt that it was the type of thing that "should have" sent him over the edge that way. The whole ordeal looked like a school-yard fight, and I think it blows that former-Kramer's come to this (not that I ever really knew him as anything but that one character that he played on "Seinfeld").

Watch this clip of Michael Richards doing stand-up. He's not a very good stand-up comedian. His thing is physical humor like the stuff he did on Seinfeld. I haven't seen evidence he can do anything besides that, but he's incredibly lucky to have found a role that used his talent so well.