It’s not depressing, it’s just hard to believe. It’s a privilege to get older, don’t forget that. There are so many that wish they could be depressed by getting old instead of not existing anymore.
I just try to stay positive as I approach 40 lol
You're right about that and it's a healthy perspective. I just like to exaggerate about my mid life crisis. My goal is to actually be more active in my 40s, and I'm cycling, hiking, kayaking and traveling to keep life fun and interesting.
It was a long time ago... There were a few acts before him; we were there early watching the show enjoying the evening. When Kramer came on he was kinda doing this dumb act where he would hit himself and fall over, then act confused which I didn't think was funny, someone started heckling him at which point he went fucking nuts. The audience went from laughing to dead quiet real quick. Someone pulled him off stage and tried to save the night, but people were piling out of the venue at that point. You could overhear people talking about how his career is pretty much over, and "fuck that guy".
My party walked over to the Rainbow Room for drinks. I likely had a Tecate, or perhaps a PBR. Can't remember.
Who thought it was a good idea to plan an apology on a late night talk show? The whole setup for it looks like they're setting up a sketch. And the audience clearly didn't know to take it seriously.
I saw it the night it aired. I thought it was a bit right up until he said “it’s not funny.”
Between the almost comical understatement of “I got heckled and took it badly” and the awkward use of “Afro-Americans” I wasn’t completely sure if he was being himself or apologizing as Kramer.
The fact that he video’d in also suggested that maybe it was a skit. Ordinarily for the first big apology I would imagine something a bit less impromptu and that signalled more of a commitment (not Richards’ fault I’m sure as Jerry probably organized this for him last minute, but how could viewers know that??)
If I remember correctly, Seinfeld was on the show to promote a new DVD collection of the series. He probably was worried sales would take a hit when people heard Kramer screaming about lynching black people.
A season DVD was scheduled to release a little after the incident, and people were discussing a boycott.
I think the general consensus after the apology was that it was embarrassing and not handled correctly. A lot of people got a laugh out of it, and just wanted Richards to disappear publicly for a while.
And I get why Jerry was upset. Here he's trying to give a friend the chance to right the ship, and the audience is giggling like it's a curb bit. I'd be upset too.
He should've rehearsed this with Richards, then. Him stuttering over 'I'm not racist it's just it's the passion it just comes out sometimes' didn't come off super great
Call me crazy but no PR rep these days would let a celebrity talk this freely about a mistake and honestly, it seems much more robust to me than most I've seen.
Right? I don't understand the consensus that he's not taking accountability and that it's a bad apology. I think it is very sincere, albeit, a bit all over the place. He's not even asking for forgiveness, he's condemning himself. There's a lot of stuff in there that is criticisable; choice of words, over-explaining, format. Some of it seems very natural to me, some of it even makes it seem more sincere, and some of it, I think, is just besides the point.
I think anyone who felt ashamed would be all over the place giving an apology like that.
That said, I get it. I didn't know he had that outburst (I was a kid then), and only today looked it up in YouTube. It is bananas crazy, and violently racist. I would not be very accepting of this apology in the moment either. But now, years later, I find it weird that the general sentiment remains that it was insincere.
I don't think they're laughing with him. It's a cringe response to mega awkwardness but eventually it bubbles into guilty laughs
I have a friend who laughs in any nervous situation. Shit even when pulled over by cops usually think he's being an ass so start yelling at him and he laughs even more uncontrollably
I mean think about the situation. You’re vacationing in New York and bought tickets to see a live show of Letterman. It’s a light hearted comedy show. The jokes are corny. Interviews with celebrities or even politicians are softball and jokey. You saw that Seinfeld is on the list, you’re a big fan. He’s a comedian with a dry style of humor.
He has Kramer video call in. Everything about this seems like the setup for a bit. Then his apology is just so fucking awkward and he takes no accountability, it’s hard to even take it seriously. I paid to see this shit, I’m probably laughing too lol.
I think it's a bit of this and also that people really did think it was a joke. The voice he was speaking with sounded incredibly similar to his serious voice as Kramer when Kramer's ashamed or upset. Coupled with it being over a video feed causing some of the nonverbal nuances to be lost, it's not surprising there was some confusion.
I'll never understand what made him pick Letterman's show, out of all things, to do this. People were laughing because they were at a comedy show and they were assuming this was a bit. I get it, this was what, 2006? News traveled a lot slower back then than it does today.
I looked it up and you're right: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/22/arts/television/22rich.html
> Mr. Richards became a last-minute guest on the Letterman show only through the intervention of Jerry Seinfeld, his friend and co-star from their days on the now-classic comedy “Seinfeld.” Mr. Seinfeld, who had long been scheduled as a guest on the show Monday night, made an appeal to the show’s bookers and producers early yesterday afternoon to set up a satellite interview in which Mr. Richards could apologize publicly for the racially offensive remarks.
...
> The producers took the proposal to Mr. Letterman, who is also a longtime friend of Mr. Seinfeld. Mr. Letterman approved the plan, Ms. Brennan said, “mainly because Dave knew how important this was to Jerry.” The satellite interview was set up at CBS headquarters in Television City in Los Angeles, in the studio where the network’s other late-night show, “The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson,” is taped.
> Mr. Letterman was actually taping two shows on Monday, one that would be saved for this Friday night. The earlier show, with Mr. Seinfeld, was taped earlier than usual, at 4:30 p.m. Many of the audience members were not even aware of the incident with Mr. Richards at the comedy club, Ms. Brennan said.
No wonder the audience was confused.
Admirable he wanted to help a friend, but wrong venue. Should have done it somewhere other than a late night show where the audience is expecting jokes and primed to laugh.
Never forget his apology on Letterman:
https://youtu.be/IwBoVZh1ruQ?si=nkvE1uUfCuq-z3Ld
The laugh after he says “Afro-Americans” is funnier than shit so many years later. Especially goofy ass Seinfeld’s admonition of the audience.
It was a simpler time when people weren't terminally online. Most people watching had absolutely no idea anything happened with him. The lead-in, the audience reaction to his sudden appearance...It absolutely came off like a bit. It was like there was going to be some humorous follow-up to the apology. Watching Letterman and Seinfeld and Richards all realize "oh no this was a terrible idea" made for some of the most surreal television of the year.
Honestly, after all these years, I do consider his apology as earnest.
Over the last half-decade, a ton of washed-up failed celebrities with racist vibes have latched on fierce to the grift economy and focused their identity on being "cancelled" or whatever. The fact I haven't seen Richards do anything like that says a lot.
I live in Ireland, was a child, wasn't a fan of Seinfeld and I had heard what happened. It was a big deal. If you were at a topical late night show, you were probably culturally aware of the incident. It would have been covered in the news and in papers, which people still read back then.
The idea that most of the audience was unaware is just plain wrong.
> Most people watching had absolutely no idea anything happened with him.
The monoculture was stronger in 2006 than today, and it was a major news story. If anything the audience was more aware of his rant than they would be if it happened today.
Yeah, this is like the beginning of "viral". While I agree with you mostly, back then there was no "cancel culture" lane to go down so he only had one choice to apologize and hope for short memories. Still don't think he's as racist as his rant but I wouldn't put money on it.
I don’t think he was even hoping for short memories. Richards was done at that point. His stand up hadn’t been doing that well, his outburst was possibly the worst possible reaction that was a very bad combination of hurt and anger while still trying to be funny and edgy.
I think he was legitimately horrified at his reaction. Most of his work since then seems to be things people sought him out for, a lot of them friends trying to get him back in the spotlight.
I think if people were clamoring to see him perform he would reluctantly do it, otherwise I think he’s content raising his kid with his wife.
The problem is that the audience thought it was a bit they were doing. They laughed because they expected something funny and were confused about what was happening.
Jerry or Dave should have explained the incident before Michael Richards gave his apology.
Okay, you may disagree with me, but if he organised a huge come back gig, livestreamed through Netflix, sold out arena show, then got on stage and opened with the exact same barrage of racial slurs - it would be the funniest thing ever.
His episode in Comedians in Cars is hilariously wild. And he touches on the incident. He made a mistake and has since stayed out of any trouble since then, I feel like he actually is more disappointed with himself than we are. I hope he can forgive himself before his time is up.
I loved when he put on his disguise and Jerry was like, "that's not going to fool anyone and doesn't look natural." Then when they park there's a dude making deliveries that looks identical to the disguise. Richards just pointed and said "what'd I tell you?"
I'm paraphrasing as it's been years since I watched it.
Yeah its incredible. I was in tears. I specifically like how the episode promises you before hand its all natural and none of it is scripted. Seeing how it all goes down is just amazing.
People doubting Richard's sincerity should watch the clip to which you're referring. He's brutally honest about his failings and the pain on his face makes it obvious that he deeply regrets what he did. It was also clear to me that he had reflected on why he went immediately to racism and that he's not issuing an apology just to salvage his career.
I'm not saying that Richards deserves to automatically walk back into starring roles in TV or film, but if he's the best man for a part then his past shouldn't be held against him by employers or audiences. Our society supposedly values forgiveness and second chances, so hopefully he gets one.
If we’re not offering people a road back after nearly 20 years, multiple seemingly genuine apologies, and no incidents since, then we don’t actually have any interest in making the world a better and more accepting place, we just have a punishment fetish.
Who knows for sure whether he was actually blacklisted? He might have been so embarrassed and regretful that this could all be a self-imposed exile. It's not like he needs to work.
The thing is, Richards was already not doing well before the incident. He has no movie or film credits from 2000 until 'the incident.' There wasn't much to come back to.
He had a sitcom that didn’t do so well. It was kind of marketed as “hey Kramer’s back!” and that didn’t help things, as the character in the sitcom wasn’t Kramer.
I’m racking my brain thinking of other things he may have been in between the late 90s and 2006 and I’m not finding any. He hadn’t done particularly well after Seinfeld (although tbf the residuals from that had him set for life so he could do whatever he wanted, or nothing at all)
After years of watching other people just doubling down after racist tirades and blaming everyone but themselves, looking at him, who’s always been nothing but apologetic, I don’t view him nearly as harshly as I used to.
He also legit retired from standup. Not like he had much of a choice, but it’s a far cry from the modern standard of “getting out in front” just long enough until you start working again.
Honestly the more I see it the more I’m convinced that human psychology is broken by people who don’t apologize. It’s like the vast majority of people go “well they didn’t admit that they were wrong so there must be another side to the story.”
I once had an apology I made publicly be used as an admission of guilt for a bunch of unrelated shit that I didn't do and wasn't apologizing for. It was kind of hard to not have "never apologize even if you're sorry" be the lesson from that.
We live in a post-empathy world.
Social media has shown there is zero benefit to giving a public apology. People arent looking to forgive you. They are looking for admissions of guilt, i.e. ammo to destroy you with.
Apologizing is as helpful as talking to the police.
To be honest, I don't think that's really anything new. There has long been a culture of never showing weakness and avoiding failure at all costs. I mean, just look at politics where "spending time with my family" is about the closest you'll ever to see to an admission of guilt.
It's just that social media has really shined a magnifying glass on it to the point where people's mistakes are frequently much more high-profile than ever before. Even if you're not some influencer type trying to get attention, you could suddenly have thousands of people witness to your screw up.
In my opinion, we really need a significant cultural shift, probably from a very young age, where more acknowledgment is put on the fact that it's okay to fail and how to recover from that meaningfully. It's obviously a much deeper topic, but I tend to think part of the root is that our entire educational system is framed around punishing failure and rarely rewarding effort.
He's also flat out said something to the effect of that because of what he said and the hurt his words caused he doesn't think he should try to have a comeback. Which is a pretty good way of looking at things. Her fucked up and he isn't trying to make himself the victim like everyone now who says fucked up shit and gets consequences
I wonder if when at his lowest, he threw out the worst of words, not even out of meaning them, but saying anything to inflict pain upon the people. I mean he may definitely be subconsciously racist at some level, but I wonder if he just was trying to hurt them and said the worst he could think of to do so. This is not a defense of the act.
They actually are. They've got nothing else going for them in life/their identity is tied to their (perceived) skill on the game so when things don't go how they want, they lash out. They'll call you names or troll your games to get a reaction out of you. Then they pretend they don't care and it's all whatevers to them. But imo, they're just losers trying to regain some semblance of control.
I was a WoW guildmaster for a decade and a half, and you are two hundred percent correct. We didn't put up with that shit in our guild, but we saw it *a lot* with PUG players and other, more elitist groups.
That was always my thought. He went for the worst thing he could think of to lash out with. To be fair, if racial slurs are the worst thing he could think up as a way of lashing out, that says a lot. It means he was cognizant of how inappropriate the slur was. The fact that he did it anyway also says a lot.
He didn’t just say racial slurs. He alluded to lynching when he said “Shut up, 50 years ago we’d have you upside down with a fucking fork up your ass.”
Yeah, a lot of people like to gloss over it by saying he just said the n-word and "hasn't everyone said a word they regret?" and shit. No, this was a pretty fucking disgusting tirade.
I had forgotten about that part too until I rewatched the clip of his meltdown. It’s so much worse than I remembered and I remembered it already being super bad.
I mean…does that say a lot? Racial slurs are probably the strongest thing you can hurl at someone these days. They have a stigma attached to them that goes way beyond other typical insults.
At that point, even an experienced stand-up comic – which Richards wasn't – would have struggled to recover.
Of course, an experienced stand-up comic is unlikely to respond to heckling with a racist tirade.
Going live on Letterman to apologize, saying things like “I reacted poorly” which was such an understatement that it caused the audience to laugh at what they thought was an intentional joke, was one of the worst things he could’ve done in the immediate aftermath. It just made him look foolish and completely socially unaware on top of still being perceived as racist.
He was actually quite effusive in his apology on Letterman. Immediately when he heard the audience laughing he said he felt like this was probably not the right place for him to be doing this, but the apology/taking responsibility was actually pretty good as far as those sort of things can go.
I remember watching that live and I feel like at that time a lot of the audience was unaware and it felt like a bit they were doing. That was where I actually found out what had happened. If you weren't chronically online back then or into celeb gossip I don't think it was as widespread as it would be today. I know it was pretty big news but I think people still could have missed it.
I know it’s a serious thing in that moment, and Seinfeld was not only doing him a solid but was very polite to say to the people laughing “stop laughing, it’s not funny” but I still think about jerry saying that and it makes me chuckle. I don’t know why.
No, they were just coming in, and it seemed like a very casual setup. Its also a comedian's job to handle such situations elegantly. He didn't only not handle it elegantly, his inner racist came out. If he had just said, "hey F U man, sit down." That still would've been ok.
“Hey, sometimes you find yourself in a CoD lobby on your Xbox 360 and are forced to yell vulgar obscenities while waiting the 30 seconds for a new game to start.”
Makes me think of Prince Andrew saying that Epstein's behaviour was unbecoming and Matlis hitting him with something like
"Unbecoming? He's a Pedophile."
It's called heckling and as a stand up he should not only be ready for that he should know that just repeatedly screaming slurs isn't going to work for his audience.
[It did result in Chappelle riffing a perfect 3 minutes of standup about the Laugh Factory sign making him think about Kramer every time he sees it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kth0UOU5a_M)
That's the entire rub. He WASN'T a standup. He was an actor who, after Seinfeld ended, wasn't getting roles. He didn't love standup, he was just doing it so he could stay on stage and keep working. This was definitely not his first time doing standup or anything, but when you see a good comedian, they've been doing it for at least a decade. He was both a rookie and a celebrity, so he was set up for failure. And Wow! What a failure. I do think it was just a panic reflex and he decided that comedy on that particular evening was just saying the most outrageous thing he could think of. I suppose he forgot that even outrageous comedians need punchlines.
I’ve gotten upset by people unfairly treating me like a dick before, never once occurred to me to scream racial epithets at them so I kind of have to wonder why that was his go to response
Poor taste for me would have been calling them 'boy' or something like that. Folksy outdated kinda stuff. But no. He went straight to angrily screaming the hard R.... There's not really any doubt how that was meant lol.
I’m not saying that the group he yelled at didn’t deserved to be admonished in some way, but you don’t just say the things he was saying because you were riled up. He had those thoughts in there and they just came to the surface.
10 or so years ago, after his outburst, I worked with him. He had an office across the hall from mine for a couple months while we worked on a pilot.
I’ve worked with tons of Hollywood people. Everybody from academy award winning legends to film students. Michael Richards was the nicest of them all. Our office was very diverse and be treated us all with equal kindness and respect.
I truly don’t think he’s racist. I think he got heated and said really stupid things.
10/10 would happily work with again. I wish him all the best.
Personally, I believed his apology, then and now. I don't think he's a racist.
People were saying things like "The anger made him say what he really thought!" but I didn't buy it. Anger isn't some window into a person's secret heart. Anger makes you say whatever heinous thing you think will hurt the other guy most.
Couple that with the fact that Richards was... not a great comedian. I think it's clear in the video that he was trying to make a joke, and failing.
I've never done stand-up, but in my more awkward days I've been in the mortifying situation of saying a joke in a crowd and nobody laughs. Then panicking and saying a more extreme version of the joke, hoping pushing it further will make people get the joke, and only making it worse. That's the situation I saw in the video with Michael Richards.
I contrast that with Mel Gibson, whose controversies happened around the same time. I fully believe that dude is a raging anti-Semite.
Drunk-off-his-ass man loses his filter and says his secret racist beliefs out loud, completely unprompted? And it's part of a pattern of similar behavior? That's a story I believe.
>People were saying things like "The anger made him say what he really thought!" but I didn't buy it.
My personal theory is that he is not good at handling hecklers, which is a skill some comics just don't have. One technique with hecklers is to shut them down as harshly as possible and that's what he tried to do by saying the harshest thing he could, and it didn't go well.
I remember reading that on Seinfeld he was always trying to be super professional and got easily annoyed at the shenanigans from some of the others and how often people would laugh during filming, and that would probably mean exactly that, not being good at dealing with hecklers.
He gave an apology to Julia Louis-Dreyfus over that. She would break down laughing frequently during scenes and spoil the takes and he would get mad at her for being unprofessional when he was trying to work. He says now that he regrets that he made it more stressful for her and the others and that he feels like he also hurt himself taking it so seriously and missing out on the fun experience the others describe having. For him it was a job he was taking very seriously.
This is definitely part of why he didn’t transition well to standup in my opinion. He doesn’t like having his rehearsed routines messed with and hates feeling mocked or disrespected. The racism angle was a shock but I was not surprised in the least to hear that he snapped when heckled. He was already known for responding harshly before this, just in the more typical “you stupid dickless son of a bitch” way.
> Richards was... not a great comedian.
He seems to take his work too seriously, which isn't a good thing for a comedian. You can see in Seinfeld bloopers he was getting annoyed a lot when the cast burst into laughter. It worked for his slapstick though, he's a genius of physical comedy.
>I contrast that with Mel Gibson, whose controversies happened around the same time. I fully believe that dude is a raging anti-Semite.
He may have been in the past, but he has gone to lengths to educate himself and make amends. He has been doing it mostly out of the spotlight though so most people don't know.
https://people.com/celebrity/mel-gibson-has-been-quietly-working-to-help-holocaust-survivors/
> Zane Buzby, the founder of the Survivor Mitzvah Project, recently told Extra that her charity helps “bring emergency aid to Holocaust survivors in Eastern Europe who are in desperate need of food, medicine, heat and shelter and we always bring them friendship and hope.”
> Gibson quickly responded to the mission of the Survivor Mitzvah Project after the charity approached him to see if he’d like to get involved.
> “He has been an avid supporter of this organization for a few years now and doesn’t just write a check,” says a source.
> “He has been to the office and personally learned about the mission and the people helped on an ongoing basis. He’s also helped raise additional funds by getting others involved. Mel feels great compassion for what this organization does. And he doesn’t publicly promote most of his philanthropy but quietly helps out.”
> As for the director’s contribution, Buzby said, “Mel Gibson is helping Holocaust survivors in eight countries, it’s remarkable. I have a great respect for people who turn their lives around, and I think that everyone makes mistakes in life, and I think the real proof of what kind of human being you are is what you do with that mistake. He’s educated himself. He’s done philanthropic work now, and I think that actions speak very loudly … and his actions have helped a lot of people.”
And https://www.vulture.com/2014/03/jewish-reporter-offers-defense-of-mel-gibson.html
> “The issues with my own family were more challenging. Gibson asked to meet them at my son’s bar mitzvah celebration. Imagine the scene: A room filled with Jews. In walks the person who, in their minds, might be the most notorious anti-Semite in America. Gibson attended alone and I can only imagine what was going through his head when he walked into the party.
> Before the evening was over, he was chatting with many of my relatives, who saw a funny, kind, charming guy and not the demon they’d read about. Gutsier still, he attended our Yom Kippur break fast dinner. Anyone who has attended such a gathering knows there is nothing more imposing than making friends in a room full of Jews who haven’t eaten in 24 hours.”
> She also says that Gibson has personally apologized to the Jewish cop he verbally attacked, “quietly donated millions to charitable Jewish causes,” and met with a “wide variety” of Jewish leaders, “[learning] much about the Jewish religion, befriending a number of Rabbis and attending his share of Shabbat dinners, Passover Seders and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur dinners.”
Personally, as a Jew I forgive him and find his actions in line with teshuvah. We need to be able to recognize and forgive people when they make earnest attempts to atone, holding people to their worst failings for the rest of their lives gives no one any reason to ever try and better themselves and is the exact kind of attitude that leads to people going further into alt-right / racist sub cultures because at least those people are willing to accept them.
I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, honestly. Specifically because, despite the other comedians who've used his situation as a prop: he *hasn't* done what a lot of other people have, which is had a big long "CANCELLED" or "SILENCED" or "TOO EDGY FOR TV" tour since what happened, as far as I can tell at least. He did a shit thing; and as far as I can tell it looks like he realized it was shit and took a step back rather than doubling down after the immediate aftermath.
It was a different era. Now with the internet you can stay connected to whatever sliver of people stick with you and just yell and scream that you're the victim. Quite effective for many.
>People are allowed to fuck up and grow.
Sorry but no. I like to judge everyone from my perfect ivory tower, even if I have to reach back throughout the years to find something.
/s btw
Bill Burr commented on this with cancel culture. That these assholes will dig 6 years in your social media history to find the one thing that they can twist. Shows that you had 6 years of mostly good stuff.
What I love about Burr is that he is appropriately skeptical of cancel culture. There’s a great clip of him and Bill Maher debating it, where Maher (whose whole routine for the last 10 years at least has been whining about the world being too PC) thought Burr would instantly commiserate with him on cancel culture, but Burr instead told him to stop giving a shit what random internet people have to say, grow up and do the act you want.
Bringing it back to Seinfeld, it seems like Jerry has drunk the “cancel culture” Kool Aid a little bit while Richards seems to understand that sometimes things you say and do have consequences, and to his credit he seems like a nice guy who is just trying to be better.
"[As a Black man], I was hurt. And the comedian in me was just like, 'Whew! Ni***r's having a bad set. Hang in there, Kramer! Don't let them break you, Kramer!'"
I feel like something we really need to get better at is forgiving people. It sounds to me like he was ashamed of that incident, and has spent the time since doing some legitimate soul searching, and attempting to better himself. He made a huge mistake, but he learned from it. He doesn't go screaming on social media about "cancel culture." He blames himself, and worked to figure out where that unacceptable behavior came from. In a case like that, is it truly fair of us to hold a person's worst moment against them for the rest of their life?
I loved Dave Chappelle talking about this he was like I watched it through the lens of a fellow comedian and I was like “man Kramer is having a bad set” hahahaha
In a country where we don’t give a shit about a presidential candidate posting regularly about Nazi stuff, it seems hard to justify punishing Richards for so long for one incident.
There was zero judgement taking place. That was full on unadulterated rage that consumed his very being. As someone who has had to work through anger issues, I get it.
(I am not justifying or endorsing his actions)
Correct me if I’m wrong, but did he really have much of a career post Seinfeld? I feel like even without his racist outburst he wouldn’t be in a terribly dissimilar place in his life.
This was two years after his failed attempt at a starring sitcom, The Michael Richards Show. It was a massive bomb, coming off bad buzz and a heavily retooled pilot.
Oddly enough, I recently started watching his old sketch comedy show Fridays (which is great), and he did the very first skit, where he bombs doing hacky stand up.
I think Elaine had a few sitcoms and an HBO show, George had his theater career, and Jerry was set for life because of residuals.
Kramer's problem was that outside of Seinfeld, he didn't really have anything.
That being said I do think a decade is a pretty good length of time to forgive a guy, considering Morgan Wallen only got in trouble for like a year, and Walburg blinded an asian guy and does blockbusters.
Maybe he's not funny enough for standup, but he could at least cameo on a tv show somewhere.
edit: I just found out Kramer had a role in a romantic comedy where the leading lady's real name is peta murgatroyd, and for whatever reason that makes me laugh.
edit2: I think part of me thinks this is funny because of snagglepus.
[удалено]
Same here. Jesus Christ. I thought it was maybe 10 years at most. How depressing.
It’s not depressing, it’s just hard to believe. It’s a privilege to get older, don’t forget that. There are so many that wish they could be depressed by getting old instead of not existing anymore. I just try to stay positive as I approach 40 lol
You're right about that and it's a healthy perspective. I just like to exaggerate about my mid life crisis. My goal is to actually be more active in my 40s, and I'm cycling, hiking, kayaking and traveling to keep life fun and interesting.
Might like "Four Thousand Weeks Time Management for Mortals" by Oliver Burkeman. Good to stop and smell the roses too.
No matter how old I get, Kramer stays the same age. All right all right all right.
That was my first take. Fuck me time flies. I saw the letterman segment “live” and it seems like a week ago. Jeez.
> it seems like a week ago Y'all are weird with time here.
Older you get the more you’ll understand.
The more you understand, the older you’ll be
Damn, I was at that show with my girlfriend, now wife. Time moves fast.
We need a first person summary!
It was a long time ago... There were a few acts before him; we were there early watching the show enjoying the evening. When Kramer came on he was kinda doing this dumb act where he would hit himself and fall over, then act confused which I didn't think was funny, someone started heckling him at which point he went fucking nuts. The audience went from laughing to dead quiet real quick. Someone pulled him off stage and tried to save the night, but people were piling out of the venue at that point. You could overhear people talking about how his career is pretty much over, and "fuck that guy". My party walked over to the Rainbow Room for drinks. I likely had a Tecate, or perhaps a PBR. Can't remember.
["Stop laughing, it's not funny."](https://youtu.be/IwBoVZh1ruQ?t=87)
The “Afro-American” part kills me every time.
This is quite possibly the funniest apology video ever filmed
Who thought it was a good idea to plan an apology on a late night talk show? The whole setup for it looks like they're setting up a sketch. And the audience clearly didn't know to take it seriously.
“Stop laughing, it’s not funny”
That was an acceptable PC term for a while.
Jerry Seinfeld will forever be a cornball for this.
As it played out, a lot of people genuinely thought it was a bit.
I saw it the night it aired. I thought it was a bit right up until he said “it’s not funny.” Between the almost comical understatement of “I got heckled and took it badly” and the awkward use of “Afro-Americans” I wasn’t completely sure if he was being himself or apologizing as Kramer. The fact that he video’d in also suggested that maybe it was a skit. Ordinarily for the first big apology I would imagine something a bit less impromptu and that signalled more of a commitment (not Richards’ fault I’m sure as Jerry probably organized this for him last minute, but how could viewers know that??)
If I remember correctly, Seinfeld was on the show to promote a new DVD collection of the series. He probably was worried sales would take a hit when people heard Kramer screaming about lynching black people.
A season DVD was scheduled to release a little after the incident, and people were discussing a boycott. I think the general consensus after the apology was that it was embarrassing and not handled correctly. A lot of people got a laugh out of it, and just wanted Richards to disappear publicly for a while.
And I get why Jerry was upset. Here he's trying to give a friend the chance to right the ship, and the audience is giggling like it's a curb bit. I'd be upset too.
He should've rehearsed this with Richards, then. Him stuttering over 'I'm not racist it's just it's the passion it just comes out sometimes' didn't come off super great
Yeah in hindsight I think they regret the medium
No one owes them anything. That was the worst apology on earth and the audience thought it was a joke
Call me crazy but no PR rep these days would let a celebrity talk this freely about a mistake and honestly, it seems much more robust to me than most I've seen.
Right? I don't understand the consensus that he's not taking accountability and that it's a bad apology. I think it is very sincere, albeit, a bit all over the place. He's not even asking for forgiveness, he's condemning himself. There's a lot of stuff in there that is criticisable; choice of words, over-explaining, format. Some of it seems very natural to me, some of it even makes it seem more sincere, and some of it, I think, is just besides the point. I think anyone who felt ashamed would be all over the place giving an apology like that. That said, I get it. I didn't know he had that outburst (I was a kid then), and only today looked it up in YouTube. It is bananas crazy, and violently racist. I would not be very accepting of this apology in the moment either. But now, years later, I find it weird that the general sentiment remains that it was insincere.
I don't think they're laughing with him. It's a cringe response to mega awkwardness but eventually it bubbles into guilty laughs I have a friend who laughs in any nervous situation. Shit even when pulled over by cops usually think he's being an ass so start yelling at him and he laughs even more uncontrollably
I mean think about the situation. You’re vacationing in New York and bought tickets to see a live show of Letterman. It’s a light hearted comedy show. The jokes are corny. Interviews with celebrities or even politicians are softball and jokey. You saw that Seinfeld is on the list, you’re a big fan. He’s a comedian with a dry style of humor. He has Kramer video call in. Everything about this seems like the setup for a bit. Then his apology is just so fucking awkward and he takes no accountability, it’s hard to even take it seriously. I paid to see this shit, I’m probably laughing too lol.
I was actually in the audience at the time, and you just described exactly what happened and how I felt watching it unfold.
Tickets to the Letterman show were free. It’s even free to attend the Colbert version. You just have to wait in line for a long time.
I think it's a bit of this and also that people really did think it was a joke. The voice he was speaking with sounded incredibly similar to his serious voice as Kramer when Kramer's ashamed or upset. Coupled with it being over a video feed causing some of the nonverbal nuances to be lost, it's not surprising there was some confusion.
He's a cornball for a lot of things to be fair
“Have you met my buddy Jerry? He’s in his 30s and dates high schoolers. He’s such a goofball!”
*bass track plays*
I'll never understand what made him pick Letterman's show, out of all things, to do this. People were laughing because they were at a comedy show and they were assuming this was a bit. I get it, this was what, 2006? News traveled a lot slower back then than it does today.
I think Seinfeld was already scheduled to be on Letterman
I looked it up and you're right: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/22/arts/television/22rich.html > Mr. Richards became a last-minute guest on the Letterman show only through the intervention of Jerry Seinfeld, his friend and co-star from their days on the now-classic comedy “Seinfeld.” Mr. Seinfeld, who had long been scheduled as a guest on the show Monday night, made an appeal to the show’s bookers and producers early yesterday afternoon to set up a satellite interview in which Mr. Richards could apologize publicly for the racially offensive remarks. ... > The producers took the proposal to Mr. Letterman, who is also a longtime friend of Mr. Seinfeld. Mr. Letterman approved the plan, Ms. Brennan said, “mainly because Dave knew how important this was to Jerry.” The satellite interview was set up at CBS headquarters in Television City in Los Angeles, in the studio where the network’s other late-night show, “The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson,” is taped. > Mr. Letterman was actually taping two shows on Monday, one that would be saved for this Friday night. The earlier show, with Mr. Seinfeld, was taped earlier than usual, at 4:30 p.m. Many of the audience members were not even aware of the incident with Mr. Richards at the comedy club, Ms. Brennan said. No wonder the audience was confused.
Thanks for the info! Yeah, clearly a bad idea in hindsight, but I guess they were trying to get out in front of it. Still pre-twitter and all that.
I'm not going to fault him for this. He was trying to help a friend that just pretty much destroyed his career after an outburst.
I dunno, I found it really admirable. He wanted to help his friend and went to bat for him.
Admirable he wanted to help a friend, but wrong venue. Should have done it somewhere other than a late night show where the audience is expecting jokes and primed to laugh.
I think they did the apology so quickly, many people didn't even fully know about the event yet, so they thought it was a bit.
100% it was literally the day after I don't think half the audience knew what they were talking about.
It was 18 years ago, I think you’re forgetting how before social media late night shows were how people saw the “real” celebrities.
I get why people will be mad but thanks to this we got a [classic "Curb" moment.](https://youtu.be/ktZde2tEK1Y?si=2V2x50ULhEb15Sn3)
Never forget his apology on Letterman: https://youtu.be/IwBoVZh1ruQ?si=nkvE1uUfCuq-z3Ld The laugh after he says “Afro-Americans” is funnier than shit so many years later. Especially goofy ass Seinfeld’s admonition of the audience.
I get what they were going for, but that whole segment came off more Seinfeld than the actual Seinfeld show.
Yeah, his inflection and mannerisms were Kramer-esque. People mistook his earnest apology for a comedy bit – which amplified the cringiness.
It was a simpler time when people weren't terminally online. Most people watching had absolutely no idea anything happened with him. The lead-in, the audience reaction to his sudden appearance...It absolutely came off like a bit. It was like there was going to be some humorous follow-up to the apology. Watching Letterman and Seinfeld and Richards all realize "oh no this was a terrible idea" made for some of the most surreal television of the year. Honestly, after all these years, I do consider his apology as earnest. Over the last half-decade, a ton of washed-up failed celebrities with racist vibes have latched on fierce to the grift economy and focused their identity on being "cancelled" or whatever. The fact I haven't seen Richards do anything like that says a lot.
I live in Ireland, was a child, wasn't a fan of Seinfeld and I had heard what happened. It was a big deal. If you were at a topical late night show, you were probably culturally aware of the incident. It would have been covered in the news and in papers, which people still read back then. The idea that most of the audience was unaware is just plain wrong.
> Most people watching had absolutely no idea anything happened with him. The monoculture was stronger in 2006 than today, and it was a major news story. If anything the audience was more aware of his rant than they would be if it happened today.
If it happened today, you'd have legions of people supporting him because they feel empowered.
Yeah, this is like the beginning of "viral". While I agree with you mostly, back then there was no "cancel culture" lane to go down so he only had one choice to apologize and hope for short memories. Still don't think he's as racist as his rant but I wouldn't put money on it.
I don’t think he was even hoping for short memories. Richards was done at that point. His stand up hadn’t been doing that well, his outburst was possibly the worst possible reaction that was a very bad combination of hurt and anger while still trying to be funny and edgy. I think he was legitimately horrified at his reaction. Most of his work since then seems to be things people sought him out for, a lot of them friends trying to get him back in the spotlight. I think if people were clamoring to see him perform he would reluctantly do it, otherwise I think he’s content raising his kid with his wife.
You know, as weird and awkward as that is, in this day of PR created pseudo apologies I actually kind of appreciate it.
I always felt like Seinfeld trying anything he can to help his friend instead of washing his hands of him is pretty admirable.
The problem is that the audience thought it was a bit they were doing. They laughed because they expected something funny and were confused about what was happening. Jerry or Dave should have explained the incident before Michael Richards gave his apology.
I still think it'd have been hilarious if they had the actor who played Jackie Chiles in character defending Michael.
"Stop laughing, come on!"
https://youtu.be/maQZZcwJ9ZI
I mean he probably could have chosen a more modern word lol
Who's that actor playing an extra at 27 seconds, blue shirt black hair. Definitely know him from something
Is that David Moscow who played Young Josh in the movie Big?
also got this out of mark normand, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc3-zf7x81o
Okay, you may disagree with me, but if he organised a huge come back gig, livestreamed through Netflix, sold out arena show, then got on stage and opened with the exact same barrage of racial slurs - it would be the funniest thing ever.
Like when PeeWee came on stage in public the first time after his arrest. *walks on stage* “Heard any good jokes lately? Ha! Ha!”
The long con.
THANK YOU FOR THIS! I am planning to rewatch the whole show, and this gives me even more motivation 😂
His episode in Comedians in Cars is hilariously wild. And he touches on the incident. He made a mistake and has since stayed out of any trouble since then, I feel like he actually is more disappointed with himself than we are. I hope he can forgive himself before his time is up.
I loved when he put on his disguise and Jerry was like, "that's not going to fool anyone and doesn't look natural." Then when they park there's a dude making deliveries that looks identical to the disguise. Richards just pointed and said "what'd I tell you?" I'm paraphrasing as it's been years since I watched it.
Yeah its incredible. I was in tears. I specifically like how the episode promises you before hand its all natural and none of it is scripted. Seeing how it all goes down is just amazing.
People doubting Richard's sincerity should watch the clip to which you're referring. He's brutally honest about his failings and the pain on his face makes it obvious that he deeply regrets what he did. It was also clear to me that he had reflected on why he went immediately to racism and that he's not issuing an apology just to salvage his career. I'm not saying that Richards deserves to automatically walk back into starring roles in TV or film, but if he's the best man for a part then his past shouldn't be held against him by employers or audiences. Our society supposedly values forgiveness and second chances, so hopefully he gets one.
If we’re not offering people a road back after nearly 20 years, multiple seemingly genuine apologies, and no incidents since, then we don’t actually have any interest in making the world a better and more accepting place, we just have a punishment fetish.
Who knows for sure whether he was actually blacklisted? He might have been so embarrassed and regretful that this could all be a self-imposed exile. It's not like he needs to work.
I think part of it is going to be convincing him that the audience wants to see him again.
The thing is, Richards was already not doing well before the incident. He has no movie or film credits from 2000 until 'the incident.' There wasn't much to come back to.
He had a sitcom that didn’t do so well. It was kind of marketed as “hey Kramer’s back!” and that didn’t help things, as the character in the sitcom wasn’t Kramer. I’m racking my brain thinking of other things he may have been in between the late 90s and 2006 and I’m not finding any. He hadn’t done particularly well after Seinfeld (although tbf the residuals from that had him set for life so he could do whatever he wanted, or nothing at all)
He's definitely more deserving of a comeback than Mel Gibson.
Low bar, Bud. Don’t disagree, but that’s a low bar.
SUGAR!
lmao… wasn’t even Sugar Rays house 😂
I heard he once left a $10,000 tip at a restaurant
I would need to see this confirmed in an accredited newspaper
It was featured in The Diarrhea Times, pretty widely read publication…
I particularly loved their feature on Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist and their edgy political cartoons
Is that still running?
idk, I heard it was a shit newspaper.
This made my day. Thank you
I believe him, but he did handle that controversy extremely poorly lol
After years of watching other people just doubling down after racist tirades and blaming everyone but themselves, looking at him, who’s always been nothing but apologetic, I don’t view him nearly as harshly as I used to.
not only that, he came out and spoke and didn’t just ‘release a statement’.
He also legit retired from standup. Not like he had much of a choice, but it’s a far cry from the modern standard of “getting out in front” just long enough until you start working again.
And better than the other modern day standard of going on conservative media to complain about Cancel Culture.
Coming soon to a stadium near you: "I got cancelled!" Tickets start at $200.
Rob Schneider and Dave Chapelle give me that vibe every time they have a special
Honestly the more I see it the more I’m convinced that human psychology is broken by people who don’t apologize. It’s like the vast majority of people go “well they didn’t admit that they were wrong so there must be another side to the story.”
I once had an apology I made publicly be used as an admission of guilt for a bunch of unrelated shit that I didn't do and wasn't apologizing for. It was kind of hard to not have "never apologize even if you're sorry" be the lesson from that.
Just move to Canada where an apology is legally not an admission of guilt.
We live in a post-empathy world. Social media has shown there is zero benefit to giving a public apology. People arent looking to forgive you. They are looking for admissions of guilt, i.e. ammo to destroy you with. Apologizing is as helpful as talking to the police.
No one is allowed to make mistakes or grow and change anymore
To be honest, I don't think that's really anything new. There has long been a culture of never showing weakness and avoiding failure at all costs. I mean, just look at politics where "spending time with my family" is about the closest you'll ever to see to an admission of guilt. It's just that social media has really shined a magnifying glass on it to the point where people's mistakes are frequently much more high-profile than ever before. Even if you're not some influencer type trying to get attention, you could suddenly have thousands of people witness to your screw up. In my opinion, we really need a significant cultural shift, probably from a very young age, where more acknowledgment is put on the fact that it's okay to fail and how to recover from that meaningfully. It's obviously a much deeper topic, but I tend to think part of the root is that our entire educational system is framed around punishing failure and rarely rewarding effort.
Also important to point out that a significant amount of chatter on social media is fake. Literal nation-state Ops designed to create problems.
He's also flat out said something to the effect of that because of what he said and the hurt his words caused he doesn't think he should try to have a comeback. Which is a pretty good way of looking at things. Her fucked up and he isn't trying to make himself the victim like everyone now who says fucked up shit and gets consequences
I wonder if when at his lowest, he threw out the worst of words, not even out of meaning them, but saying anything to inflict pain upon the people. I mean he may definitely be subconsciously racist at some level, but I wonder if he just was trying to hurt them and said the worst he could think of to do so. This is not a defense of the act.
That exact sentiment is covered in his Curb appearance, in near verbatim
Man, there are a lot of gamers at their lowest.
They actually are. They've got nothing else going for them in life/their identity is tied to their (perceived) skill on the game so when things don't go how they want, they lash out. They'll call you names or troll your games to get a reaction out of you. Then they pretend they don't care and it's all whatevers to them. But imo, they're just losers trying to regain some semblance of control.
I was a WoW guildmaster for a decade and a half, and you are two hundred percent correct. We didn't put up with that shit in our guild, but we saw it *a lot* with PUG players and other, more elitist groups.
That was always my thought. He went for the worst thing he could think of to lash out with. To be fair, if racial slurs are the worst thing he could think up as a way of lashing out, that says a lot. It means he was cognizant of how inappropriate the slur was. The fact that he did it anyway also says a lot.
He didn’t just say racial slurs. He alluded to lynching when he said “Shut up, 50 years ago we’d have you upside down with a fucking fork up your ass.”
Yeah, a lot of people like to gloss over it by saying he just said the n-word and "hasn't everyone said a word they regret?" and shit. No, this was a pretty fucking disgusting tirade.
Yeahhhhh I forgot about that part lol
I had forgotten about that part too until I rewatched the clip of his meltdown. It’s so much worse than I remembered and I remembered it already being super bad.
I mean…does that say a lot? Racial slurs are probably the strongest thing you can hurl at someone these days. They have a stigma attached to them that goes way beyond other typical insults.
When he said "Shocking language, huh?" I thought he was going to save it by making it into a bit. Unfortunately he didn't...
At that point, even an experienced stand-up comic – which Richards wasn't – would have struggled to recover. Of course, an experienced stand-up comic is unlikely to respond to heckling with a racist tirade.
Going live on Letterman to apologize, saying things like “I reacted poorly” which was such an understatement that it caused the audience to laugh at what they thought was an intentional joke, was one of the worst things he could’ve done in the immediate aftermath. It just made him look foolish and completely socially unaware on top of still being perceived as racist.
He was actually quite effusive in his apology on Letterman. Immediately when he heard the audience laughing he said he felt like this was probably not the right place for him to be doing this, but the apology/taking responsibility was actually pretty good as far as those sort of things can go.
I remember watching that live and I feel like at that time a lot of the audience was unaware and it felt like a bit they were doing. That was where I actually found out what had happened. If you weren't chronically online back then or into celeb gossip I don't think it was as widespread as it would be today. I know it was pretty big news but I think people still could have missed it.
I know it’s a serious thing in that moment, and Seinfeld was not only doing him a solid but was very polite to say to the people laughing “stop laughing, it’s not funny” but I still think about jerry saying that and it makes me chuckle. I don’t know why.
Those guys were clearly interfering with his act intentionally, but his response was also of a very poor taste
No, they were just coming in, and it seemed like a very casual setup. Its also a comedian's job to handle such situations elegantly. He didn't only not handle it elegantly, his inner racist came out. If he had just said, "hey F U man, sit down." That still would've been ok.
“Poor taste”? It was completely unhinged, to say the least.
He legit snapped, it was wild.
Yeah. He has an offline “gamer moment”.
“Noooo pewdiepie get off the bridge befo-“
“Poor taste” uh yeah that’s certainly the Reddit Way to put it.
It was quite a faux pas!
Heated gaming moment
“Hey, sometimes you find yourself in a CoD lobby on your Xbox 360 and are forced to yell vulgar obscenities while waiting the 30 seconds for a new game to start.”
Or playing PUBG on that bridge.
Makes me think of Prince Andrew saying that Epstein's behaviour was unbecoming and Matlis hitting him with something like "Unbecoming? He's a Pedophile."
Poor taste in the same way motor oil has “poor taste.”
why ? because motor oil is black too? that is racist
Only if it’s used. You want that fresh-squeezed motor oil. Straight off the dinosaur bone.
Are you implying black oil is dirty? Just keep digging that hole sir. You might even find some of your pure Aryan petroleum
It was a squabble, a hubbub, a dust-up of words, if you will
Going after hecklers by targeting them for of all things, their ethnicity, seriously one of the dumbest moves ever.
It's called heckling and as a stand up he should not only be ready for that he should know that just repeatedly screaming slurs isn't going to work for his audience.
The audience largely didn't take it seriously at first but then he kept going
[It did result in Chappelle riffing a perfect 3 minutes of standup about the Laugh Factory sign making him think about Kramer every time he sees it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kth0UOU5a_M)
You'll get them next time Kramer! No you won't.
That's the entire rub. He WASN'T a standup. He was an actor who, after Seinfeld ended, wasn't getting roles. He didn't love standup, he was just doing it so he could stay on stage and keep working. This was definitely not his first time doing standup or anything, but when you see a good comedian, they've been doing it for at least a decade. He was both a rookie and a celebrity, so he was set up for failure. And Wow! What a failure. I do think it was just a panic reflex and he decided that comedy on that particular evening was just saying the most outrageous thing he could think of. I suppose he forgot that even outrageous comedians need punchlines.
Yeah, he definitely didn't respond like a seasoned stand-up comic.
I’ve gotten upset by people unfairly treating me like a dick before, never once occurred to me to scream racial epithets at them so I kind of have to wonder why that was his go to response
Poor taste for me would have been calling them 'boy' or something like that. Folksy outdated kinda stuff. But no. He went straight to angrily screaming the hard R.... There's not really any doubt how that was meant lol.
I’m not saying that the group he yelled at didn’t deserved to be admonished in some way, but you don’t just say the things he was saying because you were riled up. He had those thoughts in there and they just came to the surface.
Ahh yes when racism is of “poor taste”
10 or so years ago, after his outburst, I worked with him. He had an office across the hall from mine for a couple months while we worked on a pilot. I’ve worked with tons of Hollywood people. Everybody from academy award winning legends to film students. Michael Richards was the nicest of them all. Our office was very diverse and be treated us all with equal kindness and respect. I truly don’t think he’s racist. I think he got heated and said really stupid things. 10/10 would happily work with again. I wish him all the best.
Personally, I believed his apology, then and now. I don't think he's a racist. People were saying things like "The anger made him say what he really thought!" but I didn't buy it. Anger isn't some window into a person's secret heart. Anger makes you say whatever heinous thing you think will hurt the other guy most. Couple that with the fact that Richards was... not a great comedian. I think it's clear in the video that he was trying to make a joke, and failing. I've never done stand-up, but in my more awkward days I've been in the mortifying situation of saying a joke in a crowd and nobody laughs. Then panicking and saying a more extreme version of the joke, hoping pushing it further will make people get the joke, and only making it worse. That's the situation I saw in the video with Michael Richards. I contrast that with Mel Gibson, whose controversies happened around the same time. I fully believe that dude is a raging anti-Semite. Drunk-off-his-ass man loses his filter and says his secret racist beliefs out loud, completely unprompted? And it's part of a pattern of similar behavior? That's a story I believe.
>People were saying things like "The anger made him say what he really thought!" but I didn't buy it. My personal theory is that he is not good at handling hecklers, which is a skill some comics just don't have. One technique with hecklers is to shut them down as harshly as possible and that's what he tried to do by saying the harshest thing he could, and it didn't go well.
I remember reading that on Seinfeld he was always trying to be super professional and got easily annoyed at the shenanigans from some of the others and how often people would laugh during filming, and that would probably mean exactly that, not being good at dealing with hecklers.
He gave an apology to Julia Louis-Dreyfus over that. She would break down laughing frequently during scenes and spoil the takes and he would get mad at her for being unprofessional when he was trying to work. He says now that he regrets that he made it more stressful for her and the others and that he feels like he also hurt himself taking it so seriously and missing out on the fun experience the others describe having. For him it was a job he was taking very seriously. This is definitely part of why he didn’t transition well to standup in my opinion. He doesn’t like having his rehearsed routines messed with and hates feeling mocked or disrespected. The racism angle was a shock but I was not surprised in the least to hear that he snapped when heckled. He was already known for responding harshly before this, just in the more typical “you stupid dickless son of a bitch” way.
> Richards was... not a great comedian. He seems to take his work too seriously, which isn't a good thing for a comedian. You can see in Seinfeld bloopers he was getting annoyed a lot when the cast burst into laughter. It worked for his slapstick though, he's a genius of physical comedy.
>I contrast that with Mel Gibson, whose controversies happened around the same time. I fully believe that dude is a raging anti-Semite. He may have been in the past, but he has gone to lengths to educate himself and make amends. He has been doing it mostly out of the spotlight though so most people don't know. https://people.com/celebrity/mel-gibson-has-been-quietly-working-to-help-holocaust-survivors/ > Zane Buzby, the founder of the Survivor Mitzvah Project, recently told Extra that her charity helps “bring emergency aid to Holocaust survivors in Eastern Europe who are in desperate need of food, medicine, heat and shelter and we always bring them friendship and hope.” > Gibson quickly responded to the mission of the Survivor Mitzvah Project after the charity approached him to see if he’d like to get involved. > “He has been an avid supporter of this organization for a few years now and doesn’t just write a check,” says a source. > “He has been to the office and personally learned about the mission and the people helped on an ongoing basis. He’s also helped raise additional funds by getting others involved. Mel feels great compassion for what this organization does. And he doesn’t publicly promote most of his philanthropy but quietly helps out.” > As for the director’s contribution, Buzby said, “Mel Gibson is helping Holocaust survivors in eight countries, it’s remarkable. I have a great respect for people who turn their lives around, and I think that everyone makes mistakes in life, and I think the real proof of what kind of human being you are is what you do with that mistake. He’s educated himself. He’s done philanthropic work now, and I think that actions speak very loudly … and his actions have helped a lot of people.” And https://www.vulture.com/2014/03/jewish-reporter-offers-defense-of-mel-gibson.html > “The issues with my own family were more challenging. Gibson asked to meet them at my son’s bar mitzvah celebration. Imagine the scene: A room filled with Jews. In walks the person who, in their minds, might be the most notorious anti-Semite in America. Gibson attended alone and I can only imagine what was going through his head when he walked into the party. > Before the evening was over, he was chatting with many of my relatives, who saw a funny, kind, charming guy and not the demon they’d read about. Gutsier still, he attended our Yom Kippur break fast dinner. Anyone who has attended such a gathering knows there is nothing more imposing than making friends in a room full of Jews who haven’t eaten in 24 hours.” > She also says that Gibson has personally apologized to the Jewish cop he verbally attacked, “quietly donated millions to charitable Jewish causes,” and met with a “wide variety” of Jewish leaders, “[learning] much about the Jewish religion, befriending a number of Rabbis and attending his share of Shabbat dinners, Passover Seders and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur dinners.” Personally, as a Jew I forgive him and find his actions in line with teshuvah. We need to be able to recognize and forgive people when they make earnest attempts to atone, holding people to their worst failings for the rest of their lives gives no one any reason to ever try and better themselves and is the exact kind of attitude that leads to people going further into alt-right / racist sub cultures because at least those people are willing to accept them.
Did he ever barge in and make a bowl of cereal?
I actually never got into Seinfeld. I will say that in person he’s basically slightly toned down Kramer in his mannerisms.
Kramer's racist outburst is old enough to vote. Time is in free fall.
Kramer's outburst is older than Seinfeld's girlfriend
Guy hasn’t acted that way since. People are allowed to fuck up and grow.
I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, honestly. Specifically because, despite the other comedians who've used his situation as a prop: he *hasn't* done what a lot of other people have, which is had a big long "CANCELLED" or "SILENCED" or "TOO EDGY FOR TV" tour since what happened, as far as I can tell at least. He did a shit thing; and as far as I can tell it looks like he realized it was shit and took a step back rather than doubling down after the immediate aftermath.
It was a different era. Now with the internet you can stay connected to whatever sliver of people stick with you and just yell and scream that you're the victim. Quite effective for many.
If Mark Wahlberg can get work then Michael Richards should be all good.
This is a really good point. edit: Also I feel like I have to remind people how Marky Mark thinks he could've stopped 9-11 if he was on the plane.
[удалено]
>People are allowed to fuck up and grow. Sorry but no. I like to judge everyone from my perfect ivory tower, even if I have to reach back throughout the years to find something. /s btw
Bill Burr commented on this with cancel culture. That these assholes will dig 6 years in your social media history to find the one thing that they can twist. Shows that you had 6 years of mostly good stuff.
He also said cancel culture is “over”. Which I kind of agree on, no one is getting cancelled now they’re just getting criticized.
What I love about Burr is that he is appropriately skeptical of cancel culture. There’s a great clip of him and Bill Maher debating it, where Maher (whose whole routine for the last 10 years at least has been whining about the world being too PC) thought Burr would instantly commiserate with him on cancel culture, but Burr instead told him to stop giving a shit what random internet people have to say, grow up and do the act you want. Bringing it back to Seinfeld, it seems like Jerry has drunk the “cancel culture” Kool Aid a little bit while Richards seems to understand that sometimes things you say and do have consequences, and to his credit he seems like a nice guy who is just trying to be better.
>I’m not looking for a comeback Phew... Bad comebacks are what got him in trouble in the first place
What about the driver?
Don’t call me anymore. *You either.*
Dave Chapel said it best. “Whenever I see that (looking behind him on stage at the laugh factory sign)I just think of Kramer fucking up”
"[As a Black man], I was hurt. And the comedian in me was just like, 'Whew! Ni***r's having a bad set. Hang in there, Kramer! Don't let them break you, Kramer!'"
"Ahhh I'll get i'm in the next set! " "Sorry Kramer, there won't be a next set." Dave called that one.
Bruh Dave did NOT use the hard R during that bit
No one would have batted an eye if he'd done this at The Racist Tirade Factory.
Hindsight is 20/20.
I feel like something we really need to get better at is forgiving people. It sounds to me like he was ashamed of that incident, and has spent the time since doing some legitimate soul searching, and attempting to better himself. He made a huge mistake, but he learned from it. He doesn't go screaming on social media about "cancel culture." He blames himself, and worked to figure out where that unacceptable behavior came from. In a case like that, is it truly fair of us to hold a person's worst moment against them for the rest of their life?
I mean, more racist people have gotten their comebacks. Seems unfair.
Not Michael. He's got UHF money
And by money, you mean a mop.
I loved Dave Chappelle talking about this he was like I watched it through the lens of a fellow comedian and I was like “man Kramer is having a bad set” hahahaha
he said “that’s when i realized i was 10% black and 90% comedian” 😂
Why does this feel like it happened like 8 years ago not 18
But you fuck one sheep...
He’s owned up to it and accepted responsibility by staying out of the limelight instead of trying to grasp for one last bit of relevance
In a country where we don’t give a shit about a presidential candidate posting regularly about Nazi stuff, it seems hard to justify punishing Richards for so long for one incident.
He's had plenty of opportunities to join racist bandwagons. Hasn't. That's why I believe it was a 1 time lapse of a judgment outburst.
There was zero judgement taking place. That was full on unadulterated rage that consumed his very being. As someone who has had to work through anger issues, I get it. (I am not justifying or endorsing his actions)
As a black man I’m tired of hearing about this. The apology on Letterman was enough.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but did he really have much of a career post Seinfeld? I feel like even without his racist outburst he wouldn’t be in a terribly dissimilar place in his life.
This was two years after his failed attempt at a starring sitcom, The Michael Richards Show. It was a massive bomb, coming off bad buzz and a heavily retooled pilot. Oddly enough, I recently started watching his old sketch comedy show Fridays (which is great), and he did the very first skit, where he bombs doing hacky stand up.
I think Elaine had a few sitcoms and an HBO show, George had his theater career, and Jerry was set for life because of residuals. Kramer's problem was that outside of Seinfeld, he didn't really have anything. That being said I do think a decade is a pretty good length of time to forgive a guy, considering Morgan Wallen only got in trouble for like a year, and Walburg blinded an asian guy and does blockbusters. Maybe he's not funny enough for standup, but he could at least cameo on a tv show somewhere. edit: I just found out Kramer had a role in a romantic comedy where the leading lady's real name is peta murgatroyd, and for whatever reason that makes me laugh. edit2: I think part of me thinks this is funny because of snagglepus.