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Michael Richards, a.k.a. Kramer, spews racial slurs during standup act
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Michael Richards stunned a comedy club audience, shouting racial epithets at people who heckled him during a stand-up routine.
The 57-year-old actor-comedian, best known for playing Jerry Seinfeld's eccentric neighbor Kramer on the hit TV show "Seinfeld," was performing at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood Friday night when he went into the verbal rampage.
A video that bleeps out some obscenities posted on TMZ.com shows that the tirade apparently began after two black audience members started shouting at him that he wasn't funny.
He then paced across the stage taunting the men for interrupting his show, peppering his speech with racial slurs and profanities.
“Shut up! Fifty years ago we’d have you upside down with a f**king fork up you’re a**,” Richards, 57, screamed.
But the verbal assault didn’t end there. Witnesses said the comic then demanded the patron be removed from the club. “Throw his ass out. He’s a ******! He’s a ******! He’s a ******! A ******! Look, there’s a ******!
As the audience gasped, Richards said: “You see? This shocks you. It shocks you to see what’s buried beneath you stupid motherf**kers.”
As audience members started to walk out, the black male chastised Richards for using the n-word and called him a “cracker-a**,” prompting the comic to shoot back: “Cracker-a**? You calling me cracker-a** ******?
“Are you threatening me? Oh, it’s a big threat. That’s how you get back at the man.”
While there is some chuckling in the audience throughout the outburst, someone can be heard gasping "Oh my God" and various people "ooh" after Richards uses the n-word.
Eventually someone says: "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 activists gathered 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 did appear 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.
Calls to Richards' representatives were not returned Monday.
He refused to comment on-camera when reached by CNN, but the network reported that he said off-camera he felt sorry for what had happened and had made amends.
Seinfeld issued a statement 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.
Comic Paul Rodriguez, who was at the club, said he thought Richards' remarks 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."
Comedian George Lopez 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.
After the conclusion of "Seinfeld," Richards and co-stars Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus struggled to find success on the small screen, a phenomenon that became known as the "Seinfeld curse."
Louis-Dreyfus has since won an Emmy for her latest show "The New Adventures of Old Christine."
Richards, however, flopped with his short-lived TV show "The Michael Richards Show" and has largely remained out of the limelight since his "Seinfeld" days.
He's not the first Hollywood celebrity in recent months to be caught making racist remarks.
Mel Gibson's image has been severely tarnished since his anti-Semitic tirade during an arrest for drunk driving last summer.
Gibson, who has long struggled with alcoholism, apologized for the comments and has since tried to repair his image during a highly publicized TV interview.
But Gibson's attempted career resuscitation has been a tough go.
Just last week the "Lethal Weapon" actor topped Film Threat's annual list recognizing the "Frigid 50: The Coldest People in Hollywood."
Source: AP
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