Audience Laughs at "Kramer," Seinfeld Pissed

46. White man born in Africa
comes to America
is he AFRICAN AMERICAN TOO???????????????

Posted at 11:46AM on Nov 21st 2006 by eric

47. I Belive that it was a black person saying the N-word nobody would say or thaink twice about it, but because it was a white person, and a tv personaly, that is why such a big deal is being made.

Posted at 3:00PM on Nov 21st 2006 by B Hamorski

48. I notice that all of the racist crackers posting blogs like to use the word "IF" to defend Richards racist remarks. If a black man had said something racist blah, blah, blah. Well, if Richards had used the N word as part of his act then maybe we could speculate as to wether or not he is a racist person, but this tirade was no act. He reacted out of anger and showed his true colors. To defend his actions is to show your true colors. The only reason he appologized is because he realizes that he just ended what was left of his meager career. He couldn't even do a Seinfeld reunion show without getting booed now.

Signed, A cracker in Illinois

Posted at 11:39AM on Nov 21st 2006 by Andy

49. Alice I agree with you! Lets start and ALL white college too!

Posted at 11:39AM on Nov 21st 2006 by T

50. i don't understand why he didn't go with, he was on stage reacting to a heckler, he tried being funny, realized it was in poor taste & not funny and apoligize for his bad reactionary judgement, i'm just a dumb comedian trying to be funny, i fuked up, sorry.

what retard is managing this bozo?

Posted at 11:57AM on Nov 21st 2006 by huh?

51. First of all, having watched the Letterman show, the fact that neither Jerry Seinfeld nor David Letterman bothered to provide any background to the audience (remember, this was filmed during the daytime, just a couple hours after TMZ broke the story) was just dumb. I've heard radio interviews with some of the people who attended the taping .... they're tourists who spend the day out in the city, not watching the news or spending time online. Of COURSE they thought Richards was going to come on and do a bit!

That's Letterman's schtick, after all -- to treat things as serious news that are comedic bits. So, for an actor to do a "sattelite feed" -- a vehicle that has been used many times in bits -- and seem so weird certainly felt like some kind of spoof to the audience.

Seinfeld's arrogance that the audience cares so much for Hollywood "situations" that they should have instinctively known this was serious is very telling .... this is how self-important celebrities have allowed themselves to become.

As for the tirade at the comedy club -- I hate that he did it, but I've attended a lot of comedy shows and I've seen a lot of amateur or just plain bad comics fall completely flat trying to outwit a heckler. Very often, it becomes an exchange of insults, and the easiest ones to use are based on gender, race, age, body size, etc. You can tell, when you watch the tape, that after he goes with the "n" word, he tries to turn it into a philosophical discussion -- something like "oh, these words, look how you laugh, it shows what you all really think" .... and of course, that doesn't work, either.

The whole thing is a mess, and Michael Richards is going to take his lumps for it. But I have no sense that he got up on that stage with the intention of doing any kind of racial material. Not that nobody's ever done it .... there are some really BAD comedians who go that direction as the primary focus of their sets. It's kind of like when they just trot out the "f" word to get a laugh. No need for it, but they think that shocking people puts them on par with the great comedians who know how to do it (Richard Pryor, Don Rickles, Carlos Mencia, I can't think of others but they're out there).

He blew it, yes. I think his apology last night was honest and raw and I feel for him. I hate that he did this, but clearly, so does he. It has probably killed his career, and that's the consequence of his actions. I don't think anything further is needed from him to address this situation.

Posted at 11:41AM on Nov 21st 2006 by whitelorelei

52. Dude clearly has some very serious issues with himself.

Posted at 11:45AM on Nov 21st 2006 by david slater

53. F'n tmz.com does it again. Who else takes so much joy in destroying someone's career?
The poll says it all, who's worse Mel Gibson or Michael Richards? How about the jew bastard Harvey Levin? He's been nothing but a hack reporter, pathetic lawyer and producer of syndicated crap.

This ridiculous slat in your "reporting" is a joke. It's productions like yours that give the major media their sense of "honest reporting".

You and your company are the ones who incite hatred. The only things you ever expose is you lack of any ethical or moral background , all to chase the almighty dollar. You don't care who you step on or who you destroy to get it.

I hope you all rot in hell.

Posted at 11:45AM on Nov 21st 2006 by Jeff

54. In Samalia the Arabs are killing unarmed Black human beings at the rate of 100,000 a year, 500,000 so far, and the Blacks and the media in the USA are upset over words in a commedy club.
Where is the rational thinking?

Posted at 12:31PM on Nov 21st 2006 by Bruce Saltzman 501st of the 101st Viet Nam 1968-69

55. The sad thing that people still think it's okay to continually seperate by race....As a former Marine am I a Nigger, A Wetback, A kike or a plathera of the rascist monikers that are used when I lay down my life or put myself in harms way for this people of this Great Country. Hustleman

Posted at 11:46AM on Nov 21st 2006 by Hustleman

56. Its prejudice to think that he is racist... none of you guys really know him... We/you are judging him off of 3 minutes of loosing his temper.

Im asian and if anyone lost there temper with me, im sure that something about being chinese or japanese would be said to me, even if the person saying it is not racist.

Thats why they call it losing your temper. 8P

Posted at 11:49AM on Nov 21st 2006 by b

57. What an anus , I have lost any respect for this guy , hee seems to have some serious issues.

Posted at 11:47AM on Nov 21st 2006 by david slater

58. It always amazes me that apologists for racism tend to end their remarks with something about "leveling the playing field"? Has the United States truly "leveled" for slavery, lynchings, Jim Crow and segregation? There is a history for "cracker" just as there is history for "Redneck" and "blue-bloods," but whites that use this among each other do not associate it with violence, endearment, or dominance. "N*****" is a referent to a period in America where the color of one's skin reflected one's intelligence and safety. Michael Richards reflected this in his lack of social control that "50 years ago" Blacks were "hung and prodded" like a dead carcass. Racism sucks and will only end when "Whites" determine why skin color constitutes exceptionalism.

Posted at 12:45PM on Nov 21st 2006 by Raymond

59. "8. GET OVER IT. People are making way too big of a deal out of this. Blacks can call whites name but how dare a white call a black a name. Sickening."

Yes, how dare a white call a black a name. The white race hasn't experienced what the black race has. Remarks like these are horrible in the same fashion that Mel Gibson's remarks about Jews were - people have said these things about blacks and Jews in the past, and look what happened. I'm not saying that it won't happen again, but we have no evidence that we white Americans are in any danger whatsoever of being acted against simply for being white.

There IS evidence, and lots of it, that when people say things about Jews and black people, THINGS CAN HAPPEN. HORRIBLE THINGS. Mel Gibson repeated what Hitler said. Michael Richards said what racist white extremists say. You CANNOT say these things about vulnerable groups of people.

Seinfeld has been my favorite show as far back as I can remember, and I still love it, and I'm not banning anyone from my TV. Though they were obviously a mistake, I don't know if Richards' comments were fueled by a deep-seeded, or even superficial, hatred, or if they truly stem from awkwardness and embarrassment. But it is truly a shame.

Posted at 12:34PM on Nov 21st 2006 by Kat

60. the misunderstanding and insensitity of NON BLACKS with regard to this incident is what message it REALLY sends to the black community. Its not even about whether or not his apology is sincere -- IT'S TOO LATE FOR APOLOGIES. What I am concerned with as a black person is the latent feelings Richards obviously harbored about blacks in the first place. It reconfirms what millions of blacks feel and believe strongly -- and that's RACISM in the US is still alive and prevalent.

Same with Mel Gibson and all the other racists rants that happened to be caught out in public -- it's not about the apology. it's about the offense in the first place.

What's really scary, disheartening and unsettling about this Richard's rant in particular is his reference to lynching and segration -- that speaks specifically to racisim inflicted upon blacks by whites and reminds us of the ugliest period in this country's history.

It's Sad and Infuriating at the same time. And to those who compared Richard's use of the "n" word to the use of an audience member calling him a name -- Please....there's no comparison... and to even make such a comparison proves you still don't get it and it's likely (if you haven't already) you'll slip on one day and make a comment of your own.

Posted at 12:38PM on Nov 21st 2006 by Black Woman aka African American aka American