I Was a Big "Kramer" Fan...

Because he acknowledged that what he did was wrong, now he's a racist a-hoole. Up until that time, he was a comedian with bad timing replying to a heckler?

He apologized? Where?

I was just trying to look at it from another angle.

No. He stated that he went into a rage and shouted hateful things, basically. I was giving him the benefit of the doubt that maybe he was just doing that outrageous comedy thing that comedians like to do and it maybe just came out wrong. But he just admitted that he lost it and went into a rage. That shoots my first theory out of the water. Therefore, yes, he's a racist a-hole. Or as you say it, "a-hoole."

Here it is: Quoting The Hollywood Reporter:

Actor Michael Richards has apologized for using a racial epithet during a stand-up performance in Los Angeles last week, saying in an interview Monday on "Late Show With David Letterman" that he was "really busted up" about the "anger and hate and rage" that he directed at a heckler.

Richards' interview on "Letterman" was arranged by his friend and former "Seinfeld" co-star Jerry Seinfeld, who had been scheduled to appear on the late-night show Monday. As word and Internet video of Richards' outburst Friday at the Laugh Factory comedy club in Hollywood spread like wildfire Monday, Seinfeld asked "Letterman" to arrange for Richards to appear via satellite from a Los Angeles set for a live interview with Letterman.

According to video of Richards' performance posted on TMZ.com, Richards yelled "He's a nigger" multiple times, among other comments, after a heckler interrupted his performance.

"I'm really busted up over this, and I'm very, very sorry to those people in the audience, the blacks, the Hispanics, whites -- everyone that was there that took the brunt of that anger and hate and rage and how it came through," Richards said Monday from the set of "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson" at CBS Television City, where the satellite feed originated.

"I'm concerned about more hate and more rage and more anger coming through, not just toward me but toward a black-white conflict," he said. "There's a great deal of disturbance in this country ... and for me to be in a comedy club and flip out and say this crap, you know, I'm deeply, deeply sorry. And I'll get to the force field of this hostility, why it's there, why the rage is in any of us, why the trash takes place, whether or not it's between me and a couple of hecklers in the audience or between this country and another nation."

When pressed by Letterman about why he used racially charged language to respond to the heckler, Richards stressed, "I'm not a racist -- that's what's so insane about this," and he cited the "spontaneous" nature of his stand-up work. "I'm a performer. I push the envelope," Richards said. "I work in a very uncontrolled manner onstage. I do a lot of free association."

The video circulating of Richards' performance shows club patrons leaving the room as his tirade progressed. Richards told Letterman that he spoke to some members of the audience afterward and apologized for his remarks. He performed again at the Laugh Factory on Saturday. Club owner Jamie Masada said Richards told him he would apologize for his "hurtful and unprofessional outburst" from Friday. "He failed to do so and disappointed us," Masada said. "We have made it clear that Mr. Richards is no longer welcome here."

Later in Monday's "Letterman" episode, Seinfeld defended his friend without defending his actions. "I know how shattered he is about this, and he deserves a chance -- that's why I wanted him to come on ('Letterman'). He deserves a chance to apologize," Seinfeld said.

Richards' outburst comes four months after Mel Gibson made international headlines for making anti-Semitic remarks during his arrest in Malibu for driving under the influence (HR 7/31)."

Not really much of an apology, is it?

I just saw it on Larry King, but it is on Letterman tonight.

I didn't see this part when it was on TV. Yeah, this is what I was talking about in my original post.

It's certainly not the worst thing ever said or done, but I just don't like him anymore. I used to be quite fond of him but how can one be fond of a racist and besides that, he blamed it on his anger, which is his to control. If he loses it that easily on this occasion, what else might happen? Sounds like an unpleasant, loose canon to me

I'm watching him babble through a halfassed "apology" live via sattelite on Letterman right now...

He's doing one of those "I'm sorry if what I said offended those who heard it" deals.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/11/20/kramer-actor-richard-ap_n_34565.html

Well, it looks like Richards is just trying to save his career; he lied to the owner of the night club, saying he would apologize, but didn't.

He's just another Mel Gibson who will show croc tears to try to save his own skin. I hope he loses.

Trying to save his career? What career is that? The easy thing for him to do would be to just disappear. I saw him on Letterman, a minute ago. It was really awkward; the Late Show audience thought it was a put on, at first. Jerry was on, too, and at one point he interrupted to tell the audience to stop laughing! It was weird.
What Michael Richards did that night was stupid, no doubt about it. Is it necessary to condemn the guy for it? If he had stood by his racist comments then I would say absolutely, he deserves a severe public backlash. But he hasn't. He went outside the club, that night, apologizing to everyone he could find (although many had already left). He went back up to the club later that night and apologized on stage. It probably didn't do much good. You don't get off the hook for something like that with a simple "Gee, I'm sorry".
Is he a racist? Maybe. He definitely looked and sounded like a racist on that clip. Then again, it is possible that he was so thrown off by that heckler that he decided (like an idiot) to reach for the most shocking and offensive words he could find to yell back at the guy; he wanted to hurt him as much as possible so he would shut his big mouth. Of course, it didn't quite work out that way, and he apparently lost all control of his brain for a minute, desperately trying to dig himself out of a deep, dark pit.
I have no doubt that his career is over. That's a given. The American public will never give him a second chance. Not for this. Racism is still a very serious problem in our society, and, unfortunately, the socially accepted way to deal with it is simply to deny that it still exists. Anyone who fails to do that gets destroyed.

Anyone who fails to deny racism exists gets destroyed? Surely that's not what you mean....

Snood, I've frequently disagreed with you about something being racist or too racist. Not this time. That was shocking. Had he continued his show; I might have been able to buy that is was a planned (though still idiotic) display of poor judgment. Not so. That was pure racism displayed by a racist who has clearly lost his mind. Mel Gibson will find work in Israel before Richards works again. Rightly so.

Americans are a funny bunch especially when it comes to being funny.

I'll bet George Allen thought he was being funny with his macaca shot and he got beat by a guy who is so sexist he makes Hugh Hefner look like Alan Alda.

Racism can work though, ask Harold Ford.

But the question is just how long does it take to be forgiven for being a blatant racist?

Call Trent Lott. Maybe he can tell you.

Joe(never spending another dime on a Mel Gibson project. Never)Nation

Richards career was , until Seinfeld, a collection of skits of questionable taste . Hes always been this way and , except on Seinfeld where his physicallity fit the shows premise, I never found him funny anyway. I gagged before I laughed at him. There was a short run sketch show that ran as a Friday night version of SNL and he was on it . He did all sorts of physical and semi extrreme stuff.
I think he may fade into the woodwork after this.

Faremr(I still like the Road WArriors dog ) man

I tuned in a rerun of Seinfeld last night, unsure how to react to Richards being on there. After all, the other cast members didn't do it. Unfortunately for them, I had to turn it off right away. I can't watch what had been my favorite TV show anymore. Almost cried.

I think this is pretty much right on target. It is possible (and probable, even) that he is no more racist than most people, and was just going for the shock value. I think the clip says more about how shitty a stand-up comedian he is than whether he is any more of a racist than anyone else.

I agree with Kicky. It's a shame this will forever tinge people's views of what was one of the funniest sitcoms every made.

I agree that what Michael Richards did was wrong. There's no other way to put it other than "wrong."
But I don't know what people want him to do. He apologized every way possible.....to the people outside the club, and then again on national tv (Letterman, no less.)

Paul Rodriguez said that people went there to see "Kramer" and were shocked at what they heard. Well, Kramer was just a character. Why would someone expect to see a character from a show that ended years ago? The show wasn't billed as the "cast from Seinfeld."

No one knows why Michael Richards went off the way he did - except Michael Richards. He will pay dearly for this for years to come.
But what I don't understand is what do the people (mostly blacks in this case) want from him? Blood? Money?

Snood, what more can he do to apologize??? I ask you because on this thread you seem to be the most disgusted, and by your avatar I see that you are a black man. What do you want to see him do?

To those that said they can no longer watch Seinfeld reruns because of this incident... well that makes no sense to me at all. No one knows what is in the heart of any actor, but it's only hurting you to deny yourself the humor that you once enjoyed.