Should we forgive Michael Richards, the actor who played Cosmo Kramer on ‘Seinfeld,’ for his 2006 N-word rant? Lately, Richards has been busy “’splaining” his nearly two-decades-old racist outburst – seemingly not out of remorse, but to sell books.
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Between 1989 and 1998, Richards, now 74, played an off-beat character on the sitcom. Kramer was a little crazy but harmless, so it was jarring, even shocking, to see a video of Richards yelling racial slurs at a Black audience member during his standup routine at The Laugh Factory, a comedy club in West Hollywood.
The Black man was at least one person who heckled Richards, saying his material wasn’t funny. In response to the insult, Richards said, “Shut up! Fifty years ago we’d have you upside down with a f-ing fork up your a–.”
Richards didn’t stop there: “You can talk, you can talk, you can talk, you’re brave now mother——. Throw his a– out. He’s an—–!” the comedian continued. He screamed the N-word four more times before walking off the stage.
Appearing Tuesday on “The View,” Richards explained, “I went into character. I work in a comedy club environment where the N-word is used a lot, and I decided I would let it loose.”
Once again, Richards expressed regret for the incident but offered no sincere apology. We’ve seen this before. Back in 2006, he appeared via live video link on “Late Night with David Letterman” with Jerry Seinfeld in the studio with Letterman to address the incident.
Even when the incident was fresh in his mind, Richards seemed unable or unwilling to issue a clear apology. Instead, his response came across like a comedy sketch.
NBC’s “Today” host Hoda Kotb asked Richards on Tuesday if he felt that he’s made fines for the incident. “I think so,” Richards responded. “Certainly getting to a place where I could forgive myself because I have to move on and be true blue about that.”
What a minute. Forgive himself? Does he know what it means to make fines?
Richards told PEOPLE that he has no valid excuse for the racist outburst and denied that he hates Black people.
“I’m not racist. I have nothing against Black people. The man who told me I wasn’t funny had just said what I’d been saying to myself for a while. I felt put down. I wanted to put him down,” he told the magazine.
Why didn’t Richards say all these things years ago? This all feels insincere because he’s promoting his new book. His memoir, “Entrances and Exits,” hit bookstores on Tuesday and touches on his racist rant and self-imposed exile after the incident.
His entertainment industry friends forgave him a long time ago. According to Richards, he turned down two offers to host “Saturday Night Live” and declined a Hollywood Walk of Fame offer. Unlike them, we can’t forgive someone who has offered us a halfway apology out of his own self-interest.
