Nov 21, 2006 12:00 pm US/Central
'Seinfeld' Star Apologizes For Racial Slur
Appearing On Letterman, Actor Speaks About Rant During Stand-up Routine
NEW YORK (CBS News) ―
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Actor Michael Richards appears on "Late Night With David Letterman" on Nov. 20, 2006, and apologized for his racial slurs.
CBS
Michael Richards, who played Seinfeld's eccentric neighbor Kramer on the sitcom "Seinfeld," publicly apologized Monday for racist comments he made during a stand-up routine.
Appearing on CBS's "Late Night With David Letterman," the actor spoke live via satellite from Television City, Calif., and fielded questions from Letterman, while in-studio guest Jerry Seinfeld looked on.
"For me to be at a comedy club and flip out and say this crap..." said Richards. "I'm deeply, deeply sorry."
A video on TMZ.com shows the actor, 57, repeatedly yelling racial remarks at a man who sat in the audience at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood. It apparently happened after someone in the crowd said he wasn't funny.
"Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f------ fork up your ass," he says while on stage.
"You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now motherf------. Throw his ass out. He's a n-----! He's a n-----! He's a n-----! A n-----, look, there's a n-----!"
Letterman asked Richards if he would have responded to the heckler in a similar vein if he had been of a different race.
"It may have happened," said Richards. "I'm a performer. I push the envelope. I work in a very uncontrolled manner on stage. I do a lot of free association -- it's spontaneous, I go into character. I don't know. In view of the situation and the act going the way it was going, I don't know. The rage did go all over the place it went to everybody in the room."
Richards seemed baffled by his own reaction on stage.
"I'm not a racist, that's what's so insane about this," he said.
The actor said that he went back to the club later that night and went on stage to "get back on the horse as they say." He said he apologized to as many people as he could after the incident, but some of the people he targeted had already left.
He added that he supports the people who complained to the press about his comments.
"They've gone to (the) press, as I think they should," he said. "I think it's important for the African-American community to make sure this kind of crap doesn't come about and I'm sorry that it happened.
"Having apologized, is there much more that you can do?" Letterman said.
"I just have to do personal work," Richards replied.
Seinfeld thanked Letterman for giving Richards an opportunity to speak publicly about the incident.
"I've known him many years, and I know how he works on-stage," said Seinfeld. "None of that justifies what happened. He's someone that I love and I know how shattered he is about this. And he deserves a chance to apologize, and that's all he wanted, and thank you for letting him come on."
The segment airs on "Late Show With David Letterman" tonight on CBS.
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