Richards has angry outburst at club
LOS ANGELES - 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 launched into the verbal rampage, according to video posted on TMZ.com.
The tirade apparently began after two black audience members started shouting at him that he wasn't funny.
Richards retorted: "Shut up! Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f------ fork up your a--."
He then paced across the stage taunting the men for interrupting his show, peppering his speech with racial slurs and profanities.
"You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now mother------. Throw his a-- out. He's a n-----!" Richards shouts before repeating the racial epithet over and over again.
While there is some audible chuckling in the audience throughout the outburst, someone can be heard gasping "Oh my God" and various people "0oh" after Richard uses the n-word.
Richards performed the next night at the Laugh Factory without incident.
Calls to Richards' representatives were not immediately returned early 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.
http://www.tmz.com/2006/11/20/kramers-racist-tirade-caught-on-tape/
This almost needs its own thread.
or at least a shared one with riggs'
Exactly why it would need its own thread. To distinguish why this isn't the same as ol' Sugartits.
Quote from: othersparrow on November 20, 2006, 04:11:24 PM
Exactly why it would need its own thread. To distinguish why this isn't the same as ol' Sugartits.
Precisely... another board I frequent has already covered six pages worth of comments though... and most of it was just "yeah, he's racist"... "yep"... "What a douchebag"... "holy crap, he's racist"... "we should re-edit that to include the ba-ba-bow bass sound from Seinfeld at the end"
Quote from: RegularKarate on November 20, 2006, 04:39:54 PM
Quote from: othersparrow on November 20, 2006, 04:11:24 PM
Exactly why it would need its own thread. To distinguish why this isn't the same as ol' Sugartits.
Precisely... another board I frequent has already covered six pages worth of comments though... and most of it was just "yeah, he's racist"... "yep"... "What a douchebag"... "holy crap, he's racist"... "we should re-edit that to include the ba-ba-bow bass sound from Seinfeld at the end"
He's going to apologize tonight on Letterman. The video is pretty chilling, though.
pretty f'ed up.
you think you know someone...
Quote from: JG on November 20, 2006, 06:08:53 PM
Quote from: RegularKarate on November 20, 2006, 04:39:54 PM
Quote from: othersparrow on November 20, 2006, 04:11:24 PM
Exactly why it would need its own thread. To distinguish why this isn't the same as ol' Sugartits.
Precisely... another board I frequent has already covered six pages worth of comments though... and most of it was just "yeah, he's racist"... "yep"... "What a douchebag"... "holy crap, he's racist"... "we should re-edit that to include the ba-ba-bow bass sound from Seinfeld at the end"
He's going to apologize tonight on Letterman. The video is pretty chilling, though.
there's a preview clip of his apology on the letterman page: http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/#
sheesh.
I caught most of it last night. It's unfortunate for him that he didn't read a statement because with his pauses and "umm"-ing, he's going to be branded insincere and Gibson-esque. But there's a difference between saying something racist and BEING racist.
Of course, I wonder if I would be this forgiving if it was Larry the Cable Guy.
i don't think his rant was half as intense and uncomfortable as his apology. when jerry told the audience to shut up i wanted to cringe into a ball, then when they REALLY laughed it was just ridiculous. obviously it was nervous laughter.. easily the most awkward moment on tv this year. jerry came off as the coolest guy ever, except when he talked about wishing he was the piñata at a kid's party, i'm thinking "you don't wanna make references to lynching right now!"
richards looked depressed. maybe they'll keep talking about it in america, but the world will get over it. there are many more important things going on internationally right now to care about something like that, that is unless america really throws a fit.. it would be weird if everyone rioted over this and not katrina.
he was just saying what we're all thinking. :yabbse-lipsrsealed:
Quote from: Pubrick on November 21, 2006, 12:11:32 PM
he was just saying what we're all thinking. :yabbse-lipsrsealed:
as well did you, my friend. well said.
i think he handled this as well as he could on the show. not exact quotes but: "you know, i hear your audience laughing, and i heard the jokes you made, which is fine... i'm not sure this is the proper arena to address this..." "african americans should not tolerate this crap! it's crap and it's completely inexcusable." "i need to do some deep searching within myself..."
and jerry is indeed the coolest ever.
he asked kramer to come on - made light of the situation as best as he could afterwards with the story about being heckled on stage by the small town mob boss who threw the glass at his head and then
he gets kicked out - heavily thanked dave for allowing "his friend to come on to handle this."
the whole thing is such a mess. i couldn't stand to watch the poor guy apologize.
Quote from: pozer on November 21, 2006, 12:31:40 PM
"african americans should not tolerate this crap!
No, he said "Afro-Americans"... there's something wrong with him.
Quote from: Pubrick on November 21, 2006, 12:11:32 PM
easily the most awkward moment on tv this year
Exactly what I was thinking while watching it.
i think this is a little overblown. i don't think he's racist at all. i think he has a really bad sense of humour (that dates back to at least the height of his fame judging from his bit on "just for laughs" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_27Q2dTqiU) and he was trying to make some kind of really really dumb joke out of the heckling and failed in the worst possible way. the "outburst" itself is so substanceless/meaningless it's hard to really be offended by it. the biggest victim is obviously him. i saw an interview with someone in the audience who said "he offended the entire african-american community" and i was like "how does he know?" it's all very sad and dumb.
Quote from: picolas on November 22, 2006, 06:51:58 PM
i think this is a little overblown. i don't think he's racist at all. i think he has a really bad sense of humour (that dates back to at least the height of his fame judging from his bit on "just for laughs" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_27Q2dTqiU) and he was trying to make some kind of really really dumb joke out of the heckling and failed in the worst possible way.
That's just bad stand-up with some Kramer moves thrown in.
exactly. he's just really bad at stand-up. you can see in the outburst video that he's angry but at the same time he's speaking as though he's still doing stand-up. it has almost nothing to do with racism.
not that you need to be black to have your opinion counted, but picolas, you're saying things that are much easier for you to say than someone else who took it. it's weird that your sympathetic outrage doesn't include the other outraged, but I guess that's the nature of being outraged.
(cue a black poster to picolas' aid)
i'm not outraged. it was probably harder to be there than to watch it on youtube but i still think it's kind of an empty fiasco. i don't mean to appear insensitive to anyone who was offended. i just don't think it's worth being offended by.
Richards calls Sharpton, Jackson
Michael Richards is doing damage control.
In the aftermath of his racial tirade against two black hecklers during a standup comedy routine, Richards on Wednesday hired a publicist with strong ties to the black community who set up calls to two black leaders.
New York publicist Howard Rubenstein took on Richards as a client Wednesday after being contacted by the comic. He then arranged for Richards to call the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
"I've known those gentlemen for many years," Rubenstein told The Associated Press.
"Michael apologized profusely. He wants to heal the tremendous wound that he's inflicted on the American public, and on the African-American community. ... I think it was a positive discussion," he said.
Jackson, reached by phone, said Richards called "expressing his remorse and his confusion."
"He's embarrassed. He got caught on tape. That's a big part of his anxiety now," said Jackson.
"Clearly he needs some race sensibility training, and some psychiatric help. His anger is volatile and dangerous to himself and others," Jackson said. "I hope he gets the help he needs. But the culture that's producing this kind of animosity toward blacks must be addressed. ... We're increasingly facing cultural isolation in Hollywood, in the movies and in TV."
Jackson added, "We have to evaluate the use of the n-word and categorize it as hate speech, no matter who uses it."
Calls to Sharpton's home and to his National Action Network on Wednesday were not immediately returned.
Richards, who played the kooky neighbor Kramer on the TV show "Seinfeld," lashed out at the hecklers last week during a performance at West Hollywood's Laugh Factory. A video of his rant then appeared on TMZ.com.
In a subsequent satellite appearance on David Letterman's "Late Show," Richards said his tirade was fueled by anger, not bigotry.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said in a statement Wednesday that the tirade and anti-Semitic comments by Mel Gibson earlier this year point to a pervasive trend in American culture, and that Richards' declaration "is indicative of the type of denial that too often accompanies racist rhetoric."
Rubenstein, whose media relations firm specializes in "crisis management," according to the firm's Web site, said he had never met or spoken to Richards before the actor called him.
"He convinced me that he was sincere in his repentance and would do what's right," Rubenstein said.
"I've been very involved in the African-American community for 25 to 30 years," Rubenstein continued. "It would be a tragedy if this exacerbated our race relations. I hope I can help. ... It's always been an effort on my part to improve African-American and Jewish ethnic relations."
As for reports that Richards shouted out anti-Semitic remarks during another standup comedy routine in April, Rubenstein confirmed that Richards did, but that he was only role-playing.
"He's Jewish. He's not anti-Semitic at all. He was role-playing, he was playing a part. He did use inappropriate language, but he doesn't have any anti-Semitic feelings whatsoever," Rubenstein said.
"Michael says that he has a very hot temper, and that he says inappropriate things from time to time. Yes, there's no excuse for that."
Quote from: MacGuffin on November 23, 2006, 01:17:48 AM
He wants to heal the tremendous wound that he's inflicted on the American public, and on the African-American community.
Let's look at it this way... if Kramer calling some dude the n-word during a stand-up routine is the worst thing to happen to the African-American community this week, I'd call that a hell of a good week for the African-American community.
Who told you to use the n-bomb? I didn't tell you to use the n-bomb!
No one has mentioned the part where he said "50 years ago we'd have you hanging upside down with a fork up your ass." That was truly the point where it was obviously not a joke. And then the point where he kept saying nigger over and over....and then the part where he said this is what happens when you interrupt a white man. I felt pretty sick while I was watching this, especially since it's Kramer. Why the fuck would he do something like this? It wasn't an attempt at standup, or Lenny Bruce sendup, it was just pretty fucking blatantly racist. And it really sucks, that someone so hilarious, at least as one character, could just fuck up this badly. Good thing he's not an anti-Semite, then Jerry wouldn't be able to bail him out.
it wasn't a joke. it was a pitiful, anger-fueled attempt at a non-understandable joke. if you watch his just for laughs appearance you can see he doesn't make any kind of joke-sense back then either. he just says "this guy's neck was as big as my arm!" garam mentioned he says "You see! This shocks you!" afterwards, which is another example of nonsense that vaguely resembles the outline of a lame joke. not that there's anything that isn't wrong with that. it's just that i don't think it was coming from a truly racist mind. it was coming from a confused, angry, bad standup's mind.
Quote from: Ravi on November 23, 2006, 04:00:58 AM
Who told you to use the n-bomb? I didn't tell you to use the n-bomb!
that's just who he needs to come to his defense, Jackie Chiles!
http://zine.nationallampoon.com/index.php?option=com_jambozine&layout=article&view=page&aid=247&Itemid=32
Quote from: RegularKarate on November 20, 2006, 04:39:54 PM
"we should re-edit that to include the ba-ba-bow bass sound from Seinfeld at the end"
looks like they went one (million) better..
Quote from: Tictacbk on November 29, 2006, 01:11:36 AM
http://zine.nationallampoon.com/index.php?option=com_jambozine&layout=article&view=page&aid=247&Itemid=32
that right there is the internet achievement of the year (so far).
highlights of nonstop highlights:
the monkey's side! -----------------|
|---hidden to preserve the fresh hilarity of where they take it. watch then swipe to see if you agree.
this son of a bitch is ice cold ------|
the ending.. so perfect.
this is amazing. i'm glad a definitive compilation has been made so amateurs can see how it's done.
It was very well done. I never remembered so many applicable things from Seinfeld. Bravo!
As a side note, the link didn't work for me. I had to replace "zine" with "www," then it worked.
this is so awesome.
"How could anyone not like him?"
Another apology to come
Michael Richards plans to meet with the targets of his racist rant and give his mea culpa in person.
Source: Los Angeles Times
In a session brokered by a lawyer and to be mediated by a retired judge, comedian Michael Richards plans to meet with the four African American men he targeted during a racist diatribe two weeks ago from the stage of Hollywood's Laugh Factory.
Richards, best known for his portrayal of Cosmo Kramer, the "hipster doofus" character on "Seinfeld," is expected to offer a direct apology for the outburst and also likely will pay a cash settlement, his spokesman said.
Three of the four men — Kyle Doss, Frank McBride and Patrick McLucas — and their lawyer, Gloria Allred, met with reporters in Los Angeles late Friday morning to announce the meeting, which Allred said would probably happen after the first of the year.
The judge, yet to be selected, is expected to suggest after mediating the meeting what further steps Richards should take to make amends.
Doss read a statement in which he said he was "very hurt by what happened at the Laugh Factory." He said he welcomed the chance for the four men to tell Richards "how his words made us feel" and said they would accept whatever recommendation the judge makes.
"We look forward to sitting down face to face with Mr. Richards, and we thank him for this positive step," Doss said.
In a separate interview, Richards' spokesman, Chris Giglio, said the comedian, hoping to arrange just such a meeting, had been in touch with Allred.
"He's really happy that he has a chance to do this," Giglio said.
Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada, though, was upset about the possibility that the four men, whom he described as "opportunists," could make money from the incident.
Masada argued that scores of people in the audience were offended and each should receive a personal apology.
Masada said he has offered to bring the audience from the Nov. 17 show back to the club to meet with Richards and allow the comedian to apologize and explain his actions.
"People making money out of that — I think that's disgusting," Masada said in a telephone interview from New York, where he also has a comedy club.
"Michael Richards should not give in to Gloria Allred or any of that at all. My recommendation is that he should, from his conscience, [give] some money to some underprivileged kids so that they have money to go to school."
Richards has already issued several public apologies in venues ranging from "Late Show With David Letterman" to the Rev. Jesse Jackson's syndicated "Keep Hope Alive" radio program.
Richards described the outburst as an enraged reaction to heckling from members of the audience, a showdown that was caught on a patron's cellphone video camera and posted on the TMZ.com website.
Masada has since banned Richards from performing at the Laugh Factory. Earlier this week, Masada announced that he would fine performers who used the "N-word," which was repeated several times in Richards' diatribe, and bar any repeat offenders.
Masada also has asked comedians to drop other potentially hateful epithets from their repertoires.
"Comedy should bring everybody together," Masada said. "From the bottom of my heart, that's what I'm hoping for."
Andy Dick apologizes for using racial slur
LOS ANGELES -- Two weeks after Michael Richards' racist tirade at the Laugh Factory, another white comic has been forced to apologize for using the same racial slur while cracking jokes at L.A.'s Improv comedy club.
Andy Dick, a stand-up comic and former co-star of the 1990s sitcom "NewsRadio," was outed by celebrity Web site TMZ.com on Tuesday for hopping onstage while comedian Ian Bagg was doing his routine Saturday and using the slur on clubgoers.
"Andy was heckling comedian Ian Bagg during his routine, when Dick allegedly got out of his seat, jumped onstage and began joking with Bagg," according to the Web site. "The subject of Michael Richards came up, but the two comics quickly moved past it. As Dick exited the stage, he suddenly grabbed the mic and shouted at the crowd, `You're all a bunch of ... ' " -- using the same racial slur that got Richards in trouble.
The stunned crowd gasped and stared at each other, TMZ reported.
An Improv manager declined to comment on the incident Tuesday except to confirm Dick's presence at the club that night. Dick issued an apology through his publicist Tuesday afternoon.
"I chose to make a joke about a subject that is not funny," the statement said. "In an attempt to make light of a serious subject, I have offended a lot of people, and I am sorry for my insensitivity. I wish to apologize to Ian, to the club and its patrons and to anyone who was hurt or offended by my remark."
Dick's representatives declined to comment on TMZ's account of the incident.
Richards, a former co-star on "Seinfeld," also has issued several public apologies and has agreed to meet next month with the four black men he targeted during his racial-epithet-filled outburst at the Laugh Factory on Nov. 17.
third time lucky..
This one is on the retarded audience. OK, Kramer fucked up, whatever. But Andy Dick doing it, whether it's funny or not is one thing but it's obvious that he was referring to the Michael Richards incident and anyone who gets offended by certain words, regardless of the context, just shouldn't be in a comedy club to begin with. These people were probably laughing at jokes about AIDS and abortions and 9/11 and other taboo subjects all night. If Andy Dick douche chilled the audience by saying the N-word as a reference to a scandal that EVERYONE knows about, then it's entirely the audience's fault for not getting past the word and seeing that. It's ridiculous for Andy Dick to have to make an apology for that because it's painfully obvious he didn't do it with any intent to offend.
Come back, Dave Chappelle! Come back!
Quote from: MacGuffin on December 06, 2006, 12:24:11 AM
As Dick exited the stage, he suddenly grabbed the mic and shouted at the crowd, `You're all a bunch of ... ' " -- using the same racial slur that got Richards in trouble.
It amazes me that in the article they don't even dare to print the word (nigger). I guess it's like the radical muslims where almost nobody dares to make a joke about them because immediately there'll be a death threat to the person/institution/city/state/country, not that the black community will do such a radical (stupid) thing, but surely they will whine about it.
I think I've said it before, ppl now days have their skin too thin, the Michael richards incident was just a bad comeback and maybe not even that, it was an attempt of a bad comeback but no more than that.
Quote from: polkablues on November 23, 2006, 02:21:22 AM
Let's look at it this way... if Kramer calling some dude the n-word during a stand-up routine is the worst thing to happen to the African-American community this week, I'd call that a hell of a good week for the African-American community.
Fully agree, also with sparrow.
fernando you oughta go fuck yourself hard with an elephant's trunk.
Quote from: Fernando on December 06, 2006, 12:10:54 PM
...I guess it's like the radical Muslims where almost nobody dares to make a joke about them because immediately there'll be a death threat to the person/institution/city/state/country, not that the black community will do such a radical (stupid) thing, but surely they will whine about it.
Where nobody dares to make a joke about them?
...are you serious?
Quote from: overmeunderyou on December 06, 2006, 03:52:19 PM
Quote from: Fernando on December 06, 2006, 12:10:54 PM
...I guess it's like the radical Muslims where almost nobody dares to make a joke about them because immediately there'll be a death threat to the person/institution/city/state/country, not that the black community will do such a radical (stupid) thing, but surely they will whine about it.
Where nobody dares to make a joke about them?
...are you serious?
You're right, I used a bad example, when I wrote it I was thinking of a cartoonist somewhere in europe (I think) where he draw something that made fun of the Muslim religion or something related to them, and if IIRC he received death threats and made angry a lot of ppl, somehow that came to mind when I read that.
Sorry if I offended anyone or came off as a racist, because I am not.
Quote from: Fernando on December 06, 2006, 04:11:44 PM
Sorry if I offended anyone or came off as a racist, because I am not.
I know! That's what's so
crazy about this!
Quote from: Fernando on December 06, 2006, 04:11:44 PM
Sorry if I offended anyone or came off as a racist, because I am not.
Quote from: modage on April 18, 2006, 07:34:34 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bagophily.com%2Fimages%2Fbarfsmiley.gif&hash=2245cf51cfc482605cd814e5ed4b27ede3718246)
Quote from: Fernando on December 06, 2006, 04:11:44 PM
Sorry if I offended anyone or came off as a racist, because I am not.
haha, this is what i meant by third time lucky. great material fernando! :yabbse-thumbup:
I don't think anyone who overreacts to every bit of british comic news with his pronounced hatred for ricky gervais can really call people who react to racism "thin-skinned".