What is it with public figures losing their minds and going all racist lately? Mel Gibson goes off on a drunken anti-Jewish tirade, ex-Senator Allen had that whole macaca scandal, and now Michael Richards, AKA Kramer from Sienfeld, loses his shit at a stand-up show over the weekend and starts spewing racial slurs at black audience members.
A video posted on TMZ.com shows that 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 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.
Video here – totally not work safe.
Funny, Kramer LOVED kenny Rogers chicken…
Wow. It’s never boring to see famous people dig their own grave in public.
I’ve got a theory about what happened to him, but it’s WAY too long to post here. I put it on my blog:
http://noiseputty.com/archives/the-michael-richards-fiasco-a-commentary/
I hope everyone reads it, and takes it into consideration.
Basically, this whole mess boils down to Richards not being a stand-up veteran. Being an actor or even part of an improv group is not the same as being a stand-up comedian. If he had worked any part of the US club circuit, he would’ve been used to being heckled and could have turned to a laundry list of banter that he could’ve responded with other than trying to use the whole “shocking” crutch that he turned towards and ultimately fell upon like a figurative sword. Some people can do both acting and stand-up. Some can’t. It’s obvious that Richards can’t.
And NoisePutty, I’ll see your link:
http://brittschramm.com/2006/11/22/my-take-the-michael-richards-controversy/